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Year 10 GCSE History Paper 3 – Weimar and Nazi Germany Information Booklet

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Year 10 GCSE History Paper 3 – Weimar and Nazi Germany Information Booklet GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany Year 10 GCSE History Paper 3 – Weimar and Nazi Germany Information booklet 1 GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany KEY TOPIC 1.1 INFO: The Origins of the Weimar Republic, 1918-19 Germany had been dominant for large parts of WW1. Although many German soldiers had died during WW1 (3 million) most of the fighting had been in France. America had joined the war in 1917 and with their help, Germany was slowly losing land and retreating by October 1918. This was not reported to the German people so they were shocked when they finally surrendered. The situation was made even worse by the British navy surrounding Germany to prevent food getting in (a blockade) which led to serious food shortages and hardship for ordinary German people. The Kaiser had always controlled the government, army and navy but it October 1918 politicians took control of the government for the first time as the military situation got worse. Led by Prince Max of Baden they wanted to end the war however the leader of America, President Wilson, refused to discuss surrender until Kaiser Wilhelm (the man Wilson blamed for starting the war) was removed. To make matters worse, the Germany navy was asked to make one final attack on the British navy. With an end to the war being discussed and with no chance of victory the German sailors in a city called Kiel mutinied. This meant they stopped following their leader’s orders. Other mutinies broke out all across Germany as soldiers and the German people refused to fight until a surrender was agreed. This was known as the German Revolution, violence revolt spread across Germany. Finally on November 9th 1918 Kaiser Wilhelm realised he had no support to remain as King of Germany. With the pressure from Wilson to resign in order to have peace talks also, he gave up his role and left Germany. A temporary revolutionary government took Kaiser Wilhelm’s place, and signed the armistice (an agreement to stop fighting) on 11th November. Germany assumed, like everyone else, that they would be part of the peace talks. The German people had not heard any news of the German army’s defeats and were shocked when they quickly surrendered. By 1919, it was clear that a more permanent government was needed. On 19th January, in Weimar, a new ‘Weimar Republic’ came together for the first time. They had been voted for by the people of Germany, and were mostly made up of democratic parties (who had gained 80% of the vote). This is how Germany’s Weimar Republic was born. See the diagram below for an overview of its structure: The Weimar Republic was a very democratic system, giving it several strengths. However, some aspects of this democracy would make the Weimar Republic difficult to rule. See below for the strengths and weaknesses of the Weimar Republic: 2 GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany Strengths Weaknesses All Germans had equal rights, including the … but, in 1919 many people did not want the democratic right to vote… Republic to be in charge of Germany. It was not sensible to allow everyone to vote when some wanted to destroy the Republic. Proportional representation made voting fair, This meant there was never one strong party but lots of it meant that every party got a proportion of different smaller parties. This meant Parliament would seats in parliament based on how many votes always be based on coalitions and agreements and lead to they received. having no one strong majority. Germany was used to have a strong leader in This gave the President huge amounts of power. If the charge like the new role of the President. A President did not support democracy he could make strong president was needed to take control himself a dictator. of Germany given all the different problems it faced. Germany was made up of states with their The states could turn against the central government. own traditions and ideas, it was right each state had a say in how its area was ruled Article 48 meant the President could quickly This meant that the President could ignore democracy and make laws to solve problems without having just make any law he wished. to ask anyone else to agree to it. KEY TOPIC 1.1 TASKS: The Origins of the Weimar Republic, 1918-19 1. Make a mind-map with ‘strengths and weaknesses of the Weimar Republic’ in the middle 2. Make flash cards for all of the key facts in topic 1.1 and test yourself KEY TOPIC 1.2 INFO: The early challenges to the Weimar Republic, 1919-23 The First World War had left Germany with many problems. As they took over just after the war, this would mean that the Weimar Republic could easily be blamed for the issues facing Germany. Here is a summary of the problems they faced, and the uprisings that resulted: Stab in the back myth Many people were outraged by the serious punishments of the Treaty of Versailles. They blamed their politicians for accepting the Treaty of Versailles (even if they had no choice). People began to call them November Criminals as they also blamed them for surrendering in the first place. These are some of the harsh punishments described in the ToV: T - Territory R - Reparations A - Army W – War Guilt L – League of Nations • All colonies given to Britain• and Had to pay £6.6 billion to • Army limited to • Article 231• Germany was France. France, Britain and 100,000 • Germany had to banned from • Gave 10% of its land to other America (note – this was • No tanks accept full joining the countries (Poland, France, etc) initially set as an • No planes responsibility for startingLeague of • Germany not allowed any soldiers in unlimitedits figure in the • No subs WW1 Nations land closest to France (Rhineland – ToV – 6.6 bill was • 6 warships (the first UN) demilitarised) worked out later) • Banned from joining with Austria 3 GCSE History Revision Information Booklet Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany The government and the army The first Chancellor of the Weimar Republic was from a left wing party called the SPD. The army did not like left wing parties as they wanted to take power away from powerful business leaders and army generals and give it to soldiers and workers. The leaders of the army also thought democracy was weak and wanted the Kaiser to return so Germany had a strong leader. The Weimar Republic needed the support of the army to help put down all the rebellions so the leader of the Republic, a socialist called Ebert agreed not to change anything about the army and continue to give them large amounts of government spending in return for the army promising to protect the Weimar Republic. This meant the Weimar Republic now had the limited support of the army but now had no way to control it or change it. Spartacist Uprising This was an uprising led by two communists – Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxembourg. They wanted to make Germany into a communist country, just like a group called the Bolsheviks had done to Russia in 1917. They formed the Germany Communist Party (KPD) in 1918 and tried to overthrow the Weimar Republic on 6th January 1919 by taking over important government buildings. The leader of the Weimar Republic Ebert had to use the Germany army (Reichswehr) and a group of right wing ex-soldiers who had refused to hand over their guns and uniforms at the end of WW1. They were called the freikorps and were not part of the army or government, they joined together as they missed the friendships of the trenches and hated communists. The rebellion was quickly defeated and Rosa Luxembourg was executed by these soldiers without a trial. When there was another communist uprising in March 1919 1,000 communists were killed by the freikorps. Kapp Putsch Having a large armed group like the freikorps attacking communists and not taking orders from the government was a serious problem for the government. In 1920 the government announced they were going to disband (get rid) of the freikorps. The freikorps refused and joined up with a right wing politician called Wolfgang Kapp. They were joined by over 400 officers from the Reichswehr and their soldiers who sympathised with the freikorps and were angry at the government for reducing the size of the army. They seized control of a number of government buildings in Berlin forcing the government to move to another city. The army refused to stop the rebellion as they said they refused to fire against their own soldiers. It looked like the Weimar Republic had no one to stop the rebellion spreading. Finally the socialist leaders called on the German people to go on strike to stop the rebellion. Millions of workers refused to turn up to their jobs for days bringing Berlin and Germany to a standstill. Eventually Kapp and the freikorps had to end their attempted rebellion. However the army had shown it was only willing to support the Weimar government against left wing attacks and not against those from the right. French invasion of the Ruhr Germany had to pay back £6.6 billon in reparations through giving the winning countries money, goods and natural resources. With all the political problems Germany was facing its economy was also struggling. To help pay back these reparations the government began to print more and more money to give to France, Belgium and Britain.
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