Term
Consequences of WW1 and the Treaty of Versailles:
Political Pt1 |
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Definition
- Sudden reversal of German fortunes ( Ludendorff- Armistice) = large impact on society, politics & economy
- German press told the people of victories not defeat = shock at the sudden change
- Abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II on 9th Nov 1918 = power passed to Council of People's representatives, a temp government- under Friedrich Ebert (leader of largest Reichstag party, SPD)
- Ebert signed the armistice to bring war to an end
- Germany appeared on verge of revolution like Russia had the year before
- German sailors mutinied after arrest of their leaders
- Workers in the cities established worker's councils and soviets in cities = concern for Ebert and did not want a full revolution, could hinder peace talks and cause chaos
- Ebert avoided revolution by keeping army support = support of industrialists
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Term
Invasion of the Ruhr and Hyperinflation
Pt1 |
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Definition
| - Germany fell behind in reparation payments in Jan 1923 - France and Belgium sent troops to occupy the Ruhr - Workers went on strike (passive-resistance)= temporarily united German people - added to economic problems, had to pay workers still, inflation rose quickly - French brought own workers in to operate mines and factories - KPD planed uprisings, DNVP planned to bring in dictatorship, plans for nationalist coup in Bavaria - New government 'a great coalition' formed under Gustav Stresemann as Chancellor, Passive- resistance ended - Cost of war and reparations caused inflation - Situation worsened by invasion of the Ruhr - Money became virtually worthless - Fixed income workers lost the most - support lost for the republic |
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Term
Stresemann and the 'golden years'
Pt1 |
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Definition
| Economy- - Created the Rentenmark in 1923, began to create stability Reichsmark introduced in 1924, complete stability Political- - Unstable coalitions meant nothing went through - SPD and DVP argued over social and economic policies, did not cooperate - Democratic parties did well= 1928 136 more seats than radical parties - Centre-party became more right-wing, struggled with DDP (left-liberal) and SPD parties - DVP lost support, special interest parties gained support (14% of vote in 1928) more than DVP and DDP combined - Hindenburg elected, respected military man - Didn't have huge respect for republic respected the constitution - Wanted SPD excluded from Gov, with DNVP more powerful - Election showed support for old, right-wing regimes, army still had influence - No more attempted revolutions after 1923 |
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Term
Impact of the Great Depression 1928-1933
Pt1 |
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Definition
| - USA started to recall loans - Unemployment accelerated by GD, 2.5 million by spring 1929 - 1932 nearly 33% unemployed workforce - 1930 3 million unemployed, 1933 6 million Rural areas suffered low prices and unemployment - Savings wiped by inflation, millions starved - Malnutrition and disease spread - Government revenue fell dramatically - Benefit system overwhelmed - July 1931 Austrian bank collapsed = caused panic, many withdrew their money, forcing more banks to close government had to support many - France blocked an emergency loan to Germany - One year suspension on reparations - 1932 financial experts agree for inter-allied debts and reparations to be cancelled - Great coalition of 1928 was a broad coalition of left-wing and moderate parties under socialist Chancellor Muller |
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Term
Rise and appeal of Nazism
Pt1 |
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Definition
| - Republic seemed unable to deal with NSDAP (Nazi party) - KPD also had same opportunity, support increased but Hitler took more advantage - NSDAP started as the German Worker's Party under leadership of Anton Drexler -Hitler attended their meetings after WW1, put in charge of propaganda - 1920 issued a 25-point programme, with the change of name to National Socialist German Worker's Party suggesting a mix of nationalist and socialist ideas to appeal to a wider audience - 1921 Hitler became leader, Munich Putsch unsuccessful, but trial brought national publicity to NSDAP and Hitler - Decided to change to taking power legitimately - Received a light sentence suggesting sympathy, but votes did not rise much during the golden years |
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Term
Papen, Schleicher and 'backstairs intrigue', Hitler appointed as Chancellor
Pt1 |
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Definition
| - Hindenburg willing to bring him into government as believed the Nazis were declining given the elections= makes them easy to control- Nazi results still fell with unemployment rising, suggests was not the main cause of success - Inability for Nazis to fund a full-scale election campaign after the July election the same year - Hitler knew he needed support to gain power - Schleicher appointed Chancellor he attempted to push some Nazis to join her government, hoping to give his regime more support, but Hitler did not allow this - Schleicher's attempt to gain SPD's support and trade unions worried industrialists as he promised economic reforms= began the process of the 'backstairs intrigue' - Papen began talks through intermediaries with Hitler, to gain revenge on Schleicher and remove him from power |
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Term
