weimar republic 1918-1929 Flashcards
what was the kiel mutiny
3 november- at main German naval base in Kiel ,German sailors mutinied instead of following orders to attack the British Royal Navy.=sparked rebellions all over Germany and led to the collapse of the German government
forced the ruling monarch, Kaiser Wilhelm II, to abdicate on 9 November.
Following his abdication Friedrich Ebert, leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) became Chancellorand took power over Germany.
who were the november criminals
those who signed the armistice behind the back of the german army. 11 november 1918
explain formation of weimar republic
electrions in jan 1919 gave the sdp the most power, ebert becomes first democratically chosen president as the party wins majority seats in the election. = began to draw up new constitution in germany. (met in weimar because berlin was too unsafe after spartacist uprising)
august 1919- weimar republic is declared
explain formation of weimar republic
electrions in jan 1919 gave the sdp the most power, ebert becomes first democratically chosen president as the party wins majority seats in the election. = began to draw up new constitution in germany. (met in weimar because berlin was too unsafe after spartacist uprising)
august 1919- weimar republic is declared
strengths of weimar republic
A genuine democracy - Elections for parliament and president took place every four years and all Germans over 20 could vote.
The power of theReichstag - The Reichstag appointed the government and made all laws. This was very different from its powers before the war under the Kaiser.
A Bill of Rights - This guaranteed every German citizen freedom of speech and religion, and equality under the law.
weakness of weimar republic
Proportional representation - Each party got the same percentage of seats in parliament as the percentage of votes it received in an election. This meant there were lots of small parties in Parliament making it difficult to pass laws and led to weak and often short-lived governments.
Article 48 - This gave the president the power to act without parliament’s approval in an emergency. However, it did not clearly define what an ‘emergency’ was, so the power was overused, which weakened Germans’ confidence in democracy.
why did people not like the signing of the armistice
hated the government for signing the armistice in November 1918 - they called them the November criminals. = brave German army had been ‘stabbed in the back’ by the politicians.
- germany called treaty a diktat- forced upon germany, blamed ebert for accpeting terms
-Allies met to discuss how to punish Germany and on 28 June 1919: German government was forced to sign a peace settlement called the Treaty of Versailles.
=punished Germany militarily, territorially and financially.
=Germans felt their country had received a very harsh deal in the treaty and resented the government for agreeing to its conditions.
(However, German government had been given an ultimatum – sign within five days or risk invasion.)
explain the terms of the treaty of versailles
Blame - forced to accept the blame for starting the war under article 231 of the treaty, War Guilt Clause.
Reparations -had to pay for the damage suffered by Britain and France during the war. = the amount to be paid was set at £6.6 billion.
Armed Forces - army and navy were significantly reduced in size and its air force abolished.= maximum of 100,000 troops were allowed in the army and conscription (compulsory service) and tanks were banned. navy reduced to 15,000 , allowed only 6 battleships and no submarines.
Territory - lost land on all sides of its borders and its overseas colonies (other countries under Germany’s control).
lost empire
banned from rhineland
give examples of opposition to the weimar republic
left wing= spartacist’s league-communist
right-nationalist, monarchists(responsible for war defeat)=
freikorps(rightwing, ex army soldiers, hated communists)
explain the spartacist uprising of january 1919
1919- spartacist uprising
communist revolution led by rosa luxemburg and karl liebknecht trying to take over berlin, took control of newspaper headquarters, 50,000 workers went on strike,
Ebert asked from freikorps to stop rebellion, over 100 workers killed, freikorps use of violence led to split on left inbetween sdp and communists
may 1919 freikorps crushed all uprisngs
explain the rebellion
kapp putsch march 1920
right wing attempt to eradicate german government and reinstate kaiser
revolt led by wolfgang kapp
-freikorps marched into berlin to try overthrow weimar regime
(HOWEVER german workers opposed, held a strike, kapp forced to give up,
( Treaty of Versailles meant Germany’s army had to be significantly reduced and the Freikorps had to be disbanded.)
but even though kapp putsch failed, threat remained
other violence= freikorps assassinated walter rathneau(jewish foreign minister)
what happened when germany failed to pay its reparations in 1922
the french believed that germany was just choosing not to pay reparations so french and belgian troops occupied the ruhr, confiscated industrial goods as a form of reparations, occupied coal mines, railways, steel works and factories
what happened when germany failed to pay its reparations in 1922
the french believed that germany was just choosing not to pay reparations so french and belgian troops occupied the ruhr, confiscated industrial goods as a form of reparations, occupied coal mines, railways, steel works and factories
what happened in retaliation of the occupation of the ruhr
german government followed a policy of passive resistance where they refused to cooperate with foreign troops and in return government continued to pay their wages
(french retaliated in krupp steel works, those who refused to take orders were shot or expelled = 132 killed, 150,000 expelled )
what was a consequence of the occupation of the ruhr
they decided to print more money to pay the workers in the region, contributing to hyperinflation. A general strike (when all the workers in the country stopped work) was called, and political instability was rife
