The Collapse Of The Weimar Republic

1076 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Failure of the weimar republic

The Weimar Republic is still with us today, the legacy left behind from the Weimar Republic has shaped the world as we know it today. The Weimar Republic traditionally gets a negative and deterministic view in both popular and scholarly imaginations. Germany’s first democracy is often credited to the rise of Adolf Hitler. This paper will examine, the societal, economic, political, and constitutional factors leading to the collapse of the Weimar Republic. Germany’s attempted at a democratic republic is often viewed as a little more than a prelude to the Third Reich . Before one examines the Third Reich and the collapse of the Weimar Republic, first one must look how the Weimar was created. The beginning of the Republic can be traced back to 1914 with the total war occurring or World War I, …show more content…

The German people couldn’t grasp the fact the revelation that Germany surrender unconditionally, and after four long years of suffering and sacrifice, this destroyed the people’s belief in the Imperial Government. The Weimar Republic followed the German Revolution in 1918. In October of 1918, the beginning of the Revolution was caused by right wing officers ordering one last naval attack, which would be a suicide attack. On Sunday, November.3, more than 20,000 sailors and dockworkers gathered at a local park in show of solidarity . This would lead to protests across Germany. The Revolution was politically aimed in nature, the people wanted to reform the political culture of Germany. In the days after November 3, the Kaiser abdicated his power to the people, on November9th, the Republic was proclaimed and on November 10th the new Germany Socialist government was set up. In January 19 the elections of the National Assembly were held and the parliamentary democracy was elected and to be put in place. February 6th national assembly opened in Weimar to begin working on the Weimar

Show More
Related

  • Weimar Republic Dbq

    1718 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Weimer Republic, is the democratic government established in Germany in 1918 that ruled for fifteen years after the collapse of the German empire after the First World War.The republic consisted of moderates from the Social Democratic Party as well as their liberal allies, which included the German Democratic Party, and the Catholic Center Party. The Weimer Republic sought political democracy, which they believed was attainable by the elimination of war, revolutionary terror, and capitalism. Despite their clear goal, the Weimer Republic faced backlash by the radicals of society, which included communists, National Socialists, and the Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler. THESIS: The Weimer Republic’s instability in the period of 1918-1933 is

    Read More

  • Weimar Republic Dbq Analysis

    797 Words  | 2 Pages

    The German Weimar Republic was an attempt to make Germany a more democratic state. While this was a very good idea in theory, the Weimar Republic was ineffective due to the instability that came with it. Several factors contributed to the instability of Germany’s Weimar Republic, such as the new political ideals brought forward and the government’s hunger for war. To begin, one of the factors that contributed to the instability of the Weimar republic was the presence of new political ideals. Marie Juchacz unintentionally highlighted that reason in her speech to the National Assembly.

    Read More

  • The Fall Of The Weimar Republic Dbq Essay

    983 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first major reason that the Weimar republic failed was that it was extremely inefficient and did not have clear goals set within the government. All the different ideas coming from the parties in the republic, created a situation where the people of Germany were getting very unclear, vague messages. This problem can be seen in the struggle between the German Democratic Party and the Communist Party. Troeltsch, a theologian and leader of the German Democratic Party said, “The development will not stop at democracy, and a ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ will assume the form of terrorist domination by a minority” (Doc 1). This statement is only somewhat reliable because Troeltsch was a politician, and he would benefit from over exaggerating what would happen if the opposing party were to gain control.

    Read More

  • Was there really a revolution in Germany in 1918? Discuss

    624 Words  | 2 Pages

    The general public of Germany had never had any say in political matters; they allowed the Kaiser to make all the decisions regarding themselves and their once-prosperous country. The groups controlling Germany began to change during October and November 1918. More power began to fall into the hands of the people as they realised the blame for their involvement in the war was the Kaiser’s. People such as the armed soldiers, sailors and workers started protesting and going on strike. This was a far cry from before the war, when Germany was wealthy, proud and ambitious. So for a brief period, it seemed that a revolution would take place, with the people of Germany wanting a social and political revolution.

    Read More

  • Collapse of the Weimar Republic

    1136 Words  | 3 Pages

    “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.

