Weimar and Nazi Germany Essay Plans
‘Between November 1918 and January 1919 a revolutionary situation existed in Germany but
no revolution occurred.’
Assess the validity of this view.
Agree - it was a revolutionary system and Disagree - there was no revolutionary
there was no revolution system/ there was a revolution
- November revolution was a bit of a - The Spartacist Uprising Jan 1919
flop - Took 8 days to put down
- Biggest policy they got was - Required Freikorps to
government commitment to put down
holding worker’s councils - However didn’t achieve it’s
(didn’t uphold for long) aims
- Rosa Luxemburg and Karl - The new government under Ebert was
Liebkneckt’s appeal able to function without much
- Government felt threatened by disruption
them so they had to - January elections
assassinate them - Not so successful for
KPD
‘There was little wrong with the Weimar Constitution in theory.’
Assess the validity of this view.
Agree - there was nothing wrong Disagree - there was things wrong
- Gave more freedom to individuals - People could get involved with
- Ability to join political parties extremists by joining political parties
- Proportional Representation meant - Proportional Representation didn’t
everyone’s votes counted give decisive results
- Ability to elect the President = more - Unstable coalitions
democracy - Allowed rise of extremists
- Reichstag chose and - Presidential elections could clash with
approved President’s choice of Reichstag ones if called early
Chancellor - Potential for abuse of office as
- Article 48 provided stability in President appointed the
‘emergencies’ Chancellor
- Reform of legal system - Article 48 did not define ‘emergencies’
- Presumed innocence so could be open for abuse
- Judges did not change so were
sympathetic to the right-wing
- Eg. Hitler after Munich Putsch
‘German horror at the terms of the Treaty of Versailles was the result of unrealistic
expectations.’
Assess the validity of this view.
, Agree - there was unrealistic expectations Disagree - there wasn’t unrealistic
expectations
- Basis on which Armistice was agreed IE: terms were so severe that they didn’t have
- Wilson’s 14 points unrealistic expectations
- Prince Max negotiation
- USA were not in charge of the Treaty - Demilitarisation
of Versailles - Land loss/ territories
- Negotiation was with Allies eg. - Reparations
France (resentful from - Diktat
suffering lots) - No German presence at the
- War guilt clause = unexpected conference
- Didn’t believe they were
responsible for starting the war
‘The Treaty of Versailles weakened the Weimar Republic in the period 1919-1923.’
Assess the validity of this view.
Agree - it did weaken it Disagree - it didn’t weaken it/ something else
did
- Diktat/ stab in the back - Threats from the left
- People = resentful of leaders - Spartacists Jan 1919
- Loss of territory/ land - Trade Unions
- 13% - Growth of Communists at
- Loss of industry = less income elections
- Hostility of people - Threats from the right
- Disarmament - Kapp Putsch 1920
- Less jobs, bad for economy - Munich Putsch (ish)
- Humiliating - Assassinations
- War guilt and reparations - Hyperinflation
- Unexpected - Highly damaging
- Fixed to £6.6 billion in 1921 - Ordinary people suffered
- No money for recovery - 1$ > 4 trillion marks
‘By signing the Treaty of Versailles, Republican politicians dealt a huge blow to the credibility of
the Weimar Republic.’
Assess the validity of this view.
Credibility = the quality of being trusted and believed in
Agree - it did blow the Republic’s credibility Disagree - The Republic was still credible/
something else caused it
- ‘Stab in the back’ myth - Wilson’s 14 Points
, - Right-wing, anti-republicans - Previously agreed to
spread it to undermine the - Thus they could expect
Republic therefore reducing some of the terms
credibility meaning that credibility
- War guilt clause had not been
- Associated Germany with compromised given
defeat and humiliation that these terms
- Failure to secure significant existed longer than the
concessions Republic itself
- None of these attributes give - Constitution
credibility - Lack of stability caused by
- Other terms of the Treaty of Versailles proportional representation
- Land loss - Other ill-thought aspects:
- Demilitarisation relationship between President
- Damaged morale of proud and Chancellor = less
Germans democratic
- Moderates turned their back - Weimar Republic was unable to sign
on the Republic - thus losing up to the League of Nations
credibility - Makes it not seem like a
proper country, thus loses
credibility on the world stage
but also means citizens feel
underrepresented and
betrayed
‘The economic legacy of the First World War was a greater challenge to the Weimar Republic
than the legacy of defeat.’
Assess the validity of this view.
Agree - WW1 economic legacy was the Disagree - legacy of defeat was a greater
greatest challenge challenge
- Debt of 114,000 million marks - Maybe the financial issues weren’t a
- Hard to rebuild and run a problem if they won and could issue
government reparations
- Financed the war through the sale of - Had to accept Treaty of Versailles in
gold 1919
- Now there was hardly any left - Reparations set at £6.6 billion
which is problematic for trade in 1921
- Inflation rising fast, was was funded - Other harsh terms
through printing more money - Fringe groups encouraged the ‘stab in
- 1913-> 1920 = x14 inflation the back’ theory which fitted people
- 1918-> 1919 = x2 inflation against the politicians who ‘betrayed’
- 1919-> 1920 = x4 inflation them
- Many riots etc during this time
‘Inflation was Germany’s main economic and financial problem in the years 1919 to 1922.’
