The Weimar Republic Trivia Quiz

Answer: Deutsches Reich

Germany was proclaimed a republic when Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated in November 1918. "Kristallnacht" is the German name for the "Night of Broken Glass in 1938", when Jewish homes and businesses were destroyed. The Reichstag was the name of the most powerful house of the German parliament.

Answer: Reichstag

The Reichsrat was the upper house. Its members were elected by the various states making up the German Reich. (The "Herrenhaus" - the name was a direct translation of "House of Lords" - was the upper house of the Prussian parliament until 1918).

Answer: Ebert

Ebert was President from 1919 until his death in 1925, and was replaced by Hindenburg, who was then President for nine years until his death in 1934.

Answer: The system of proportional representation used

Unlike in the Federal Republic of Germany, where a party must obtain at least 5% of the popular vote in order to be represented, there was no "threshold". As a result, about 20 parties were represented in the Reichstag, which meant the Government was made of weak coalitions and the parties often 'fell out'. There were 21 changes of Government in just 13 years!

Answer: With passive resistance

In 1923 Germany technically defaulted on its reparations (in kind) by delivering 100,000 telegraph poles about ten days late to the French, whereupon the latter (together with the Belgians) occupied the Ruhr. The Germans in the Ruhr responded with a policy of active non-cooperation with the occupiers.

There was also some sabotage and violence, including deaths. The British government regarded the French action as out of all proportion to the late delivery of telegraph poles and roundly condemned the occupation.

Answer: 4 200 000 000 000 marks

# January 1919. 1 dollar = 10 marks
# January 1923. 1 dollar = 18 000 marks
# September 1923. 1 dollar = 100 000 000 marks
# November 1923. 1 dollar = 4 200 000 000 000 marks.
As a result of hyperinflation people on fixed incomes (such as pensioners) faced starvation, and people with savings suffered because their savings became worthless. On the other hand, some people in a position to borrow large sums of money did well for themselves, as the loans could be repaid with worthless paper. The inflation further undermined confidence in the young republic.

Answer: Liebknecht and Luxemburg

Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg had objected to WWI from the outset and became Communists. The Freikorps consisted of ex-soldiers, and an assortment of mercenaries and some middle-class volunteers. They put down the Sparticist uprising with exceptional brutality. Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht were murdered by a small group of soldiers from a unit of the Prussian Guards.

Answer: The National Assembly which worked out the new German Constitution met there

At the time of the election, the streets of Berlin were filled with rioting, making it unsafe for the politicians. Weimar was closely associated with Goethe, Schiller (and Herder).

Answer: Sweden

Two of the Freikorps tried to take control of Berlin, but the the workers and civil servants went on strike. Within a day there was no electricity, coal, gas or transport in Berlin. The putsch collapsed and Kapp fled. Those conspirators who were charged and convicted were given laughably lenient prison sentences - in some cases just two months.

Answer: 20

All adult citizens aged 20 and over were able to vote in elections, and all had equal rights, at least in principle.