WJEC GCSE Germany in Transition Questions with Correct Answers 2023

WJEC GCSE Germany in Transition Questions with Correct Answers 2023 Describe the events leading to the formation of the Weimar Government. Autumn 1918-German defeat in WW1 seemed imminent. 9th November-Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated and fled to Holland. New German Republic declared. Chancellor Ebert signed armistice. Seen as "Dolchstoss"-Stab in the back-by army January 19th 1919-1st elections held. Berlin too dangerous to run a government. Coalition formed as no party had a majority. Describe the Weimar Constitution President-Elected every 7 years, controlled the army,could trigger Article 48 and chose the chancellor. Article 48-Article to let the President pass laws and keep chancellor in power without the support of the Reichstag. Chancellor-Chosen by President and needed the support of the Reichstag. Reichstag-Elected every 4 years,made laws and chose chancellor. Reichsrat-55 representatives from 18 states that could approve laws made by Reichstag. Describe the strengths of the Weimar Constitution Very Democratic-Both men and women could vote at the age of 20. Chancellor had to have the majority of the Reichstag. A strong President was necessary in order to protect the country in a crisis. Proportional representation meant that each party was fairly represented. Describe the weaknesses of the Weimar Constitution Article 48 gave the President the power to overrule the Reichstag. The army wanted the Kaiser to return as he was more militaristic. Proportional representation meant that coalitions were inevitable . Many judges and civil servants did not agree with how liberal the Weimar government was. Describe the territorial terms of the Treaty of Versailles of the 28th June 1919. All colonies to be given to Allied Powers. Alsace-Lorraine to be returned to France. Eupen-Malmedy given to Belgium after a plebiscite. Saar to be administered by the League of Nations. Posen and Western Prussia to be given to Poland. Eastern Upper Silesia to be given to Poland after a plebiscite. Danzig created a Free City. Memel to be administered by the League of Nations. No union(Anschluss) with Austria Northern Schleswig given to Denmark after a plebiscite. Describe the military terms of the Treaty of Versailles of the 28th June 1919. Army not to exceed 100,000 men. No tanks,armoured cars and heavy military permitted. No military aircraft permitted. No naval vessels to be greater than 10,000 tons. No submarines permitted. Rhineland demilitarised. Describe the finacial terms of the Treaty of Versailles of the 28th June 1919. Coal to be mined in the Saar i France. Reparations fixed at £6.6 billion. Cattle and sheep to be given to France and Belgium as reparations . Germany to build merchant ships to replace Allied ships sunk by U-Boats Describe the reactions to the Treaty of Versailles . Stoked a fire of shame and humiliation for most Germans. Dictated peace. Chancellor Schiedmann resigned due to terms. Politicians who signed the armistice were knbown as the November Criminals. Describe the Political Instability in Weimar Germany. Weimar was hated by communists ,socialists ,nationalists ,army leaders and senior politicians. Faced constant uprisings from left and right wing parties. The Bolshevik revolution of 1917 in Russia made people hope that socialism would be set up in Germany. New army leader appointed so soldiers wouldn't rebel. Government would supply the army in return for protection. Describe the Spartacist Uprising December 1918-Rosa Luxembourg and Karl Leibknecht decided to hold protests against the government. Formed the KPD , communist arty by the end of the month. 6th January 1919-Spartacists began their attempt to overthrow Ebert and create a communist state. Ebert used the regualr army and the Feikorp to put down the uprising. Both Rosa and Karl were captured and killed. Inspired a communist uprising in berlin where 1000 people were killed. Describe the Kapp Putsch Freikorp disliked the decision to reduce the army in March 1920. Ehrhardt refused to comply and along with Wolfgang Kapp they made a plan to seize Berlin. 13th March 1920-Successfully seized Berlin with the help of the army. Ebert asked people to go on strike as he moved the Government to Dresden. Trade unionists and civil servants supported Ebert. Putsch collapsed. Describe further uprisings in Weimar Germany. 1 week after the Kapp Putsch a communist uprising occurred in the Ruhr. Army got involved and hundreds were killed. Estimated that there were 376 murders(354 by the right) between 1919-22. No right wingers sentenced but 10 left wingers were sentenced to death. Describe the French occupation of the Ruhr in 1923. January 1923. France and Belgium decided to take over the Ruhr to make workers work as reparations weren't being payed. France needed money to pay off war debts to the US. Describe the German Resistance to French occupation in the Ruhr. French were met with passive resistance. Germans started to sabotage work. Workers went on strike. Some factories burnt down. Some strikers shot by French. Describe the results of the occupation in the Ruhr. United the German people for their hatred for the French. Workers became the heroes of the people . German government backed the strikers and printed more money to pay their wages. Few goods were being produced. Meant that inflation lead to hyper inflation. By how much did hyperinflation weaken the German economy? July 1914-£1=20 marks Jan 1919-£1=35 marks Jan 1920-£1=256 marks Jan 1921-£1=256 marks Jan 1922-£1=764 marks Jan 1923-£1=71,888 marks July 1923-£1=1,413,648 marks Sept 1923-£1=3,954,408,000 marks Oct 1923-£1=1,010,408,000,000 marks Nov 1923-£1=1,680,800,000,000,000 marks Describe the affects of hyperinflation. People with savings or a fixed income found themselves penniless. Businessmen who borrowed from banks could pay back their debts. Serious food shortages made food prices sky rocket which helped farmers. Foreigners could afford anything in Germany. Gustav Stresemann became Chancellor in order to help Germany financially in the summer of 1923. Describe the Dawes Plan. Agreed in August 1924. Named after US-Vice President Charles Dawes. Reparations would begin at 1 billion marks and increase to 2.5 billion marks a year over 4 years. Ruhr area was to be evacuated by the Allies. Reichsbank would be recognised under allied supervision. Describe the US loans under Stresemann. The Dawes Plan began with a loan of 800 million marks. Over the next 6 years companies gave almost $3 billion to Germany. This helped Germany recover economically and helped them pay the reparations.