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Summary NAZI GERMANY INDEPENDENT STUDY FULLY COMPLETED
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Germany Independent Term Study 2Topic : Early challenges faced by Weimar
Definitions
Black Market - The underground economy where goods are sold at unregulated prices.
Blue collar workers - A blue collar worker refers to someone whose profession requires them
to perform manual labour.
Bolshevik Revolution - The term ‘Bolshevik’ means majority - which was used by Lenin as
the leader of the majority Russian Socialist party.
Demilitarisation - The removal of military personnel, weaponry or forts.
Freikorps - ‘Free corps.’ Right wing nationalist soldiers who acted as paramilitaries and were
only too willing to use force to suppress communist activity.
GNP - Gross national product is the total value of all goods and services in a nation’s
economy including income derived from assets abroad.
Hard currency - A currency that the market considers to be strong because its value does
not depreciate. In the 1920’s the hardest currency was the US dollar.
Hyperinflation - In Germany in 1923 this meant that prices spiralled out of control because
the government increased the amount of money being printed. As a result, it displaced the
whole economy.
League of Nations - The international body to encourage disarmament and to prevent war.
Mandates - The name given by the allies to the system created in the peace settlement for
the supervision of all the former colonies of Germany and Turkey by the league of nations.
Martial Law - Government and control by military authorities over the civilian government.
Passive resistance - Refusal to work with occupying forces.
Polarised - The division of society into distinctly opposite views.
Putsch - The German word for uprising. Normally a putsch means the attempt by a small
group to overthrow the government.
Red threat - A ‘red’ was a loose term used to describe anyone sympathetic to the left. It
originated from the Bolshevik use of the red flag in Russia, which in turn had been based on
its use in the French revolution.
Reparations - Payment of money (and gold) and the transfer of property and equipment from
the defeated to the victor after the war.
, Rote Kapelle - ‘Red orchestra.’ Name given to the communist spy network which passed
information to the USSR.
Sparticists - The name given to the communist party in post World War one Germany, led by
Rosa Luxembourg and Karl Liebknecht.
White collar worker - Workers not involved in manual labour.
Comprehension
1. The Sparticist revolt in 1919 led by Rosa Luxembourg and Karl Liebknecht was very
impactful upon the Weimar democracy. Although the spontaneous uprising was easily
suppressed by Ebert’s army and the Freikorps, it left a lasting bitterness on the radical left.
The left never forgave the SPD leader making an alliance with the far right in order to put
down the communists. This meant the Weimar democracy became further unstable due to
the animosity between the sides of the political spectrum. In doing so however some
historians may argue that the Weimar republic saved himself in the future. This was seen
during the Kapp Putsch where the left wing organised a general strike during the takeover by
the right. In doing so the Weimar republic was arguably saved by the left wing. Therefore it is
clear to see the lasting impact that the Sparticist revolt had one the Weimar republic.
2. The Kapp Putsch in 1920 was led by the nationalist Kapp Putsch. It greatly impacted the
Weimar republic as it showed how weak the government was. The Putsch managed to
control major buildings of significance in Berlin such as the banks. It was only apprehended
the general strike caused by the left wing or else the Weimar government would have been
toppled. This too had a lasting impact on the Weimar democracy as it had inspired the
Munich Putsch in 1923, as Hitler witnessed the weakness of the Weimar republic.
3. Hyperinflation occurred for a plethora of reasons. Firstly the budgetary position of the
second reich meant that the weimar republic inherited a massive budget deficit. This is
because the cost of WW1 was huge and the imperial government decided not to raise taxes
to balance these. This is because the Imperial government believed that they would recoup
their investment by annexing the allies territories after they had won the war. In actual fact
this did not occur. In order to avoid backlash, the Weimar government also chose not to
employ deflationary tactics thus meaning that inflation rose massively. Although some
historians may argue this was to promote economic growth, the economy was already
prospering without the steady inflation rate. The Weimar government also hoped that the
growing economic problems would mean that the allies would reduce the reparations
payment. This too was not afforded to them, as instead the Franco-Belgian invasion of the
Ruhr occurred. This meant that the major industrial hub in Germany weas now controlled by
a foreign force. Not only did this adversely affect the economy, but the policy of passive
resistance employed by Wilhelm Cuno, meant that expenditure increased (as they had to
pay workers) whilst reducing fiscal revenue from taxing the workers. This all culminated with
the mark becoming valueless as the greater supply of mark meant that it lost value and the
German consumer had lost confidence in their currency.
4. The Hyperinflation crisis greatly impacted the German economy. Firstly the currency was
reducing in value overtime meaning that the middle classes lost their savings in a very short
period of time which was probably amassed over a lifetime of work. Also, it meant that the
German government had to submit to the Franco-Belgian invasion of the Ruhr in order to
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