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History The Weimar Republic/ Depth study

Terms in this set (47)

Kaiser Wilhelm
The leader (king) of Germany during the First World War.
Abdicate
The Kaiser had to leave his position as leader of Germany and give up the crown.
Kiel Revolt
A revolution by sailors in the German Navy that took place in the northern town of Kiel that started a series of revolutions calling for an end to the war.
Armistice
The ceasefire called to stop fighting agreed between the Allies and Socialist leaders of Germany after Kaiser Wilhelm's abdication.
November Criminals
The myth created about the German Socialists that they betrayed the German military so that they could become the leaders of Germany after WW1.
Stabbed in the Back
The feeling that the German military had that it had been betrayed.
Friedrich Ebert
The first President of the Weimar Republic, he belonged to the most popular political party - the Social Democratic Party.
Weimar Republic
The country formed from the remains of the German Empire after it was defeated in the First World War. It was no longer a Monarchy but because a Democracy.
Political Spectrum
The different political parties from left-center-right that have different ideas on how society and government should be organized.
Political Disorder
When there is no stable government and different groups are trying through both political and violent ways to control society.
Left-wing
The communist group that believed workers should lead the government
Right-wing
The fascist or conservative groups that wanted the return of the Kaiser.
Center Parties
Political parties that supported democracy and the creation of a republic. They were often left-center or right-center but still supported democracy.
Conservative
A group of political beliefs that are right-center, traditional, pro-Kaiser, and militaristic.
Fascist
The far right-wing belief in the return of authoritarian control of the government and the removal of democracy.
Socialism
Political system in which the government takes strong control of economic and social life.
Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)
The left-of-center party in Germany that supported democratic government and workers rights. They were the most powerful party in the old government that worked with the Kaiser during the First World War and remained so afterwards.
Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD)
A group of former members of the SPD that had been kicked out of government during the First World War for calling an end to the war (around 1916). They were more left-wing than the SPD and would eventually join in with the rest of the left-wing to found the Communist Party.
Communist (KPD)
The party that wanted to form a Soviet style government run by the workers.
Bolshevik
A style of government change led by communists that called for open and violent revolution against the state. It had been started in the Soviet Union and was also supported by the Spartacist League.
Council of the People's Deputies
The group formed from the SPD & USPD of 6 members (3 from each) who were put in charge of Germany after the Kaiser abdicated.
Spartacist League
A group of far left-wing Germans who supported the revolutionary overthrow of democracy and the start of a true socialist anti-class German society.
Freikorp
Groups of ex-soldiers after the First World War who were a very powerful political force for the right-wing in Germany during the early 1920s.
Bavaria
A German state that was part of Germany under the Kaiser but was very powerful on its own. During the November revolutions it declared itself independent and for a short time became a communist (Soviet) state until the Freikorp retook control of it for the Weimar Republic.
The National Assembly
The group elected in January 1919 to write the Weimar Constitution and run the country until a new government could be elected under the constitution.
Constitution
The rules used to run a country, for example whether a country is a democracy, how elections will be run, and how the government should be set up. The Weimar Constitution was put into use in August 1919.
Federal System
A government system where states and the central government (federal) share powers and the central government is not absolutely supreme in all decisions.
Proportional representation
In an election, a political party gains the same percentage of seats in the government as they received in percentage of the vote.
President
The head of the government in many countries, in the Weimar Republic he had special emergency powers in case of serious problems. He also appointed the Chancellor.
Chancellor
An important government leader. In Germany the Chancellor was the head of the government, responsible for coming up with policy and making it work.
Government Ministers
Government workers appointed by the Chancellor to run different parts of government such as education, military, transportation, economy, etc.
Reichstag
The German government, or Parliament, it was elected through proportional representation.
Article 48
Emergency powers in the Weimar Constitution that allowed the President to pass laws without the approval of the government if there is a crisis.
Coalition Government
When one party does not get 50% of the vote they will form a government with other parties in order to get 50% and then share the government minister positions with the other parties. Usually the party with the most % will get to be the Chancellor.
Spartacists Uprising
The communist revolution against the Weimar Republic in 1919 started as a worker's strike in Berlin.
Karl Liebknecht
The communist leader of the Spartacists who thought violence during the 1919 uprising would be a good way to move forward their plans to set up a worker led soviet republic.
Rosa Luxemburg
The communist leader of the Spartacists who thought that passive resistance and peaceful means were the best way to move forward the communist agenda.
Trade Unions
Groups of workers who all work in the same industry or with the same skill who come together in order to try and get the best for their political and economic gains.
General Strike
When all the workers in a country or region stop work at the same time in order to make a political point or show support for one group that was striking.
Wolfgang Kapp
The right wing leader of the Freikorp. He led a revolution known as the Kapp Putsch against the Weimar Republic and democracy in favor of military control.
Kapp Putsch
The attempted takeover of Berlin by 5000 Freikorp after the Weimar Republic attempted to dispand the Freikorp
Ruhr Industrial Region
The area on the border of the Rhineland that was very urban and manufacturing oriented with many coal mines.
Reparations
The money that Germany had to pay to the allies because of War Guilt.
Ruhr Occupation
The French moved troops into the Ruhr in 1923 to take resources because the Germans were not paying money for reparations.
Hyperinflation
When prices increase very fast because the money is of less and less value.
Gustav Stresemann
Elected Chancellor of Germany in 1924, he was a foreign affairs expert who helped repair Germany's relationship with Europe and improve the economy.
Rentenmark
A new currency brought in to end the hyperinflation of the old Deutschemark.
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