| Consequences of WW1 and the Treaty of Versailles: Social |
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Definition
| - Gap between rich and poor increased - Restrictions placed on workers earnings during the war - Factory owners involved in War production made huge profits - Workers pay stayed still or declined from inflation - British Naval Blockade tightened to pressure Germany to sign the armistice - Urban and rural division emerged- cities accused countryside of hoarding supplies - Large number of women called to work during the war to increase production - Argued that this damaged traditional values and society - War resulted in large numbers of deaths from soldiers (600,000 widows and 2 millions children fatherless) |
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Term
Consequences of WW1 and the Treaty of Versailles: Economic
Pt1 |
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Definition
| - War pensions put strain on government- consumed 1/3 of their budget - National income fell to 1/3 of what it was in 1913 - Industrial production fallen to 2/3 of pre-war levels - Germany virtually bankrupt, further worsened by treaty of Versailles, which took rich industrial land gave significant reparations - Ordinary Germans invested in savings, now eroded by inflation - 100 mark bond in 1914 worth only 30 marks by 1918- many Germans lost most or all wealth - Lost 10% of land, 12.5% of population, 16% of coal and 48% of iron industry - Overseas colonies lost - lost from each border area- Schleswig Danish population given plebicite and voted to return to Denmark - Upper Silesia ( coal and steelworks) given to Poland, as well as West Prussia and Posen - Land also lost to Czechoslovakia |
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Term
Challenges to Weimar: Communist revolts, Kapp Putsch, Munich Putsch
Pt1 |
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Definition
| - Spartacist revolt 1919 - Workers wanted soviet-style government, industry to be nationalised - Attempted to seize power in Berlin in 1919 - Series of strikes after Spartacists defeated - March 1920 threat from the Ruhr by the left-wing Serious threat? - Yes= KPD took control of the Ruhr in the 1920 threat - Suppression by Freikorps and Army viewed as undemocratic -No= All easily crushed by the Freikorps and army - Main leaders murdered- weakened organisation - Not enough support |
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Term
| Rise of Nazism- Propaganda |
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Definition
| - Hitler was charismatic and a great public speaker, used rallies and speeches to share message and gain support - Goebbels appointed to run propaganda - Ensured local groups were trained in the art - Adopted new techniques to spread the Nazi message - in 1932 Hitler flown by plane to attend 3-4 rallies per day - Promised to make Germany great again as well as attacked communism - Created disturbances at communist rallies so the SA could fix them, seen to be dealing with the communist threat |
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Term
Consequences of WW1 and the Treaty of Versailles:
Political Pt2 |
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Definition
- Workers given 8-hour days and trade union recognition in large companies
- Left-wing devided between a soviet-style revolution (KPD) and a parliamentary republic (Social democrats)- Elections held in Jan 1919, Moderate parties (EG: DDP, SPD and Catholic centre party) formed coalition government
- New constitution drawn up, many viewed with suspicion
- Represented significant change from old Autocratic system of Kaiser to new Democratic gov= faced opposition
- Old military leaders fostered stab-in-the-back myth = saying Ebert and other politicians betrayed Germany
- Opposition argued continuing fighting would have won them the war- republic let soldiers down |
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Term
Invasion of the Ruhr and Hyperinflation
Pt2 |
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Definition
| - Mark value declined from 8.9 marks to a dollar in 1919 to 493.2 in Jan 1922 - By 1923 4,200,000,000,000 marks were needed to buy one dollar - Black market and gambling flourished - Some profited by paying off loans - Provided extremist parties with appealing messages - Stresemann's actions helped republic survive |
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Term
Stresemann and the 'golden years'
Pt2 |
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Definition
Social democrats led coalition Gov after 1928, first time since 1920 - Middle class losing suspicion of Socialism - Wages rose for unionised workers - Work hours lowered - Welfare benefits and provisions brought in - Employers argued Welfare state too costly - Agricultural wages 1/2 of average by 1929 - Extremes still evident - Mayors in some areas introduced recovery programmes - dependant on money from abroad still Foreign relations- - DNVP disliked Stresemann's rapprochement w/France, Britain Cultural- - New art Forms -Challenged Paris as cultural capital (censorship had been removed) - Developments in architecture, painting, cinema and theatre - Bauhaus art school flourished from 1919-1933 (later closed by Nazis) - Vibrant nightclubs - Greater realism - Depicted war negatively - Jewish creative artists blamed - Nudity and risqué songs in nightclubs challenged tradition |
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Term
Impact of the Great Depression 1928-1933
Pt2 |
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Definition
