17400482
| Question | Answer |
| Describe how Germany emerged from WWI (4) Tip: Known as the German Revolution | A last ditch offensive (Luddendorf) had failed. A British naval blockade was in place & working (German population starving). Kiel sailors mutinied after being ordered to sea. (Political turmoil - collapse of Government) Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated (9 Nov) Armistice signed (11 Nov) |
| Describe the ‘birth of the Weimar Republic’ (4) | German defeat in War - Kaiser W abdicates (9 Nov) Replaced by Friedrich Ebert, leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) who became Chancellor January elections - Friedrich Elbert forms a coalition New Constitution is drawn up in Weimar |
| Describe the Weimar Constitution (4) | It was very democratic (representative) All men & women over 20 could vote. Rights were ptotected in law by a Bill of Rights. (Freedom of speech, religion and equality in the eyes of the law. |
| Describe the role of the Weimar President (4) Reflect: Why might Hitler have wanted this role? | Elected every 7 years by German electorate. Appointed / Dismissed the Chancellor & Judges Could rule in an emergency using Article 48. Had control over the Armed Forces. |
| Explain why some people thought the Weimar Republic was weak from the outset (6) | Exp 1: The circumstances of its birth - Germany defeated. Right wing opposition - labelled it the ‘November Criminals’ / German army ‘stabbed in the back’. Exp 2 : Potential issues with the Constitution - too Democratic for a nation with no democratic traditions / Proportional Representation led to weak coalition government. |
| Describe the voting system of the Weimar Republic (4) | Very representative/ all men & women over 20. Elected their representatives for Reichstag & Reichsrat & President (every 7 years) System of Proportional Representation. (If you won 10% of vote you received 10% of the seats) |
| Explain why some people thought the Constitution was weak. (6) Explainantion One | Exp 1. 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. There were 20 different coalitions in the period 1919 - 33 |
| Explain why some people thought The Weimar Constitution was weak. (6) Explaination Two | 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. (Especially after 1929) |
| Who were the Spartacists? (4) | A left wing group in Weimar Germany. Opposed to the new Republic - did not think the German Revolution had gone far enough. Attempted an uprising in January 1919 Leaders Rosa Luxembourg & Karl Leibnecht. |
| Who were the Freikorps? (4) | Ex-soldiers - formed into ‘militias’ Approx. 100 such units in early Weimar period. (1.5 million men) Supported right wing politics. Used to suppress the Spartacist Uprising of Jan 1919. |
| Who was Wolfgang Kapp? (4) | A right wing political agitator. Opposed to the Treaty of Versailles. Deemed the Republic to be politically weak. Attempted a Putsch, forming a Freikorps group, in Berlin (March 1920) |
| Explain how the Republic was able to survive in 1919 - 20 (6) Think Spartacist / Kapp | Exp 1. The Spartactsist Uprising was put down by appealing to the ‘right’. Suppressed by The Freikorps. Exp 2. The Kapp Putsch (1920) was defeated as the Government called the workers out to a general strike. Without support his putsch was doomed. |
| Explain why The Weimar Republic experienced hyper-inflation (6) | Exp 1. Germany was already experiencing inflation as a result of paying for the war and having to make reparation payments. Exp 2. When Germany defaulted on reparations, the French & Belgians occupied the Rhur (1923). The Weimar government responded by paying striking workers - this triggered hyper-inflation. |
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