Assess the validity of this view.
‘Between November 1918 and January 1919 a revolutionary situation existed in Germany but
no revolution occurred.’
Assess the validity of this view.
Agree - it was a revolutionary system and Disagree - there was no revolutionary
there was no revolution system/ there was a revolution
- November revolution was a bit of a - The Spartacist Uprising Jan 1919
flop - Took 8 days to put down
- Biggest policy they got was - Required Freikorps to
government commitment to put down
holding worker’s councils - However didn’t achieve it’s
(didn’t uphold for long) aims
- Rosa Luxemburg and Karl - The new government under Ebert was
Liebkneckt’s appeal able to function without much
- Government felt threatened by disruption
them so they had to - January elections
assassinate them - Not so successful for
KPD
‘There was little wrong with the Weimar Constitution in theory.’
Assess the validity of this view.
Agree - there was nothing wrong Disagree - there was things wrong
- Gave more freedom to individuals - People could get involved with
- Ability to join political parties extremists by joining political parties
- Proportional Representation meant - Proportional Representation didn’t
everyone’s votes counted give decisive results
- Ability to elect the President = more - Unstable coalitions
democracy - Allowed rise of extremists
- Reichstag chose and - Presidential elections could clash with
approved President’s choice of Reichstag ones if called early
Chancellor - Potential for abuse of office as
- Article 48 provided stability in President appointed the
‘emergencies’ Chancellor
- Reform of legal system - Article 48 did not define ‘emergencies’
- Presumed innocence so could be open for abuse
- Judges did not change so were
sympathetic to the right-wing
- Eg. Hitler after Munich Putsch
‘German horror at the terms of the Treaty of Versailles was the result of unrealistic
expectations.’
Assess the validity of this view.
, Agree - there was unrealistic expectations Disagree - there wasn’t unrealistic
expectations
- Basis on which Armistice was agreed IE: terms were so severe that they didn’t have
- Wilson’s 14 points unrealistic expectations
- Prince Max negotiation
- USA were not in charge of the Treaty - Demilitarisation
of Versailles - Land loss/ territories
- Negotiation was with Allies eg. - Reparations
France (resentful from - Diktat
suffering lots) - No German presence at the
- War guilt clause = unexpected conference
- Didn’t believe they were
responsible for starting the war
‘The Treaty of Versailles weakened the Weimar Republic in the period 1919-1923.’
Assess the validity of this view.
Agree - it did weaken it Disagree - it didn’t weaken it/ something else
did
- Diktat/ stab in the back - Threats from the left
- People = resentful of leaders - Spartacists Jan 1919
- Loss of territory/ land - Trade Unions
- 13% - Growth of Communists at
- Loss of industry = less income elections
- Hostility of people - Threats from the right
- Disarmament - Kapp Putsch 1920
- Less jobs, bad for economy - Munich Putsch (ish)
- Humiliating - Assassinations
- War guilt and reparations - Hyperinflation
- Unexpected - Highly damaging
- Fixed to £6.6 billion in 1921 - Ordinary people suffered
- No money for recovery - 1$ > 4 trillion marks
‘By signing the Treaty of Versailles, Republican politicians dealt a huge blow to the credibility of
the Weimar Republic.’
Assess the validity of this view.
Credibility = the quality of being trusted and believed in
Agree - it did blow the Republic’s credibility Disagree - The Republic was still credible/
something else caused it
- ‘Stab in the back’ myth - Wilson’s 14 Points
, - Right-wing, anti-republicans - Previously agreed to
spread it to undermine the - Thus they could expect
Republic therefore reducing some of the terms
credibility meaning that credibility
- War guilt clause had not been
- Associated Germany with compromised given
defeat and humiliation that these terms
- Failure to secure significant existed longer than the
concessions Republic itself
- None of these attributes give - Constitution
credibility - Lack of stability caused by
- Other terms of the Treaty of Versailles proportional representation
- Land loss - Other ill-thought aspects:
- Demilitarisation relationship between President
- Damaged morale of proud and Chancellor = less
Germans democratic
- Moderates turned their back - Weimar Republic was unable to sign
on the Republic - thus losing up to the League of Nations
credibility - Makes it not seem like a
proper country, thus loses
credibility on the world stage
but also means citizens feel
underrepresented and
betrayed
‘The economic legacy of the First World War was a greater challenge to the Weimar Republic
than the legacy of defeat.’
Assess the validity of this view.
Agree - WW1 economic legacy was the Disagree - legacy of defeat was a greater
greatest challenge challenge
- Debt of 114,000 million marks - Maybe the financial issues weren’t a
- Hard to rebuild and run a problem if they won and could issue
government reparations
- Financed the war through the sale of - Had to accept Treaty of Versailles in
gold 1919
- Now there was hardly any left - Reparations set at £6.6 billion
which is problematic for trade in 1921
- Inflation rising fast, was was funded - Other harsh terms
through printing more money - Fringe groups encouraged the ‘stab in
- 1913-> 1920 = x14 inflation the back’ theory which fitted people
- 1918-> 1919 = x2 inflation against the politicians who ‘betrayed’
- 1919-> 1920 = x4 inflation them
- Many riots etc during this time
‘Inflation was Germany’s main economic and financial problem in the years 1919 to 1922.’
Assess the validity of this view.