| - SPD didn't want benefit cuts, DVP did, industrialist wanted them removed entirely - compromise failed - Resignation of cabinet when Hindenburg refused to allow the Chancellor emergency powers - ended democracy - Appointed Right-wing conservative Heinrich Bruning as Chancellor in 1930 March Stated if defeated he would use article 48 to dissolve Reichstag - Followed failure to win support for tax increases and welfare cuts - some argue wanted a crisis so reparations could be cancelled to prevent more inflation - Nazi party big winners in 1930 election, 12 seats to 107, Reichstag still divided - Bruning couldn't govern easily due to divide - Nazi party and KPD grew - Younger members joined paramilitary organisation re-election of Hindenburg in 1932 - Bruning dismissed in May from failure to fix GD |
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Term
Rise and appeal of Nazism
Pt2 |
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Definition
| - during time in prison wrote Mein Kampf (My struggle), an outline of his ideologies - Once out of prison, established a network of party-affiliated organisations, EG: Hitler Youth - Offered public work schemes,' Bread and Money ' - Middle-class feared communism, turned to Nazi party July 1932 emerged as largest single party from election - Hitler portrayed himself as a strong leader, and needed to fix the crisis - Nov 1932 elections appeared to show Nazi bubble had burst, popularity vote and number of seats declined |
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Term
Papen, Schleicher and 'backstairs intrigue', Hitler appointed as Chancellor
Pt2 |
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Definition
| - Schleicher unable to obtain a Reichstag majority - Hindenburg lost confidence in him-Hindenburg withdrew support from Schleicher who then resigned on 28th Jan 1933 - Secret meetings had taken place between Papen and Hitler for some time - Hitler refused to accept vice-chancellor, finally the two agreed that Hitler would lead a Nazi-Nationalist coalition with Papen as Vice-chancellor - Papen won support of the elites for this arrangement, arguing it was the best way to defeat leftist threats, but also allowed him to control Hitler - Hindenburg eventually agreed to this - Only two other Nazis in the cabinet at the time, Wilhelm Frick as Reich minister of the interior and Hermann Goring as Minister without portfolio and Prussian minister of interior- meant there were 8 non-Nazi cabinet members - Government still did not command the majority, therefore no radical legislation could be put in place |
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Term
Consequences of WW1 and the Treaty of Versailles: Economic
Pt2 |
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Definition
| - Forbidden to unite with Austria - previously-French territory returned - Military reduced to 100,000 army men, and 15,000 Navy men - Forbidden to have tanks, aircraft submarines or poison gas - Rhineland to be permanently demilitarised- allied troops to occupy for 15 years - 6,000 million to be paid in instalments - Germany could not afford - Forced to accept blame for the war (War Guilt Clause 231) - Caused huge resentment - Little choice but to sign as blockade still in force and allies poised to invade Germany - Dented National pride, split Germany, Still strongest power in Central Europe |
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Term
Challenges to Weimar: Communist revolts, Kapp Putsch, Munich Putsch
Pt3 |
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Definition
| - Munich Putsch 1923 - 1923 Bavaria were ruled by Conservative Catholic regime - Wanted to restore values of pre-war Germany - Home to extreme nationalist groups including Nazi party Began to plan Putsch in Sep 1923 to gain military dictatorship Coup started 8th Nov 1923 - Plot seemed to succeed at first - Hitler seized state governor - police broke up planned march into Munich, killed 16 Nazis - Hitler arrested few days after - Given minimum sentence and early probation - publicity gained through trial, Judiciary had sympathy for the movement Serious threat? Yes= Seized State governor - Judiciary seemed sympathetic, Hitler not charged strongly, Publicity given through trial No= 16 Nazis killed- Hitler imprisoned |
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Term
Challenges to Weimar: Communist revolts, Kapp Putsch, Munich Putsch
Pt2 |
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Definition
| Kapp Putsch 1920 - Government began to disband Freikorps - Group marched into Berlin, proclaimed Wolfgang Kapp as Chancellor - Rising defeated due to general strike - June 1920 more loss of support for democratic parties - Gains for right-wing support - Disputes with allies gave more support for right-wing parties- Government forced to flee - army refused to put down uprising- General strike called by TU - Bavaria= installed right-wing government, hotbed of radicalism Serious threat? -Yes= Bavaria right-wing government installed - Army refused to stop them - More right-wing support gained - Less support for democratic parties -No= Passive-resistance prevented full take over, most of Germany returned to government control |
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Term
Papen, Schleicher and 'backstairs intrigue', Hitler appointed as Chancellor
Pt3 |
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Definition
| - Hindenburg had the power to sack Hitler, which had been done in the last 12 months - Hitler appointed Chancellor 30th Jan 1933- Nazi party had been virtually bankrupt, economy had began to recover, and support for Nazi party was falling, this appointment seems avoidable - Hindenburg and Papen had however failed in previous attempts to create an authoritarian government, little choice to gain power |
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