Unrest and the Treaty of Versailles

1. Using the information from Chapter 4, what were the threats to the new Weimar Republic? How did the Free Corps assist the government

A like to the conditions present in Russia after its abdication of its king, organisation was limited and power was in the streets for the taking. The threat of communism was great, where popularity was great, as well as miliatry power, leading to revolutions from the party against the newly established government. The Weimar republic used the Free Corps to kill all hostile threats in the revolting cities, to remove the communist party alltogether (in these ares). Also, the issue of the the peace treaty with the allies put an enourmous amount of pressure on the government and people alike, for such an extreme request for war damages.

2. How did the Germans react to the Treaty of Versailles?

The German people were shocked by such extreme measures taken by the allies to compensate for war damages. Germany had thought that they had done as asked, remove Kaiser Wilhem II from mpower and establish a democracy, while surrendering to the allied powers. Instead, they had been blamed for starting the war and were forced to pay for the damage done by the conflict, that was so great that it would not pay it off for over 90 years. Th poeple of Germany thought it not to be fair and blamed their military leaders for the armasist. They had initially refused the terms of tghe treaty and prepared for an invasion.

3. Who were the "November Criminals"?

The November Criminals were the military leaders who agreed upon the Armasist in surrendering to the Allies.

4. Read chapter 5. Why didn't Field Marshal von Hindenburg and the other general fight instead of having the Weimar government sign the Treaty of Versailles?

The military strength was far too low to fight off an invasion, defeat was assured and there was nothing Germany could do to effectively defend itself.

5. What were the major aspects of the Treaty that caused Germans to object so strongly to it?


Over a tenth of the land, people and resources were lost, while cutting down the military to a number far too low to be effective. It also put all blame on Germany and prevented it from uniting with Austria.

Bismarck & Europe 1871- 1878

1. What were Otto von Bismarck's aims in foreign policy following Germany's victory over France in 1871?
Otto von Bismark had wanted to recollect Germany after the victory in the franco-prussian war, as a way to strengthen the core of the new nation. He insisted on the idea that Germany as a non expanding power, was satisfactory. As for France, he aimed to maintain such as a quiet place, to not draw attention, as he made allies with the great power of Russia and Rrittain, or at the least, relative peace.Frane was to be seen as the enemy, while the new Germany, tried to prevent antagonizing the quickly growing army to the break of another war, although easily won by Germany.
If Germany could not befriend the other major powers, Bismark atleast wanted to stay issolated, nuetral from affairs, with quiet alliances. As for the Balkan region, Germany could only stay quiet. Supporting the Russians meant the uprising of Slavs in the Austro-hungarian empire, and it's fall. And supporting the Austro-Hungarian Empire meant Russia being an enemy. And if an alliance with Brittain were to happen. the assistance against powers of the Ottamon Empire was unadvisable.

2. Why did events between the years 1875-78 in the Balkans lead to a crisis between the Great Powers?