The early years of the Republic are a favourite point of focus for the Cambridge IGCSE Modern World History examination. This podcast, building on the interactive decision-making simulation at ActiveHistory.co.uk, considers the impact of such things as the Armistice, the Treaty of Versailles, and the Constitution in provoking the Kapp Putsch and the Spartakist Uprising.

This podcast is in two main parts. In the first half, the hosts cover the key content of the topic "Was the Treaty of Versailles Fair?". In the second half, they break down some classic sourcework questions to help students understand the demands of each one and to uncover some key historical insights to maximise performance in the examination.

Investigates the question "Was Hitler a gambler, or a planner, in foreign affairs?".

Makes references to AJP Taylor and Hugh Trevor-Roper in particular, and finds evidence on both sides of the argument, considering:

Remilitarisation of the Rhineland

Anschluss

Sudeten Crisis, Munich Conference

Invasion of Czechoslovakia

Nazi-Soviet Pact

Invasion of Poland.

The League of Nations in the 1930s: What were the Causes, Events, and Consequences of the Manchurian and Abyssinian Crises?

Deals with each of the following subquestions:

1. How far did weaknesses in the League’s aims, structure, organisation and membership make failure inevitable?

2. What successes did the League have with humanitarian work (refugees, health, working conditions), and why were these important? 3. How and why did the League try to secure disarmament in the 1920s, and why did these attempts fail?4. What were the Leagues most notable successes and failures with regard to border disputes (e.g. Vilna 1920, Aaland Islands 1920–21, Corfu 1923, Bulgaria 1925)?

“Was the Weimar Republic doomed from the start?”

Covers such things as:

• How did Germany emerge from defeat at the end of the First World War?

• What was the impact of the Treaty of Versailles on the Republic?

• How far was the Weimar Constitution a source of weakness?

o Why was proportional representation a weakness of the Weimar Constitution?

o Why was Article 48 a weakness of the Weimar constitution?

• Political disorder, 1919–23:

o Left-wing > What did the Spartacists want to achieve?

o Right-wing > Describe what happened in the Kapp Putsch.

o Why did France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr?

Results of the Ruhr invasion > economic crises and hyper-inflation

Results of the Ruhr invasion > Hitler and the Munich Putsch

• To what extent did the Republic recover in the “Streseman Era”, 1923-1928?

o Economic successes / failures

o Foreign policy successes / failures

o Cultural successes / failures

Covers the following subquestions:

1. How different were motives and aims of the Big Three (Clemenceau, Lloyd George, Wilson) at Versailles?
2. What were the key terms of the Versailles Treaty in terms of territory (Saar, Colonies, Rhineland, Alsace-Lorraine, Polish Corridor), reparations, armaments, war guilt and the League of Nations?
3. Based on this, how far did each of the Big Three get what they wanted, and why?
4. How and why did the Germans argue that the treaty was unfair?
5. How, nevertheless, could the key terms of the Treaty be justified at the time?
6. What was the Social, economic and political impact of the Treaty in Germany to the end of 1923?

This podcast covers such issues as:

• Did the Alliance System and global diplomacy make war more likely or less likely?

• How far did colonial problems create tensions between the Great Powers?

• Why were problems in the Balkans so difficult for the Great Powers to solve?

• How did the assassination of Franz Ferdinand lead to war?