POSC 215Part III
Kesselman, pgs. 139-148, C:CP12-12
The Making of the Modern German State
True or False Questions
1. Similar to the United States, the Germans are not preoccupied with rising government deficits, believing that their economy can grow itself out of any additional public debt. True or False
2. German industry is ruthless, when it comes to holding on to profits and were quick to fire its workers once the recession hit in 2009. True or False
3. As a result of a variety of stop-gap measures directed by both industry and government, German households essentially enjoyed the same standard of living even as the economy shrank by 5 percent during the recent global recession. True or False
4. Europeans are, by far, Germany’s biggest trade partners.True or False
5. Germany has roughly even proportions of Roman Catholics and Protestants.True or False
6. For a densely populated country, Germany has a surprisingly high percentage of its land in agricultural production. True or False
7. Germany has an absence of natural borders in the west and east that may have precipitated conflicts and wars with its neighbors until the end of World War II. True or False
8. Otto von Bismarck was very much supportive of democracy and the principles of the Enlightenment. True or False
9. During the Second Reich, true political power emanated from the Reichstag. True or False
10. Because of the focus on heavy industry, Germany lacked a strong domestic consumer goods economy, necessitating a need to access substantial world markets throughout the late 19th and early 20th century period. True or False
11. The Social Democratic Party of Germany was greatly influenced by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. True or False
12. In the scramble for African colonies, Germany was fortunate to get into the colonizing business early enough to procure resource rich areas. True or False
13. Although some segments of bigbusiness had initially feared Hitler, most of German industry eventually endorsed Nazi economic policies.True or False
14. Hitler blamed all political problems on religion general and targeted Jews in particular, what he called this “external” international minority. True or False
15. The most heinous aspect of the Nazi regime was the systematic extermination of 6 million Jews and the imprisonment of millions of other civilians in concentration camps.True or False
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Why did many Germans believe that the global financial crisis that struck the U.S. in 2008 was unlikely to deeply affect them? a) The German economy had functioned under a protectionist wall that limited external investments and foreign trade, b) The German economy was much less driven by soaring profits in the financial sector, c) The German economy was dominated by public ownership of all the major industries, d) The German economy had developed a close link with Japan and China as a hedge against the U.S.
2. What creative method was used by German industry to maintain much of its skilled work force during the serious economic downturn in 2008? a) they lowered the retirement age to allow younger workers to remain on the job, b) they deported large numbers of foreign workers and prevented migrants from entering, c) they asked the government to remove regulations and lower business taxes, d) they got the government to subsidize the wages of its workers and cut the latter’s hours.
3. Germany is slightly smaller than the following American state: a) Alaska, b) California, c) Montana, d) Texas
4. Germany has a population of about how many people? a) 45 million, b) 58 million, c) 82 million, d) 105 million
5. Gastarbeiter refers to: a) civil disobedience, b) guest workers who have no citizenship rights, c) corrupt union leaders, d) illegal immigrants arrested for criminal activity.
6. Germany is divided into how many federal states (Bundeslander)? a) 16, b) 19, c) 25, d) 37
7. His victories against Prussia and Austria brought an end to the Holy Roman Empire in 1806: a) Bismarck, b) Napoleon, c) Wilhelm Reich, d) Genghis Khan.
8. Bismarck's "revolution from above" was characterized by an alliance: a) of the working class and southeastern agrarian interests, b) of the political elites and the peasants under the direction of the Protestant Church, c) among the northeastern rural lords and the iron industrialists under the guidance of a strong state, d) of the intelligentsia, with the working class, and the Catholic Church.
9. The German Kaiser refers to the: a) military commander, b) emperor, c) German currency, d) church leader.
10. Rapid industrialization in Germany from the 1850s to the early twentieth century created: a) widespread social harmony and support for the political regime, b) a malleable and supportive Social Democratic Party, c) a growing middle class largely opposed to democratic rights, d) social dislocation and a militant Social Democratic Party (SPD).
11. During the Second Reich, the Social Democratic Party’s primary goals were: a) a workers’ revolution with a dictatorship by the proletarian class, b) support for Bismarck’s state with a more equal distribution of the wealth, c) economic rights in the workplace and democratization of the political system, d) an expansion of Germany’s borders with its neighbors and higher wages.
12. An old German title now used by the German head of government and essentially the same as “prime minister.” a) kaiser, b) president, c) emperor, d) chancellor.
