Question 1
4 marksQ4 Describe two
Describe two problems faced by the Weimar Republic because of changes in German culture in the years 1924 to 1929.
Germany & the Growth of Democracy Practice Questions
Question 2
4 marksQ4 Describe two
Describe two problems faced by the Kaiser's government because of industrialisation in the years 1890 to 1914.
Question 0
8 marksQ5 In what ways
In what ways were the lives of the German people affected by the First World War, 1914–1918?
Explain your answer.
Question 0
8 marksQ5 In what ways
In what ways were the lives of the German people affected by political change and unrest in the years 1919 to 1923?
Explain your answer.
Question 0
8 marksQ5 In what ways
In what ways were the lives of German workers affected by economic change, 1890–1932?
Explain your answer.
Question 0
16 marksRead Interpretations A and B below, then answer parts (a), (b) and (c).
Interpretation A: from the memoirs of a retired Prussian army officer who had served at the Kaiser's court before 1914, published in Germany in 1925.
Written for practice: not a real historical interpretation.
When I entered the Kaiser's service, Germany was becoming the greatest power in Europe. Our factories and shipyards were the envy of the world, our army the finest ever seen, and the new battleships gave the Reich its proper place among the nations. The Kaiser understood that Germany needed strength, not endless talk in the Reichstag. Working men were given insurance and protection in the factories; those who still followed the socialists did so out of envy, not out of need.
Interpretation B: from an interview with a man who worked in a Hamburg shipyard before 1914 and belonged to a trade union and the SPD, recorded in West Germany in 1960 for a local history project.
Written for practice: not a real historical interpretation.
People forget what the Kaiser's Germany was really like. We elected a Reichstag, but it could not choose the government: the Kaiser picked his Chancellor, and the generals were listened to long before any deputy. Millions of marks went on battleships while we worked eleven hours in the yards and lived four to a room. That is why so many of us joined the union and voted Social Democrat, until by 1912 we were the largest party in the Reichstag — and still nothing changed.
(a)
Q1 How do the interpretations differ
How does Interpretation B differ from Interpretation A about Kaiser Wilhelm II's rule of Germany, 1890–1914?
Explain your answer based on what it says in Interpretations A and B.
(b)
Q2 Why do the interpretations differ
Why might the authors of Interpretations A and B have a different interpretation about Kaiser Wilhelm II's rule of Germany, 1890–1914?
Explain your answer using Interpretations A and B and your contextual knowledge.
(c)
Q3 Which interpretation is more convincing
Which interpretation gives the more convincing opinion about Kaiser Wilhelm II's rule of Germany, 1890–1914?
Explain your answer based on your contextual knowledge and what it says in Interpretations A and B.
Question 0
16 marksRead Interpretations A and B below, then answer parts (a), (b) and (c).
Interpretation A: from the memoirs of a woman from Leipzig, the widow of a schoolteacher, who in 1923 was living on a small pension and the family's savings. Her memoirs were published in 1961.
Written for practice: not a real historical interpretation.
In 1923 everything we had put aside for our old age vanished. My husband's insurance money would not buy a single loaf. Each morning I hurried to the shops before the prices were changed again, and by the evening I had less than nothing. Respectable families sold their furniture and even their wedding rings in order to eat. The Republic had robbed honest people who had worked all their lives, and my neighbours never trusted it again.
Interpretation B: from an interview recorded in 1973 with a man who in 1923 was running his family's small farm in Bavaria, which carried a large mortgage taken out before the First World War.
Written for practice: not a real historical interpretation.
People talk about 1923 as though the whole of Germany starved, but on the land it was quite different. We always had milk, eggs and potatoes, and townspeople came out to the farms with silver spoons to trade for them. Best of all, my father's mortgage was cleared with a handful of worthless notes. Once the new money came in at the end of the year the whole business was finished with. It was a storm that passed over us.
(a)
Q1 How do the interpretations differ
How does Interpretation B differ from Interpretation A about the effects of the hyperinflation of 1923?
Explain your answer based on what it says in Interpretations A and B.
(b)
Q2 Why do the interpretations differ
Why might the authors of Interpretations A and B have a different interpretation about the effects of the hyperinflation of 1923?
Explain your answer using Interpretations A and B and your contextual knowledge.
(c)
Q3 Which interpretation is more convincing
Which interpretation gives the more convincing opinion about the effects of the hyperinflation of 1923?
Explain your answer based on your contextual knowledge and what it says in Interpretations A and B.
Question 0
12 marksQ6 Which was more important
Which of the following was the more important reason for the end of the monarchy in Germany in 1918:
- hardship on the home front during the First World War
- Germany's military defeat?
Explain your answer with reference to both bullet points.
Question 0
12 marksQ6 Which was more important
Which of the following was the more important reason why the Weimar Republic survived the political unrest of the years 1919 to 1923:
- the actions of the Weimar governments
- the weaknesses of those who opposed the Republic?
Explain your answer with reference to both bullet points.