GCSE REVISION
WEIMAR GERMANY
1919 - 1923
Try and use the following tips to help you with your revision:
Be motivated – why do you want to succeed – keep this in mind when the going gets tough!
Plan your times when you are going to revise - and stick to it. A revision timetable is a really good idea. It stops you putting your work off!
Work somewhere quiet – where you will not be distracted.
This means no phone, no facebook, no MSN, no music.
Try and work with someone else – test each other / help each other / motivate each other.
Use the VLE – there is loads of stuff on there including past papers.
Think how you best learn. Use posters, stick it notes, colour, index cards, spider diagrams.
Get your parents on board – get them to test you.
Remember your priorities over the next few weeks – don’t stay out late. Some things will have to be sacrificed!
Don’t just revise a topic – make sure you focus on the types of questions you could get asked on a topic and practice answering them. Remember how to structure answers. Make sure you can answer all the questions on page 4.
Practice, practice and practice more.
Exam information.
The exam lasts I hour and 45 minutes.
It costs as 25% of your total GCSE.
In that time you will have to answer 6 questions.
1a. What does Source A tell you about ……. (4)
1b. Describe …………………………………… (6)
1c. Explain the effects of …………………..… (8)
1d. Explain why ……………………………….. (8)
2. A choice of two questions
Explain how ….. (8)
Explain why…. (8)
3. A choice of two questions
Was ….. the main reason why ……….
Explain your answer.
You may use the following information to help you. (16)
THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC, 1918 - 1923
The Weimar Republic was set up in 1919.
It lasted until 1933.
Why was the Weimar Republic set up?
In October 1918 Prince Max of Baden, head of the new German government, asked President Wilson of America about ending the war. Wilson said he would not discuss peace terms while Kaiser Wilhelm was still in charge.
The Kaiser abdicated on 9th November 1918.
For the first time in its history Germany no longer had a king.
On the same day that the Kaiser abdicated Philip Scheidemann, a member of the Social Democratic Party announced that Germany was now a republic.
The leader of the SPD, Friedrich Ebert, then announced there would be elections in January 1919 for a Constituent Assembly – a German government.
The election took place in January 1919.
The SPD gained the most votes but did not achieve an overall majority. Therefore there had to be a coalition government.
The new President was Ebert.
He asked Scheidemann to be Chancellor.
Berlin was too dangerous for a meeting of the Constituent Assembly to take place. Their first meetings took place in the town of Wemar. Which is why the new republic became known as the Weimar Republic.
What were the key features of the Weimar Constitution?
A constitution is a legal document that lays down the rules by which a country is governed.
It was needed because Germany no longer had a King.
Germany’s constitution was drawn up by Germany’s new Constituent Assembly in 1919 following the elections of January 1919.
It was drawn up in August 1919.
Some of the key points of the constitution were that:
1. For the first time Germany became a democracy. Suffrage was given to all men and women over 20. They voted to decide who would be the members of the Reichstag. Elections were to be held every four years through the system of Proportional Representation.
2. Germany had a President who was also voted for by the German people. Elections for the President took place every 7 years. Article 48 gave the President the power to suspend the constitution in times of an emergency. He could make laws and keep the Chancellor in power without the support of the Reichstag.
3. Germany had a Chancellor who was chosen by the President. He had to have the support of the majority of the Reichstag.
What were the consequences of the Weimar Constitution?
It made the Weimar Republic weak. This was because:
A lot of people didn’t like it – it laced support.
People on the right side of politics didn’t like it. They wanted a strong leader. The Generals certainly didn’t like it. They had been used to ruling with the King and didn’t like the fact that Germany was a democracy. This led to lots of attempted revolutions by the right wing nationalists, such as the attempted coup by Kapp in 1920 and by Hitler in 1923. The right wing were willing to support Hitler as they saw him as the means to destroy democracy.
People on the left side of politics didn’t like it. They didn’t think it had done enough to create a socialist government. This led to lots of attempted revolutions by the communists, eg the Spartacists in 1919.
Proportional Representation made Germany weak as it created coalition governments which were weak. In 1929 many German people blamed PR for creating a weak coalition government which was unable to deal with the problems caused by the Wall Street Crash.
It gave the President too much power. He could suspend democracy and rule by decree.
By the time Hitler came to power in 1933 the German people were used to the President ruling by decree. Democracy had already collapsed. This made it very easy for Hitler to establish a Dictatorship.
What were the key features of the Treaty of Versailles?
The name of Germany’s peace treaty.
The details of the peace treaty were decided at a meeting held between January and June 1919 at the Palace of Versailles in France.
The ‘Big Three’ who decided what should go in the Treaty were Georges Clemenceau, Woodrow Wilson and David Lloyd George. .
The Germans were really angry when they found out what the terms of the Peace Treaty were.
This was because:
They expected to get a peace treaty based on Woodrow Wilson’s 14 Points – they argued that they had only agreed to the armistice because they thought they were getting the 14 Points.
They had not been allowed to take part in the discussions. They called it in Diktat – a dictated peace.
The Treaty of Versailles imposed very harsh terms on the Germans:
- Article 231 – the War Guilt Clause – this said the Germans had to accept blame for starting the war
- they lost 13% of its land and 48% of its iron production
- more than 6 million people were no longer living in Germany
- the army was not to exceed 100 000
- reparations were fixed at £6.6 billion
- all German colonies were to be given to the Allies
- Germany was not allowed to form a union with Austria – Anschluss
The German government at first refused to agree to the terms of the treaty. However the allies told the German leaders that refusal would lead to a renewal of hostilities and an immediate invasion of Germany.
