levo

Germany, 1890–1945: Democracy and Dictatorship

Impact of the First World War

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 1 section A

Overview

War weariness and the blockade, how the war was paid for, the Kiel mutiny and the Kaiser's abdication, the November Criminals, reparations, the occupation of the Ruhr, passive resistance and hyperinflation.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Key term

Why were German civilians close to starvation in the last winters of the war?

Who and when

Who were called the November Criminals, and why was the accusation unjust?

Numbers

What were reparations, and what was Germany finally told to pay?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What is meant by war weariness, and how did it show itself in Germany by 1918?

    Model answer

    Exhaustion with a war that seemed endless; it showed in strikes in munitions plants, mutinies in the fleet and collapsing morale among the troops.

  2. 2

    Why were German civilians close to starvation in the last winters of the war?

    Model answer

    The British naval blockade cut off imported food and fertiliser while men and horses had been taken from the farms, so rations fell to little more than turnips and bread.

  3. 3

    How had the government paid for four years of fighting, and why did that store up trouble?

    Model answer

    It borrowed heavily and printed money instead of raising taxes, gambling on victory and reparations from the defeated; far more marks were in circulation than there were goods to buy.

  4. 4

    What began at Kiel in November 1918?

    Model answer

    Sailors ordered out on a last suicidal sortie refused to obey and mutinied, and their revolt spread within days to workers and soldiers in cities across Germany.

  5. 5

    How did the monarchy come to an end?

    Model answer

    With revolution spreading and the army no longer behind him, Wilhelm II abdicated in November 1918 and went into exile in the Netherlands, and a republic was declared in Berlin under Friedrich Ebert.

  6. 6

    Who were called the November Criminals, and why was the accusation unjust?

    Model answer

    The politicians who signed the armistice and were accused of stabbing an undefeated army in the back; in fact the generals had already told the Kaiser the war was lost and then let civilians sign for them.

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

1Closed book
2Open book
3Closed book

The 3-step method, run for you

Answer cold, learn it, then prove it stuck. Levo tracks the jump between your first attempt and your last.

America, 1840–1895: Expansion and Consolidation
America, 1920–1973: Opportunity and Inequality
Conflict and Tension Between East and West, 1945–1972
Conflict and Tension in Asia, 1950–1975

Cram a whole paper in one sitting

Sort every topic into what you know and what you do not, then drill only the weak ones.

11 1918.
NovemberOctoberDecember

Blank Blitz makes facts automatic

Rapid timed gap-fills on the terms and numbers you need to recall without thinking.

ABlight destroyed the potato crop the poor lived on.
BThe Great Famine drove around a million people to emigrate.
CBritain was the nearest and cheapest place to go.

Build It gets the exam shape right

Assemble a full-mark answer from its marking points, in the order an examiner wants them.

James Burbage opened The Theatre at Shoreditch in 1576.
TrueFalse

Test It catches misconceptions

Spot the fault in a statement. The traps are the mistakes students actually make.

721941163128510

Brain Breaks between sessions

Short focus games to reset attention, so the next set lands better than the last.

Every question in Germany, 1890–1945: Democracy and Dictatorship, on a schedule.

Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.

Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.