Germany - 1918-1924

Question 1

what were the four main terms of the treaty of versailles

Answer 1

Blame - article 231, germany took all the blame for the war
Reparations - article 233, germany must pay £6.6bn to france and britain
Army - article 159, germanys armed forces are secretly reduced
Territory - germany loses much of its territory like eupen malmedy, alsace lorraine, and overseas territory

Question 2

how much was the army reduced by

Answer 2

100,000 troops
no conscription
no tanks
15,00 in the navy
6 battleships
no submarines

Question 3

what happened in november 1922

Answer 3

germany fails to pay reparations
french invade the ruhr

Question 4

what did the german government tell workers to do in response to the occupation of the ruhr

Answer 4

passive resistance
refuse to work or cooperate with foreign troops, government continued to pay wages

Question 5

why was the occupation of the ruhr so bad for germany economy

Answer 5

ruhr was most productive industrial centre
production fell drastically after occupation
fewer goods were produced = less money = damaged economy

Question 6

how did hyperinflation begin in germany

Answer 6

german government had promised to pay ruhr workers even when on strike
they had no money
printed out paper currency
there was no matching productive economic activity
value if deutsche mark fell

Question 7

how much did a loaf of bread cost in january 1923 compared to november 1923

Answer 7

jan - 250 marks
nov - 200,000 million marks

Question 8

how much did it cost to print a note in august 1923

Answer 8

more than the note was even worth

Question 9

how many times did workers get paid in the height of hyperinflation

Answer 9

twice because prices rose so fast wages would be worthless by lunch

Question 10

who benefitted from hyperinflation

Answer 10

borrowers (businessmen, landowners, mortgage havers) - able to pay back loans with worthless money
people on wages - renegotiated wages every day
farmers - products remained in demand, received more money for them as prices spiralled

Question 11

who did not benefit from hyperinflation

Answer 11

people with fixed incomes (students, pensioners, the sick) - incomes didn’t keep up with prices
people with savings - money became worthless

Question 12

what was the name of the german communist party

Answer 12

the KPD

Question 13

how many members did the KPD have

Answer 13

400,000

Question 14

who were the leaders of the KPD

Answer 14

rosa luxemburg
karl liebknecht

Question 15

what was organised when the Berlin Police Chief was sacked in

Answer 15

jan 1919 - an uprising and general strike in berlin
this turned into protests

Question 16

how many workers were involved in the berlin uprising

Answer 16

100,000

Question 17

what did the spartacists take control of in berlin

Answer 17

governments newspapers
telegraph headquarters

Question 18

how was the KPD uprising resolved

Answer 18

the army was helped by units of the friekorps

Question 19

how many people died

Answer 19

100 workers
rosa luxemburg - shot, body dumped in a berlin river
karl liebknecht - murdered

Question 20

how was the weimar constitution structured

Answer 20

president
chancellor
reichstag
voters

Question 21

what was the role of the president

Answer 21

head of armed forces
elected every 7 years
appoints/dismisses chancellor
can call for new elections

Question 22

what was the role of the chancellor

Answer 22

leader of party with most seats in reichstag

Question 23

what was the role of the reichstag

Answer 23

MPs voted in by voters
uses proportional representation (22% of votes meant 22% of MPs in reichstag)

Question 24

who were the voters

Answer 24

ALL adults over the age of 20

Question 25

what were the strengths of the weimar constitution

Answer 25

genuine democracy
power of reichstag (made all the laws)
bill of rights - guaranteed every german freedom of speech and religion

Question 26

what were the weakness of the weimar constitution

Answer 26

proportional representation - lots of small parties in governments, difficult to pass laws, led to weak and short lived governments
article 48 - president could pass laws wherever, power was overused, weakened germans confidence in democracy

Question 27

why did the freikorps launch an uprising

Answer 27

they were going to be unemployed due to the treaty of versailles army clause

Question 28

why did the military refuse to crush the uprising?

Answer 28

the freikorps were ex soldiers and they didn’t want to shoot them

Question 29

when was the mall putsch

Answer 29

13-17 march 1920

Question 30

who led the kapp putsch

Answer 30

dr wolfgang kapp, a right wing nationalist

Question 31

how was the kapp putsch defeated

Answer 31

the government encouraged the workers to go on general strike and not cooperate

Question 32

how many people were assassinated between 1919 and 1922

Answer 32

376 political nurses (mainly left wing killed)

Question 33

how did the politcal parties make sure they were protected

Answer 33

creating their own armies and hiring armed guard to protect leaders

Question 34

what date was the invasion of the ruhr

Answer 34

11th january 1923

Question 35

why were the politcal assassins let free?

Answer 35

the judges in their trials preferred the kaisers government

Question 36

who were two influential people who were killed during the political assassinations

Answer 36

walter rathenau - foreign minister
matthias erzberger - finance minister

Question 37

what other rebellions were there during hyperinflation

Answer 37

september - black reichswehr rebelled
october - communists took over governments of saxons and thuringia
october - communists took over
november - munich putsch

Question 38

what were the aims of the nazi party (x9)

Answer 38

increase old age pensions
conquer extra living space
strip all rights from jews
nationalise important industries
abolish treaty of versailles
build up army
have a strong leader in charge
destroy weimar republic
destroy communism

Question 39

why did hitler lead a putsch in munich

Answer 39

to overthrow the national government in berlin

Question 40

what had happened to food supplies in munich

Answer 40

no potatoes had been available for days

Question 41

how many stormtroopers marched through munich

Answer 41

2000

Question 42

when was the march

Answer 42

9th november

Question 43

how was the munich putsch a failure (x6)

Answer 43

failed to take over government
16 nazis died
nazi party is banned
hitler is banned from public speaking until 1927
hitler is sentenced to 5 years

Question 44

how was the munich putsch a success

Answer 44

hitler used trial as political rally, he became famous
hitler reorganised the party
hitler wrote mein kampf which became wildly popular
hitler changed tactic - he needed to win power legally