Reasons for the Failure of the Weimar Republic
The period of German history from 1919 to 1933 is known as the WeimarRepublic.
It is named after the city of Weimar, where a national assembly
convened to produce a new constitution after Germany's defeat in World
War I.
This first attempt at establishing a liberal democracy in Germany was
a time of great tension and inner conflict and, ultimately, failed
with the ascent of Adolph Hitler and the Nazi Party in 1933. Although
technically, the 1919 constitution was never entirely invalidated
until after World War II, the legal measures taken by the Nazi
government in 1933 that are commonly known as Gleichschaltung (a
political sense to describe the process by which the Nazi regime
successively established a system of total control and coordination of
all aspects of society)in fact destroyed all mechanisms provided for
by a typical democratic system, so it is common to mark 1933 as the
end of the Weimar Republic.
Also the Weimar government was/was not a total failure because firstly
it lasted for 14 years and it also introduced ideas of a democracy.
On the one hand, Hitler became Reichskanzler legally through the
mechanisms set forth by the constitution, and the NSDAP had gained the
relative majority of the seats in Parliament in the two 1932
elections. On the other hand, Hitler was appointed Reichskanzler at a
time where support for the "movement" had proven not to be sufficient
to gain power. Two main reasons for the collapse are: Economic
problems and Institutional problems.
Firstly, I will talk about economic problems. The Weimar Republic had
some of the most serious econo...
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...Kaiser. Many
Germans resented the fact that the TOV had not been reversed and
blamed the government for it.
While things were going well, the Weimar republics achievements looked
impressive. Once things went wrong, they looked much less so.
Overall the Weimar government was more of a failure than a success
from my point of view. The reason was between 1919-23 it was the
difficult years as the government had to sign the hated TOV. Between
1923-29 it was described as the better years, this was due to Gustav
Stresemann, ending off hyperinflation, the Dawes and Young plan, but
all off this was due to U.S.A. and when the Wall St. Crash occurred it
all went wrong, in 1929-33 it was described as the bad years, this was
cause stresemann dies, loans recalled, unemployed, extreme parties re
popular, Nazis and communists.
Exploring the Reasons Behind Public's Discontent with the Weimar Government There were a number of reasons why the German people were unhappy with the Weimar government. One of the main reasons for this was the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The result of this was that Germany has to take the war guilt, Germany had to pay reparations of 6,600 million marks to the allies in particular France, Germany lost its colonies, it lost its air force & tanks, and its soldiers were restricted to 100,000. The Ruhr was demilitarised. Also they lost their colonies and its land was cut up such as the Polish Corridor and Alsace Lorraine.
The period after World War One was very politically unstable. Many different kinds of governments, such as fascism and communism, were coming up all over Europe. One country that especially faced this political fluctuation was Germany. After the war, Germany was forced into a democracy known as the Weimar Republic, but this government soon collapsed and Hitler’s fascism took over. There were various factors that contributed to the fall of the Weimar Republic, but three major ones were the lack of popular support for the government, the lack of efficiency and internal organization, and the competition of other, more conservative parties such as the Nazis.
This essay will examine how the lack of effective opposition and the weakness of the Weimar, was a major factor in the Nazis rising to power between 1919 and 1933.
After the First World War Germany recognised her first ever democratic government, the Weimar republic lasted from 1918 – 1933 an astonishingly long time given its turbulent start. The November revolution saw the election of soldier and worker councils similar to that of the Russian revolution in 1917, it spread across Germany like wildfire and in turn split the country before a democracy could even be instated nevertheless on November 9th 1918 the German republic was established. From then on The Weimar Republic was set on unstable and insecure path and this is why it is one of Germanys most important historical periods; it was Germanys earliest form of non-imperial government and rule and its collapse in 1933 paved the way for the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party. For these reasons there have been endless works published on the Weimar republic and the outpouring of literature post world war two focuses on the collapse of the Weimar republic and how the Nazi party came to power. However, to understand why the debate surrounding the Golden Era in the Weimar Republic is an interesting one and lacking in historical works, it is key to examine the historiography of the Weimar republic as a whole. Furthermore, to understand why historians focus on other periods in the Weimar’s history in particular the consequences of the treaty of Versailles and the consequences of the Wall Street crash in 1928 which led to its collapse.