What were the consequences of the Treaty of Versailles?
It made the German people very angry.
It made the German people feel ashamed.
The German people didn’t know that the Allies had told the German government that they would invade if they didn’t accept it. Criticism of the government began to grow and the idea that the politicians had stabbed the army in the back (Dolchstoss) really took hold.
The Weimar government had already been blamed for signing the armistice and had been called the November Criminals. The Treaty of Versailles confirmed that the politicians were weak. Many Germans began to blame democracy for making weak. They said that the Kaiser would never have agreed to the Treaty.
This helped Hitler when he promised to destroy democracy and provide strong leadership.
The Spartacist Uprising
On 9th January 1919 a group of Communists, known as the Spartacists, attempted to overthrow Ebert and the Weimar government, and establish a Communist Revolution.
Their leaders were Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg.
Why did the uprising take place?
They wanted to establish a Communist state.
They were inspired by the success of the Communist revolution in Russia.
Many people did not like the new Germany that was emerging in the aftermath of the war.
Ebert had made a deal with the army that he would support and supply the army if the army promised to help him put down any revolutions. This therefore made the new government dependent on the army.
December 1918 the Spartacists demonstrated against the government. This led to clashes with the army. 16 Spartacists were killed.
What happened?
Ebert used the Reichswehr (the regular army) and the Berlin Freikorps ( a paramilitary force formed from demobilised soldiers at the end of the war) to put down the rebellion.
The Spartacists were no match for the army and Freikorps. Within days the rising was over.
Liebknecht and Luxemburg were captured and killed.
What were the consequences?
The new assembly moved to Weimar.
It made the right wing determined to stop the rise of communism.
It made the left wing determined to bring about a communist state.
During the early 1920s there were lots of right wing and left wing risings.
March 1919: a Communist uprising in Berlin – more than a 1000 people killed.
It made people even more angry with the Weimar politicians and created a lack of support for the Weimar Republic.
The Kapp Putsch.
In March 1919 a leading politician, Wolfgang Kapp, and the leader of the Berlin Freikorps, Ehrhardt, drew up a plan to overthrow the Weimar government, seize control of Berlin and form a right government with Kapp as the Chancellor. They were also supported by General Luttwitz who was the leader of the Reichswehr in Berlin.
Why did the Kapp Putsch take place?
They wanted to form a right wing government.
The Weimar government announced measures in March 1920 to reduce the size of the army and disband the Freikorps.
Many people on the right wing believed the Weimar government was weak. It was blamed for the armistice and the Treaty of Versailles.
What happened?
13th March 1920: Kapp successfully seized control of Berlin.
Ebert asked the new regular army to put down the Putsch but the Commander in Chief refused.
Ebert then asked the people of Berlin not to support the Putsch and to go on strike. The trade unionists and civil servants agreed as they did support the government. For this reason the Putsch failed.
What were the consequences of the Putsch?
More than 400 officers of the Reichswehr were involved in the Putsch but very few were punished. This was because the government knew they needed its support against the communists to stay in power. In other words it depended on a group of people who didn’t like it anyway.
The right wing continued to despise the Weimar government. Right wing uprisings continued over the next few years, including the Munich Putsch.
The invasion of the Ruhr
In 1921 the French sent soldiers into the Ruhr, Germany’s main industrial area.
A further invasion took place in 1923.
Why did the invasion take place?
The Germans had failed to pay reparations.
Germany claimed that they couldn’t pay. This was because of inflation which had begun in the war and was made worse by the government’s decision to print more money.
The consequences of the invasion
The French occupation was met with passive resistance.
The Germans carried out industrial sabotage and went on strike. The French met these actions with violence. The occupation therefore stirred up old hatreds and reminded people of the war.
The strike meant that the economy was disrupted even further. The government had to help the strikers and their families. This could only be done by printing even money.
This caused hyperinflation. Prices rose rapidly.
Anyone who had any savings lost everything. The middle classes became even more cross with the Weimar government.
It encouraged Hitler to attempt a coup – he believed he would have popular support.
However the impact was short lived. In the summer of 1923 Stresemann became Chancellor of Germany and quickly enabled an economic recovery.
The Munich Putsch
On the evening of 8th November 1923 Hitler and 600 Nazis seized control of a huge beer cellar in Munich where von Kahr, von Lossow and von Seisser were attending a political meeting.
Why did it take place?
Hitler wanted to seize control of Germany. He hated the Weimar Republic. He hated the Treaty of Versailles
He had been impressed by Mussolini’s seizure of power in Italy.
He knew he had the SA as armed support.
He hoped he would have popular support following the French occupation of the Ruhr.
He believed that the Nazi Party was now strong enough to take control.
Hitler believed he would be supported by:
Gustav von Kahr – the head of the Bavarian government
Von Lossow – the army chief
Von Seisser – the police chief
What happened?
Hitler placed the three leaders in a room and won promises of support for his planned takeover from them after they had been held at gunpoint. The leaders were then allowed to leave the building.
The following day von Seisser and von Lossow changed their minds and organised troops to police to resist Hitler’s planned march through Munich.