List FIVE difficulties of ruling Wilhelmine Germany.
- Kaiser Wilhelm interfered
- It was weak and complex (Kaiser, Chancellor, Bundesrat, Reichstag, Army)
- Prussia’s needs and Prussian militarism dominated the government
- The Reichstag could refuse laws and had to agree the Budget
- Social and economic factors, and the rise of Socialism, was instability
List FOUR things Caprivi did as part of the ‘New Course’
- allowed The Anti-Socialist law to lapse in 1890.
- negotiated trade treaties.
- Sunday work, work for children under 13, and more than 11 hours work for women, were forbidden.
- In 1893 he tried to reduce the length of national service from 3 years to 2.
List FIVE reasons Caprivi resigned.
- Conservatives were calling him a Socialist
- Agrarian League was angry that food prices were falling
- The Army was angry at the reduction in National Service
- Caprivi argued with Wilhelm – Wilhelm’s courtiers were telling him to take on ‘personal rule
- In 1894, Wilhelm told Caprivi to draw up an anti-Socialist ‘Subversion Bill’. Although he persuaded the Kaiser to drop the idea, he resigned
What was the name for Wilhelm’s expansionist policy to give Germany ‘a place in the sun’?
What was the Kruger Telegram?
- When the Boers of South Africa defeated a British Raid into their territory in 1895, Wilhelm sent a congratulatory telegram to Paul Kruger, the Boer president.
What did Wilhelm promise in Jerusalem in 1897?
- to protect Protestants, Catholics … and 300 million Muslims
List TWO things Wilhelm did to intervene in China:
- Germany occupied the port of Kiaochow in China and forced the Chinese government to lease it to Germany as a naval base in the Far East
- He sent troops to fight the Boxer Rebellion (1900), telling them to act “like the Huns”
List TWO times Wilhelm tried intervene in Morocco:
- In 1905 Wilhelm visited Morocco and promised to protect it (led to the Algeciras Conference, 1906)
- In 1911 when he sent the gunboat Panther to Agadir.
How did Wilhelm infuriate all British and all Germans at the same time?
- Daily Telegraph interview, 1908
List FIVE reasons for Weltpolitik:
- A personal obsession of the Kaiser, who wanted “a place in the sun” for Germany
- Needed to protect Germany’s overseas possessions
- A symbol of Germany’s power and parity with Britain
- Enthusiastically supported in Germany by the Navy League and German nationalists, and by industrialists wanting business contracts
- Needed to break a blockade in the event of a war
Who formulated the Navy Laws, and what effect did they have?
- Admiral Tirpitz
- By 1914, Germany had built 44 battleships, 58 Cruisers, 72 U-boats and 144 torpedo boats
List FIVE problems with Weltpolitik
- Created tension with other powers, especially Britain
- Created a naval arms race with Britain, which immediately started building Dreadnought battleships
- Created tension with the German Army, which resented the money spent on the Navy
- Created huge government debt, and extra taxes – eventually the Reichstag refused to increase spending any further
- Caused tension with the Reichstag, esp. the SDP, and esp. after the Daily Telegraph interview
List FIVE failures of Wilhelm’s foreign policy:
- Cancelling the Treaty with Russia meant that Russia mobilised against Germany in July 1914
- Weltpolitik gathered against him a much-more-powerful Entente of enemies
- The Schlieffen plan brought Belgium and Britain into the War and its failure led to a ‘war of attrition’ that Germany lost
- Wilhelm’s personal appointment of Falkenhayn as Army Chief led to the disastrous Battle of Verdun (1916)
- His High Seas Fleet failed to break the Blockade, and the U-boat campaign brough America into the war
List FOUR aspects of Military rule in Germany during the war
- Censorship;
- moral policing of women;
- military control over civilian workers (Patriotic Auxiliary Service Law, December 1916);
- martial law in Berlin (Jan 1918)
List THREE ways Germans suffered during WWI:
- Hunger: In 1916, Germans suffered the ‘Turnip Winter’, and by 1918, Germans were living on K-Brot, potatoes and berries
- Disease: 750,000 Germans died from hunger and disease, and scurvy, tuberculosis and dysentery were widespread
- Economy: War ruined trade, the economy declined 25%, the government was bankrupt, there was a shortage of male workers, and inflation.
