Germany chapter 2

Question 1

what caused the german people to suffer during world war one?

Answer 1

• the British used navy ships to stop supply ships reaching German ports
• this caused shortages of food, medicine, and clothing

Question 2

what were two examples of opposition to the first world war in germany?

Answer 2

• in 1915, 500 women gathered outside of the german parliament building and said they wanted their men back from the trenches
• a year later, 10,000 workers assembled in Berlin to shout ‘down with war, down with the government’ - police assembled quickly and made arrests to calm the situation

Question 3

how were living condition in germany by 1918?

Answer 3

very poor, germany was close to collapse, people were surviving off of turnips and bread, and there was a deadly flu epidemic that was spreading across the country

Question 4

what was the opinion of General Ludendorff on their position in the war?

Answer 4

he told the german politicians there was no way they could win the war - he believed the other countries would treat germany more fairly if it became more democratic (so the kaiser would have to share his power with the gov)

Question 5

who was general ludendorff?

Answer 5

a german army general and war hero

Question 6

did the kaiser share his power?

Answer 6

yes (reluctantly),he allowed the main political parties to form a new gov and transferred some of his power to the reichstag

Question 7

were the german people happy with how the kaiser shared his power?

Answer 7

not really, the changes came too late to satisfy the german people and more demonstrations happened, and some said he should give up his throne, others wanted to overthrow him in a revolution

Question 8

what happened on 28th October, 1918?

Answer 8

a german navy ship was ordered out to sea from Keil in Northern Germay to attack british ships, but the sailors refused to do it (mutiny)

Question 9

what did the mutiny from 28th oct 1918 do?

Answer 9

the news of the mutiny spread and in ports nearby other sailors began to refuse to follow orders, and workers in the town supported them. the soldiers who were sent to stop the protests joined their mutiny, and in just six days, workers’ and soldiers’ councils were governing cities all over the country. the kaiser’s army generals refused to support him

Question 10

when did the Kaiser abdicate?

Answer 10

9th November 1918

Question 11

what happened on the 9th of November 1918?

Answer 11

the kaiser abdicated and secretly left the country

Question 12

who was the leader of the SPD? (in 1918)

Answer 12

Freidrich Ebert

Question 13

who took the place of the Kaiser?

Answer 13

Freidrich Ebert (temporarily - he promised to hold elections soon)

Question 14

what were the three main impacts of the war on germany?

Answer 14

• germany was virtually bankrupt
• the war had divided german society further
• Germany had become politically unstable

Question 15

why was germany virtually bankrupt by the end of the war?

Answer 15

• german factories were exhausted by the war, they had been producing guns, bullets, and shells, not goods to sell abroad to make money
• germany had lent money to some of it’s allies
• germany had borrowed money, and would have to pay it bak eventually
• the war left 600,000 war widows and 2,000,000 children without fathers, war pensions would cost the gov a lot of money

Question 16

how did the war divide german society further?

Answer 16

• some factory owners made a fortune during the war, while other german workers had restrictions placed on their wages
• women worked in the factories during the war, and some germans believed this damaged trad family values

Question 17

how did the war make Germany more politically unstable?

Answer 17

• before the war, Germany had been a stable, rich nation but now there was mutiny and revolution
• many ex-soldiers and civilians felt Germany could have won the war, they felt betrayed that their politicians (the nov criminals) who ended it and refused to support them

Question 18

what were Ebert’s first actions as leader of Germany?

Answer 18

signing the armistice, then he ordered improvements to working conditions, help for the unemployed, improved housing, ad more food supplies. he guaranteed free speech, freedom of religion, and arranged elections for a new german gov

Question 19

what did Germany become after the kaiser abdicated?

Answer 19

a democratic republic

Question 20

what political ideology did the Spartacus league believe in?

Answer 20

communism

Question 21

what was the Spartacus league named after?

Answer 21

a roman gladiator who led a rebellion of slaves against the slave masters of ancient Rome

Question 22

who did the spartacists want to lead Germany?

Answer 22

a small council of soldiers and workers (not a large parliament)

Question 23

when did the spartacists try to take over the capital?

Answer 23

6th January 1919

Question 24

which city did the Spartacists try to take over?