The Nazis weren't very successful in the late 1920's because this period of time, being prior to the economic crisis, the Weimar Government was doing fairly well under the leadership of Stresemann and Germany's future looked hopeful for a while. But when the economy took a turn for the worse, Germany was desperate, therefore many Germans felt that it was the right time to vote for a different party. The Nazis were quick to take advantage of the economic problems that the Weimar Government faced and started to market themselves as "the party that may have the solutions to Germany's many problems. " After the Wall Street Crash in late 1929, the Nazis gained 107 seats in the Reichstag, 95 more seats than they had gained two years previously and then in July 1932, the Nazis gained 230 seats in the Reichstag.
The 1920's were a time of uproar and fear for many Germans. As well as
The Failure of the Weimar Republic in 1932 The failure of the Weimar Republic to solve the problems that faced Germany during the 1920s and early 1930s is very well documented and the consequences of this failure are well known. The Republic was faced by a number of problems from the outset of which many were related to the economy, it faced some of the most serious economic problems ever experienced by a western democracy in history. By the Great Depression of the 1930s, the institution of the Republic as such was blamed by many for the economic problems and these, in turn, for the Weimar's downfall. The good days of the Weimar Republic came to an end in the late 1920s, especially as the depression began to take a hold on the German economy. As a result, the political situation became uncertain and dangerous; the genuine believers in the Republic began to loose the battle against the enemies from the left and right.
and Americans all over lost a lot of money. Banks had to spend all of
The Weakness of the Weimar Republic and Hitler's Rise to Power The question directly relates to the idea that the political power of a country can be taken over by ambitious people in different ways. From our knowledge we know there is three ways this can be done…by take over by force, also known as a 'coup d'etat', in a more democratic and just way or by a political deal. In the 1920's and the 1930's Hitler led a right wing political party and was seen by many as a dictator. He wanted to overthrow and control the German government and he tried all three of these ways in an attempt to do so, some methods were more successful than others.
was not allowed to put any defences or troops on the east bank of the
2. What were weaknesses of the Weimar Republic? How did different political groups seek to remedy these weaknesses?
The causes of the failure of the Weimar government are multi-faceted. However, I assert that the Weimar government's inability to keep the people's confidence in their capabilities, which eventually rendered them obsolete, was fundamentally due to the threats from within rather than the external hazards. Through exploring the flaws in the constitution and the threats to the WG's authority from the outside, it will be proven that what brought the WR down were its intrinsic vulnerabilities , and that the external threats were only catalysts of their downfall; without the presence of the internal weaknesses in the first place, the external perils would not have been able to threaten the rule of the government.
“On 2 August 1934, President Hindenburg died. Within an hour of his death Hitler announced that the offices of chancellor and president were to be combined and that he was the new head of state. Hitler’s adolescent dream of becoming Fuhrer of the German people had been realized” President Hindenburg’s death marked the official end of the Weimar Republic, a democratic ‘experiment’ that had lasted since 1918. The causes of the dissolution of the Republic are wide ranging and numerous, as was explained in the articles of both Richard Bessel, and John McKenzie. The two author’s agree on the sequence of events which led to the dissolution of the Republic, however, they disagree on what exactly caused the transition from Weimar to the Third Reich. The author’s disagreement stem from a differing view of the fundamental cause, political structure versus political leadership.
The Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic was created in Germany in 1918 as a result of widespread socialist unrest. A liberal constitution was drawn up in 1919. There was extensive instability in Germany around this time. The Weimar government had trouble pleasing right and left wing parties because, at this time, Germany was very polarised politically. Hitler dissolved the republic in 1933.
The Extent to Which the Weimar Republic Recovered after 1923 In the period after 1923, under Gustav Stresemann, Germany was able to stand back on its feet and overcome many of its difficulties. Weimar Republic was created in 1919 to govern a defeated Germany after World War One. Germany was facing many social, political and economical problems while the new constitution laid open for the seizure of power. There were many rebellions and attempted revolutions making the country very unstable. Situations were made worse by the harsh terms of Treaty of Versailles, causing hyperinflation and a huge amount of national debt.