1 Look at the photograph and then answer the questions
which follow.
(a) Describe why many Germans considered the Treaty of
Versailles to be unfair. [5] answer
(b) Why was the period from 1918-23 a time of crisis in Germany?
[7] answer
(c) Was the Weimar Republic bound to fail? Explain your
answer [8] answer
Suggested Answers
(a) Lots of things you could say here in order
to pick up the 5 marks, so be careful not to spend too long on it. I
suppose it is possible to separate the psychological impact of Versailles
from the material impact but I'm sure you would argue this just makes an
easy question unnecessarily difficult! Psychological impact might
include: War guilt Clause (231 for all you trivia fans) made German accept
responsibility for the war, 'Diktat' imposed peace, 'stab in the back'
myth that Germany was not actually defeated (no foreign troops on German
soil), Wilson's promise of a just peace etc. Material: Reparations,
land lost e.g. Polish Corridor (not self-determination), military
restrictions (see Brooman 22-4 for more). (Back to
Questions)
(b)This topic always causes confusion. Why?
It's really easy! There were two parts to the crisis: economic and
political.
Economic Crisis: Damage of the war and social and economic
impact, Reparations almost impossible to pay, inability to pay in 1922 =
invasion of the Ruhr (Jan 1923) by French = Hyperinflation.
But
not the Wall Street Crash/Great Depression!!!
Political Crisis:
A time of violence and challenges to the new democratic Weimar Republic.
Evidence of the violence might include the numbers of political murders
(nearly 400 between 1919 and 1923). For attempted revolutions, the
right-wing examples include the Kapp Putsch (March 1920) and the Munich
Putsch (Nov 1923). Examples from the left would include the Spartacist
Rising (Jan 1919) and Communist Rising in the Ruhr (March-April
1920). Back to Questions
(c)There can be no excuses for not preparing
this one! It is the unit Key Question.
You will have answered the question before and the textbook Grey and
Little dedicates an easy to learn table to the problem. (p.30)