Answer 24

Berlin

Question 25

how did the spartacists try to take over Berlin?

Answer 25

thousands of them roared the streets, firing guns, and trying to take over important buildings

Question 26

how did Ebert respond to the spartacist's uprising?

Answer 26

he sent in 2000 Freidkorps soldiers to attack them, after 3 days of brutal fighting, the freidkorps recaptured buildings and arrested the spartacist leaders

Question 27

who were the spartacist leaders?

Answer 27

Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht

Question 28

what did the freidkorps do to Luxemburg and Liebknecht?

Answer 28

beat them savagely then murder them

Question 29

which party won the january 1919 election?

Answer 29

the SPD (Ebert's party)

Question 30

when did Ebert and other elected politicians meet up in Weimar?

Answer 30

11th February 1919

Question 31

who could vote?

Answer 31

all men and women over 20

Question 32

what kind of representation did the weimar gov have?

Answer 32

proportional representation

Question 33

how often was the president elected?

Answer 33

every 7 years

Question 34

what was article 48?

Answer 34

if the president decided the country was in a state of emergency they could run the country with no input from other politicians

Question 35

what did the chancellor need to introduce new laws?

Answer 35

the support of at least half the MPs/politicians

Question 36

how often were members of the reichstag elected?

Answer 36

every 4 years

Question 37

which parties supported the republic?

Answer 37

Social democrats, German democratic , centre party, People's party (though would want the kaiser back in the future)

Question 38

which parties did not like the republic?

Answer 38

the commies, the national people's party, the nationalist socialist german worker's party (the nazis)

Question 39

what were the terms of the ToV?

Answer 39

- blame clause - reparations - germany can only have a small army (100,000 soldiers) - max 6 battleships - no submarines - no tanks - no airforce - no colonies abroad - lost land - demilitarisation of rhineland

Question 40

when did the gov sign the treaty?

Answer 40

28th June 1919

Question 41

why did the germans hate the tov?

Answer 41

- it was too harsh - it was forced on them (diktat) - they didn't think they had lost

Question 42

how much did germany have to pay in reparations?

Answer 42

£6.6 billion

Question 43

how much was the first instalment of reparations?

Answer 43

2 billion gold marks (in gold, coal, iron, and wood)

Question 44

when was the first instalment of reparations paid?

Answer 44

in 1921

Question 45

when was the second instalment of reparations supposed to be paid?

Answer 45

1922

Question 46

how many French and Belgian soldiers marched into the Ruhr and when?

Answer 46

January 1923, 60,000 men

Question 47

why did the French and Belgians invade the Ruhr?

Answer 47

because Germany had not paid the second instalment of reparations

Question 48

what did the invasion of the Ruhr cause?

Answer 48

hyperinflation

Question 49

how many marks did a loaf of bread cost in December 1921, September 1923, and November 1923?

Answer 49

1921: 4 marks Sept 1923: 1.5 million marks Nov 1923: 201 billion marks

Question 50

what did the German government do after the invasion of the Ruhr?

Answer 50

they ordered it's workers not to fight back but to go on strike (passive resistance)

Question 51

how many strikers were killed by the French and Belgian soldiers?

Answer 51

100

Question 52

how many strikers were thrown out of their homes by the French and Belgian soldiers?

Answer 52

15,000

Question 53

what did the gov do in order to keep paying their workers?

Answer 53

they printed large amounts of money

Question 54

why did the gov need to print out money?

Answer 54

to pay the strikers and because Germany was running short of money because the Ruhr wasn't producing materials to trade with + because of shops raising prices

Question 55

what did the shopkeepers do in response to the strikers after they started spending their money quickly?

Answer 55

they raised their prices

Question 56

what did the gov do in response to rising prices?

Answer 56

print more money

Question 57

who did the germans blame for the hyperinflation?

Answer 57

the Weimar gov, so they lost a lot of support

Question 58

how much did one egg cost in 1921, sept 1923, nov 1923?

Answer 58

1921: 0.6 marks sept 1923: 4,000,000 marks nov 1923: 320 billion marks

Question 59

who suffered because of hyperinflation?

Answer 59

- people with savings - elderly people who lived off pensions - small businesses

Question 60

who benefited from hyperinflation?

Answer 60

- those with debts - farmers