When was the Kiel mutiny which precipitated Germany’s defeat in World War I?
When and where was the Weimar Republic declared?
Who became President of the Weimar Republic in 1919?
List FIVE differences in the Constitution, 1914 versus 1919.
- Elected president not hereditary Kaiser
- Chancellor responsible to the Reichstag, not to the Kaiser
- Reichstag made laws and controlled the government (not the Kaiser)
- Proportional representation (before only males over 25 could vote)
- Bill of Rights
What was the Reichstag?
What did the Weimar’s Bill of Rights promise?
- Equality before the law, and political and religious freedom
Name FIVE problems the Weimar government faced, 1919-1923
- Ineffective Constitution
- Left-wing rebellions
- Right-wing rebellions
- Invasion and hyperinflation of 1923
- Munich Putsch
Which article of the Constitution gave emergency powers to the President?
What is ‘proportional voting’ and how did it damage the Weimar Republic?
- parties got Reichstag seats, not by winning constituencies, but in proportion to the number of votes they got nation-wide
Who was leader of the army in the 1920s, and how did he damage the Republic?
- von Seeckt - he was right-wing and did not put down right-wing rebellions
Who led the Spartacist Revolt in 1919?
- Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Leibknecht
Where did a Communist ‘People’s Government’ come to power in 1919?
What Communist group rebelled in the Ruhr in 1920?
- Red Army - a paramilitary group
Who led a Freikorps brigade to rebel against the Versailles Treaty, March 1920?
Which SPD foreign minister was assassinated in 1922, and why?
- Walter Rathenau - becase he made a treaty with Communist Russia
Why did many right-wing troublemakers get away with their crimes?
- Because right-wing judges sympathised with their cause
Where did the French invade in January 1923?
What was ‘hyperinflation’, and what caused it?
- Runaway rising prices. It was caused by the government printing money to pay striking workers, who had gone on strike to oppose the French invasion
What did Bruno Buchrucker do?
- led the Black Reichswehr rebellion in Berlin, October 1923
Who founded the Nazi party?
Which FOUR groups of people did Hitler blame for Germany’s problems?
- the Allies who enforced the Versailles Treaty
- The November Criminals who signed it
- The Communists
- the Jews (who he said were behind it all)
Give SEVEN causes of the Weimar government’s problems
- Communists wanted world revolution/hated the new government
- Right-wing politicians hated the Versailles Treaty and wanted the Kaiser back
- Officials were disloyal and hated the government
- Army led by General von Seeckt was unreliable
- Proportional representation prevented one party getting a majority
- Occupation of the Ruhr humiliated the Gernans and led to hyperinflation
- Printing money to pay strikers.
How many of the 25-points of the programme of the Nazi Party can you remember?
- Unity of all German-speaking peoples
- Abolition of the Treaty of Versailles
- Conquer land to feed Germany’s population
- Only Germans (not Jews) can be citizens
- Special laws for non-Germans
- Only Germans can vote, be employed or hold public office
- Expel foreigners to give all Germans job and a decent standard of living
- Foreigners who have come to Germany since 1914 must be expelled
- All citizens have equal rights and duties
- The first duty of a citizen is to work
- No payments to unemployed people
- War-profiteers give back the money they made
- Nationalisation of industries
- Large companies must share their profits
- Pensions must be improved
- Help for small shops and businesses
- Give small farmers their land
- Punish criminals by death
- Reform of the law to make it more ‘German’
- Improve education so that all Germans can get a job
- Improve people’s health by making it law for people to do sport
- A new People’s Army
- German newspapers free of foreign influence
- Freedom of religion
- Strong central government with unrestricted power
What were the FOUR principles of Mein Kampf?
- National socialism & loyalty to Germany
- Racism; all races inferior to Aryans
- Lebensraum; living space in Poland & Russia
- Strong government - Obedience to Fuhrer & use of armed force.
Who were the thugs of the Nazi party who terrorised opponents?
