Part one, Topic Three: Weimar Democracy Flashcards
(15 cards)
What political opposition did the Weimar republic face?
Spartacist rising (1919)
Kapp Putsch (1920)
What happened during the Kapp Putsch?
- Wolfgang Kapp was a right wing Nationalist who wanted return of the monarchy
- March 1920: he led an uprising sparked by the Weimar republic reducing army size and getting rid of Freikorps
- 12,000 Freikorps marched into Berlin and the army refused to stop them
- Rising was put down by a general worker strike organised by workers
- So, the Weimar republic SURVIVED
Who were the Spartacists? - what occurred during their uprising?
- January 1919: left wing communists trued to take power led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg
- Workers were protesting at start of 1919, so Spartacists tried turning this into a revolution
- President Ebert used the Freikorps to crush the uprising (over 100 workers killed)
- Luxemburg and Liebknecht were also killed
What happened during the Munich Putsch?
- 8th November 1923: Hitler interrupted right-wing meeting of 2,000 at a Munich beer hall with 600 SA soldiers
- Hitler forced von Kahr and von Lossow to support a march on Berlin to overthrow the government
- President Ebert declared a state of emergency and von Lossow and the army were ordered to crush the revolt
- 9th November: Von Lossow and von Kahr announced that they didn’t support the Putsch
- 2,000 armed Nazis arched into Munich but were stopped by armed police and Bavarian soldiers
- a shot was fired, 14 Nazis were killed
- Hitler arrested after having fled the scene
- Nazi party banned, Hitler put of trial receives 5 years imprisonment
What happened in terms of political recovery under Stresemann?
- No attempted revolutions after 1923
- By 1928, moderate parties has 136 more seats in the Reichstag than the radical parties
- Replaced old currency with Rentenmark, 1 replaced 1000 billion marks. This got inflation under control (also compensated Germans for their losses)
- Signed Dawes and Young plans (lowered reparations + gave them longer to pay
What was the Dawes Plan?
In 1924 - Gave Germany longer to pay reparations
under Stresemann
What was the Young Plan?
In 1929 - Lowered how much Germany had to pay from 6.6 billion dollars to 2 billion
under Stresemann
What were the pros and cons of the Dawes and Young plans?
- USA’s loans (Dawes and Young plans) led to investments in schools, roads, houses and hospitals and exports increased
- by 1928, Germany was the world’s second strongest industrial power
- But, the economy became too dependent on the loans and low food prices made farmers poor + unemployment remained high
- Germans hated the plans and their were protests from right wing politicians such as Alfred Hugenberg
Explain Weimar culture
- New freedoms of the Weimar Republic led to an explosion of culture (literature, music, art, architecture, theatre and cinema all thrived)
- German architect Walter Gropius produced Bauhaus style uising modern materials, but some Germans didn’t like them and favoured a more traditional style
- Cabaret and music clubs became very popular, cabaret artists produced songs criticising the government
- Berlin became famous for its nightclubs, some Germans found the nightlife shocking
When did Gustav Stresemann become chancellor?
13th august 1923
When did Stresemann die?
3rd October 1929
What was the Kellogg-Briand pact? - what did it do?
Signed 27th august 1928
Binded nations into an agreement to not use war as a method of solving disputes
When did Germany join the league of nations?
8th September 1926
When were the Locarno Treaties signed? - what did they do?
1925
With Britain, France, Belgium, Italy and obvs Germany
Agreed that they wouldn’t invade each other
What were the international agreements that Germany signed?
Locarno Treaties
Kellogg-Briand Pact
