Back to the full dot-point answer
NSWModern HistoryQuick questions
Section II (National Study): Germany 1918-1939
Quick questions on The collapse of Weimar 1929-1933: HSC Modern History National Study
11short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is the Wall Street Crash and German vulnerability?Show answer
The New York stock market crashed on 29 October 1929. American banks recalled short-term loans to Germany. Industrial production fell 40 per cent between 1929 and 1932. Unemployment rose from 1.3 million in September 1929 to 3 million in 1930 to 6.1 million by early 1932.
What is the end of parliamentary government, March 1930?Show answer
The Grand Coalition under Hermann Muller (SPD, Centre, DDP, DVP) collapsed on 27 March 1930. The trigger was the unemployment insurance contribution: SPD and DVP could not agree on whether benefit cuts or contribution increases should cover the deficit. The SPD ministers resigned.
What is bruning's deflation?Show answer
Bruning (Chancellor March 1930 to May 1932) pursued deflation: cuts to public-sector wages (by decree June 1930), unemployment benefits, and pensions. The hope was to reduce reparations costs and restore international confidence. The effect deepened the slump.
What is the 1932 elections?Show answer
Hindenburg's seven-year term expired in March 1932. He stood for re-election against Hitler and KPD leader Ernst Thalmann. Hindenburg won the second round (10 April 1932) with 53 per cent against Hitler's 36.8 per cent. The 84-year-old monarchist had been returned by SPD and Centre votes against the Nazi.
What is bruning, Papen, Schleicher?Show answer
Bruning was dismissed by Hindenburg on 30 May 1932. The trigger was a Schleicher-engineered withdrawal of confidence; Schleicher had concluded that an authoritarian "presidential" cabinet supported by the Reichswehr offered a route through the crisis.
What is the January 1933 intrigue?Show answer
Papen, sidelined and resentful, met Hitler at the Cologne home of banker Kurt von Schroder on 4 January 1933. They agreed on a Hitler-led coalition with Papen as Vice-Chancellor. The agreement was kept from Schleicher.
What is historiography?Show answer
Ian Kershaw (Hitler: Hubris, 1998) is the modern consensus: Hitler did not seize power; conservative elites under Papen handed him the Chancellorship in the belief they could control him.
What is treating Hitler's appointment as a seizure of power?Show answer
It was a constitutional appointment under Article 53. The seizure came in March 1933 with the Enabling Act.
What is misdating the end of parliamentary government?Show answer
It ended on 27 March 1930 with the Muller resignation and the Bruning appointment, not in 1933.
What is forgetting Papen?Show answer
Papen's 4 January 1933 deal at Schroder's home is the proximate cause of Hitler's appointment. Markers expect you to name him.
What is overstating Nazi support?Show answer
The Nazis never won an absolute majority in a free election. Peak was 37.4 per cent in July 1932; in November 1932 support was already falling.