13. In an effort to coopt and gain the support of the German working class, Bismarck: a) strongly supported the Social Democratic Party, b) introduced socio-economic reforms such as old age pensions and health benefits, c) had all political opponents arrested and the leadership executed, d) privatized the critical industrial enterprises, putting them under the control of the state.
14. Essentially, a movement against the Catholic Church, it sought to remove educational and cultural institutions from the church and confer them on the state under Bismarck: a) Wirschaftswunder, b) Kulturkampf, c) Sozialmarktwirschaft, d) Bundeslander,
15. Who forced Kaiser Wilhelm II to abdicate after Germany’s defeat to end World War I? a) the German generals, b) the conquering allies of Britain, France and the U.S., c) the supporters of democracy, including the SPD, d) the religious right and Church leaders.
16. A system with formal procedures for popular choice of government leaders, especially free party competition, but which may lack other democratic elements: a) expedited populism, b) conditional government, c) procedural democracy, d) emancipated public hierarchy.
17. What was the fatal flaw of the Weimar Republic? a) the press and the industrialists went to ideological war against the working class and the Church, b) great hostility and uncertainty existed among the leaders of the Church and the SPD in following the constitution, c) parties on the far right and the left refused to accept the legitimacy of the fragile government, d) the Communists and the Socialists coalesced, creating a radical left government.
18. Hitler and the Nazi Party took advantage of the deepening economic crisis in the 1920s, preaching a) support for the vulnerable democratic institutions, b) hatred of the left and "non-Aryan races," c) hostility to both the Protestant and Catholic Churches, d) a contempt for the industrialists and the military.
19. How were the Nazis able to seize power in 1933? a) Hitler received the chancellorship and outmaneuvered the aging President Hindenburg, b) Hitler initiated a violent overthrow of the existing government, c) President Hindenburg was arrested, then executed by the Nazis, giving supreme powers to the Furer, d) The SPD and the KPD turned on one another, crippling the ability to respond to the Nazi threat.
20. The Nazis claimed that Germany needed increased space to live: a) Kampf, b) ostpolitik, c) modell Deutschland, d) Lebenstraum.
21. What precipitated World War II in Europe? Germany's attack on: a) Austria in 1938, b) Sudetenland areas of Czechoslovakia in 1938, c) Poland in 1939, d) the Soviet Union in 1941
22. A total of how many Europeans lost their lives over the course of World War II? a) 25 million, b) 30 million, c) 35 million, d) 40 million.
Fill-in Questions
1. Why was Germany’s advice to its fellow EU members of “less risk and less debt” a no-win situation for the former?
a) If other European states consume less, it will hurt Germany’s ______.
b) To ______the troubled economies of Greece, Ireland, and Portugal, might encourage more spending and would enrage German ______.
c) Yet to let them go bankrupt might threaten the euro, the European currency that benefits ______.
2. What were the outstanding features of Prussian rule?
a) a ______state,
b) dominated by a ______group of noble landlords in eastern Prussia called ______,
c) a ______military,
d) a political culture dominated by ______, duty, and service to state.
3. What was the primary goal of the Second Reich under Bismarck?
a) rapid ______,
b) supported by ______power and,
c) a powerful ______system geared to foster large-scale ______investment.
4. What prompted Germany's aggression toward other nations and ultimately helped launch World War I?
a) the political system remained ______and
b) its ______wereunprofitable.
c) It was exposed geopolitically in a fierce naval rivalry with ______, an aggrieved France in the west.
d) To the east, Germany perceived a threat from a growing ______with its large army.
5. What fateful incidents put the SPD leadership and Weimar government on shaky ground?:
a) the SPD leaders foolishly asked the undemocratic ______to "guarantee" order and stability;
b) the SPD leaders signed the ______which required Germany to pay heavy______to the victorious Allies and
c) the government subsequently failed to stem the ruinous ______of 1923.
Answers
True or False Questions
1. False
3. True
5. True
7. True
9. False
11. True
13. True
15. True
Multiple Choice Questions
1. b
3. c
5. b
7. b
9. b
11. c
13. b
15. a
17. c
19. a
21. c
Fill-in Questions
1. a) exports, b) bail out, voters, c) Germany
3. a) industrialization, b) state, c) banking, industrial
5. a) military, b) Treaty of Versailles, reparations, c) inflation
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