- Sturmabteilung - the Stormtroopers (SA)
Which FIVE groups supplied most supporters of the Nazis?
- Skilled workers
- Businessmen
- Lower employees (eg shop assistants)
- Unskilled workers
- Farmers
Give FIVE causes of the Munich Putsch
- Weakness of Weimar republic [ILRI]
- Nazi Party growing - to 55,000 (including SA/ Ludendorff)
- Stresemann called off resistance to the French invasion
- Mussolini's example
- The planned Bavarian rebellion was called off
Which right-wing group rebelled in Berlin in 1923?
What three Bavarian leaders did Hitler try to get to join the Munich Putsch?
List FOUR results of the Munich Putsch
- Nazis defeated - Hitler arrested, imprisoned and forbidden to speak
- Hitler used his trial as a propaganda exercise
- Mein Kampf published
- Hitler began to try to get power by being elected
Suggest FOUR reasons the Weimar republic survived
- Freikorps put down Communist rebellions of 1919-20
- Army put down Communist revolts of 1923
- Left-wing strikers defeated the Kapp Putsch in 1920
- Stresemann brought stable, prosperous government
List SIX things Stresemann achieved
- Dawes Plan 1924
- Controlled inflation
- Got the French to leave the Ruhr
- Germany joined the League of Nations
- Economic growth
- Reforms made life better for ordinary people
For what were the following famous: Gropius, Marlene Dietrich, Otto Dix and Erich Maria Remarque?
- Gropius - architect (founder of the Bauhaus school of art & architecture)
- Marlene Dietrich - singer/ filmstar
- Otto Dix - painted horrific pictures of trenches
- Erich Maria Remarque - wrote All Quiet on the Western Front
What modern film was set in 1930 Berlin?
Explain FIVE ways Hitler reorganised the Nazi Party, 1924–1928.
- Set a fanatical personal bodyguard, the SS
- Took over other right-wing parties
- Set up Hitler Youth
- Josef Goebbels developed propaganda
- Gained the support of wealthy businessmen
How did Hitler appeal to German businessmen?
- They saw him as a safeguard against Communism
Name FOUR German firms or individuals who financed Hitler.
- Fritz von Thyssen (steel)
- Alfred Krupp (steel)
- IG Faben (chemicals)
- Opel
Name TWO non-German firms or individuals who financed Hitler.
- Henry Ford (Ford cars)
Irenee du Pont (General Motors)
Who drew the Nazi posters?
- Hans Schweitzer - 'Mjolnir'
What were the NINE reasons Hitler came to power in 1933
- Long-term bitterness about Versailles
- Ineffective Constitution of Weimar Republic
- Money from rich businessmen
- Propaganda machine
- Programme which offered something to everyone
- Attacks on opponents by SA
- Personal qualities - especially speaking ability
- Economic Depression
- Recruited by Hindenburg
How many unemployed were there in Germany in 1928 and in 1932?
- 2 million in 1928; 6 million in 1932
How many seats did the Nazi party have in the Reichstag in 1928 and in 1933?
Suggest FOUR personal qualities which helped Hitler come to power.
- Brilliant speaker
- Powerful eyes
- Good organiser
- Driven determination
What caused the economic depression in 1929?
- Wall Street Crash caused American banks to call in loans
Who was Chancellor in 1932?
Who was President in 1932?
What date did Hitler become Chancellor?
List the EIGHT steps by which Hitler turned his position as Chancellor into that of Fuhrer?
- Reichstag Fire - 27 Feb 1933
- General Election - 5 March 1933
- Enabling Act - 23 March 1933
- Gestapo - 26 April 1933
- Trade Unions banned - 2 May 1933
- Opposition banned - 14 July 1933
- Night of the Long Knives - 30 June 1934
- Fuhrer - 19 August 1934
List SIX ways the Nazis kept control of the German people?
- Political control - the one-Party State
- Terror
- Propaganda
- Youth
- Workforce
- Religion
List SIX German social groups affected by the Nazi regime.
- Nazi Party members
- Ordinary people
- Women
- Youth
- Opponents
- 'Untermensch'
|