Versailles effects

Question 1

What is the debate about the effects of the ToV?

Answer 1

Burleigh believes Versailles was a stick used to beat the weimar by left and right wing extremists
Evans believes there was other reasons for Weimar’s problems

Question 2

What was the most significant effect of the treaty/ did the treaty have a real impact on Germany?

Answer 2

Military and territorial was least significant, economic and political effects were significant
Economic most important

Question 3

What did the Rhineland occupation lead to?

Answer 3

The Ruhrkamph, a government supported strike in the Ruhr.

Question 4

How long did military terms last?

Answer 4

Inter-allied commission left 1926
Troops started secretly training in USSR from 1925
Allies left in 1930, 5 years before they were supposed to

Question 5

When was Germany accepted into the LoN?

Answer 5

1926, given great power status, given the power to veto

Question 6

What did Marks believe about Germany?

Answer 6

It became the pre-eminient member of the European family

Question 7

What did the bitterness at losing land lead to?

Answer 7

Locarno, refusing to give up Eastern borders, then eventually WW2 (might not have happened if political effects were not too bad)

Question 8

Why did people turn to extremist parties after Versailles

Answer 8

Weimar was born into hatred
Stab-in-the-back-myth
NSDAP offered people an authoritarian government who would regain control

Question 9

How did NSDAP do in the 1920 election?

Answer 9

Gained 7% of the vote in 1920

Question 10

What did NSDAP’s manifesto say about the ToV?

Answer 10

Article 2- ‘we demand the abolition of the ToV’

Question 11

What did Henig believe about the political effects?

Answer 11

Versailles was a major factor in RW recovery

Question 12

What else caused political instability?

Answer 12

Proportional representation caused weak coalitions that could not agree and did not have the support of the public
Ebert’s use of the Friekorps divided the left

Question 13

What was wrong with having a spending deficit?

Answer 13

The Gove decided to get more money they would print more- 1800 printers working in 1923
Caused hyperinflation which led to many middle class people becoming poor

Question 14

What did Snyder say?

Answer 14

Hyperinflation was the scar that never healed

Question 15

What did ToV get Germany involved with?

Answer 15

The Dawes plan, which gave Germany a loan and helped the economic plan
However, also got involved in the young plan, which meant in the depression Germany was effected disproportionally compared to other countries

Question 16

What did Peukert believe?

Answer 16

Young made Germany too reliant on US market fluctuations

Question 17

What did the young plan cause?

Answer 17

Hitler’s rise in popularity, he worked on the anti-young campaign and also the depression made people turn extremist.

Question 18

What is the background on German democracy before the ToV?

Answer 18

Ludendorff offensive, OHL bankruptcy
A new socialist gov was set up by Ebert- November criminals, also angered public by using Freikorps
ToV, signed by Müller- key terms

Question 19

What was the debate on whether the treaty influenced German democracy?

Answer 19

Burleigh- Versailles was a stick used to beat the weimar by left and right wing extremists
McElligott believed it didn’t effect the parliamentary system too much

Question 20

Did the treaty influence German democracy?

Answer 20

Yes it did, however other factors also influenced it that were not ToV

Question 21

What happened to moderate parties?

Answer 21

There was a split from moderate parties
In 1924 only 52% of people voted for moderate parties
This caused coalitions with a wide range of views which were not successful

Question 22

What did Hyperinflation cause?

Answer 22

Caused many people to associate the republic with failure and vote for anti-weimar parties

Question 23

Were the actual terms of the treaty important in destroying democracy?

Answer 23

No as by the time Hitler took power a lot of the terms had been reversed, eg LoN and interallied military commission
Only term that caused major problems was reparations

Question 24

How did the constitution effect democracy?

Answer 24

Proportioanl represtation

Article 48 gave the president potentially dictatorial powers by allowing him to make emergency laws

Question 25

What does McElligott believe?

Answer 25

During Weimar, the parliamentary system was stable

Question 26

What else contributed to the demise of democracy?

Answer 26

The inability of the left to work together, after Ebert used the Friekorps
Many believed Ebert had betrayed the socialist revolution with the Ebert-Groener pact, couldn’t fully support the republic.

Question 27

What did Evans believe about ToV?

Answer 27

It was only one factor in the demise of Weimar