HSC Modern History. Year 2015 Mark Pages 76 Published Feb 12, STATE-RANKING NOTES: Germany By Pola (99.

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1 HSC Modern History Year 2015 Mark Pages 76 Published Feb 12, 2017 STATE-RANKING NOTES: Germany By Pola (99.8 ATAR)

2 Powered by TCPDF ( Your notes author, Pola. Pola achieved an ATAR of 99.8 in 2015 while attending Sydney Girls High School Currently studying Bachelor of Psychology at The University of Sydney Pola says: HSC State-Ranker and All-Rounder: Detailed, high-quality notes! In 2015, I ranked 1st in NSW for Extension History (50/50 both internally and in my HSC Examination), and 21st for Modern History. I also achieved band sixes in English Advanced, Mathematics, French Continuers and French Extension and was on the All-Rounders list. I offer highly detailed notes, and find that for subjects like Modern History it's best to make them interesting to read too - when I was writing and revising my own notes I included some commentary to help me really engage with the content. So I hope you find them not only informative, but amusing too!

3 Germany Notes Weimar Republic Emergence of the Democratic Republic and the impact of the Treaty of Versailles Emergence of the Democratic Republic Background Before WWI: Two threats to long-term political stability o Potential conflict between liberalism and authoritarian government o Growing working class (due to industrialisation) o Germany had failed to adapt economic and social changes to a traditionalist power structure War reconciled internal conflict (patriotism) By 1916: Germany was a military dictatorship under Ludendorff and Hindenburg September 1918: Ludendorff gave up his power, handing control to a civilian government with the support of the Reichstag - revolution from above Ludendorff's motivations to set up a democratic government were: o To secure the best possible peace terms for Germany from the democratic Allies o To prevent the outbreak of a radical Bolshevik revolution o To shift the blame from the military to the democratic politicians 3 October: Prince Max von Baden became the chancellor and immediately sought an armistice Political Events 5 October: Prince Max introduced measures to turn Germany into a democracy 23 October: The Kaiser became a constitutional monarch 26 October: Ludendorff was dismissed 3 November: Naval mutiny broke out at Kiel (see below) o Soldiers' and Workers' Councils (similar to Russian Soviets) began to spread across northern Germany 7 November: Bavaria declared an independent socialist state 9 November: The Kaiser abdicated and went into voluntary exile in Holland o SPD deputy leader Philipp Scheidemann declared Germany a Republic Initially governed by a Council of People's Representatives (See Ebert and his Government) 11 November: Armistice signed October Reforms Chancellor had to have support of the Reichstag Reichstag responsible for actions of Kaiser, military and naval command, treaties Moderate parties hoped this would dissuade allies from taking punitive measures against Germany Reasons for reforms: o Germany's military defeat Failure of Schlieffen Plan 1914

4 Stalemate Allied strength German war-economic weakness Naval blockade Failure of the Spring Offensive 1918 o Socio-economic hardship Food and fuel shortages Civilian deaths Infant mortality Spanish Influenza outbreak Inflation War casualties Problems with reforms: o Allies were unconvinced that the democratic regime was genuine o Moves towards an armistice were delayed, putting pressure on the new government o Exacerbated by growing disillusionment at lack of social and economic reforms The 'stab in the back' legend - dolchstosslegende German war propaganda had assured Germans that victory was coming No Allied troops had set foot on German soil Defeat came as a shock - many people were unable to accept it View emerged that the army had not really lost the war but had been undermined by Jews, socialists and democratic politicians This myth served German Army Command very well (nice one Ludendorff) As power had been handed to the civilian (mainly socialist) government in September they were blamed for the surrender These politicians became known as the 'November Criminals' Ebert and his government + the Ebert-Groener Pact 9 November: Germany's new government was called the Council of People's Commissioners Led by SPD (social democratic party) leader Friedrich Ebert Ebert: o Did not want a far-left social revolution - "I don't want that, indeed I hate it like sin." o Opposed major change o Preferred to introduce basic democratic and social reforms Reforms introduced: o Freedom of speech o 8-hour working day o other welfare reforms o Democratic elections for a new assembly However, the radical far left wanted greater changes: o Socialist ownership of industry o Establishment of a people's militia o A key future role for Workers' and Soldiers' Councils Ebert feared the possibility of a second revolution as had occurred in Russia November 1918: Ebert signed an agreement with General Groener (Ludendorff's replacement), the Ebert-Groener Pact:

5 Powered by TCPDF ( o Ebert would oppose any revolutionary/bolshevik socio-economic changes o Groener would maintain army discipline and ensure support for Ebert's government Consequences of the Ebert-Groener Pact: o There would be no right-wing coup against the government o Guaranteed the survival of Ebert's government o There would be no radical socio-economic change in Germany o Guaranteed the survival of conservative elites o Maintained army political influence into the future Rebellion Naval command attempted to mount a last-minute offensive to restore German honour at sea 29 October: Sailors refused to obey orders at Wilhelmshaven By 2 November: Mutinies had occurred in major ports of Kiel and Hamburg o Sailors feared that officers were planning a suicide attack on the British fleet to restore German honour