    Read More

  • Weimar Hyperinflation

    2077 Words  | 5 Pages

    Following the German surrender in November 1918, the Empire experienced a brief, but significant civil revolution. The German Revolution lasted from the end of the war until August 1919. During that time, a national assembly was held in the city of Weimar where a new constitution was drafted. A new federal republic (known as the Weimar Republic) was born and a semi-presidential representative democracy overthrew the monarchy of Kaiser Wilhelm II. The new government faced immediately faced a multitude of issues including political instability, reestablishing and maintaining international post-war relations, and severe economic turmoil – most notably the period of hyperinflation which occurred in the early 1920s.

    Read More

  • Influence Of Visual Art In Nazi Germany

    1612 Words  | 4 Pages

    'Nazi Germany ' represented the period from 1933s to 1945s, which played an important role in prosperous German history and the modern European history. After Germany participated in First World War in the first half of the 20th century, the whole society was glutted with unemployment, poverty, hunger, inflation and moral corruption. The public couldn’t feel the republican democracy benefits.

    Read More

  • Comparing The Weakness Of The Weimar Republic And Hitler's Rise To Power

    685 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • To what extent did economic problems contribute to the collapse of the Weimar Republic?

    1931 Words  | 4 Pages

    Economic problems were evident before the new constitution was even drawn up, and already the new republic faced a host of problems upon proclamation. These turbulent initial years would predict the Republic’s downfall, with the stigma of being a republic born out of defeat. The Weimar Republic’s first act was to sign the armistice with the allies. Germany had suffered greatly as a result of the war, and many German’s saw the signing of the armistice as an act of treason, and blamed the new government for the loss of the war. The Republic saw minimal allegiance or support from nationalist groups who viewed the new government with contempt. Germany had no tradition of democracy, and its people yearned for a dictatorial government and a strong leader. This was dismissed by the new democratic system. Discontent continued to heighten in face of the outcomes of the war that had seen the loss of two and a half million German soldiers, four million wounded German soldiers, increasing prices and unemployment,...

    Read More

  • Characteristics Of The Weimar Constitution

    1298 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Weimar constitution was forced into creation by the German desire to sign an armistace with the Allied forces after significant defeats on the Western front. Not only were the Allies demanding a democratic governing style in Germany, but there was also a strong desire to move away from the autocratic state that had existed under the Kaiser. Although the new constitution outwardly appeared to be democratic, there were several internal factors that severely undermined the democratic integrity of the new constitution, and made it almost indistinguishable from its autocratic predecessor.

    Read More

  • Exploring the Reasons Behind Public's Discontent with the Weimar Government

    581 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Strengths And Weaknesses Of The Weimar Republic

    872 Words  | 2 Pages

    Germany was in need of a democratic government in order to meet the harsh provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. Established by members from the Social Democrat Party in 1919, the Weimar Republic became the central power in Germany for the following years. The republic was found in the city of Weimar and was a replacement, so to say, for the imperial government that had previously stood as the central authority. Even though the Weimar Republic managed to lead Germany for 15 years, it experienced devastating drawbacks such as hyperinflation, lack of support from the public, and the constant efforts from different groups to overthrow the government; because of these factors, different political groups sought a resolution, such as overthrowing the government and pushing for a strong leader. Severe economic problems arose in Germany essentially due to the punitive provisions of the Treaty of Versailles.

    Read More

  • Weimar Government and its Weaknesses

    1359 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Reasons For The Failure Of The Weimar Republic

    796 Words  | 2 Pages

    The failure of the Weimar Republic has been explored by scores of historians and the reasons as to why it crashed are complex and multifaceted. The state of Germany after the war was an intricate web of factors both internal and external, which thus contributed to the ultimate failure of the democracy. It is virtually impossible to solely blame just one of these factors some of which include; the treaty of Versailles and the burdens associated with it, the Weimar constitution, the minority government, authoritarian political values, the impact of the great depression and the rising support for Hitler and the Nazi Party. It seems as though Hitler and the Nazi Party were the main crisis behind the demise of the Weimar state but there were many conditions and events, which contributed to allow Hitler’s party to emerge into German politics and gain control.

    Read More

  • The Extent to Which the Weimar Republic Recovered after 1923

    445 Words  | 1 Pages

    German people were unused to a democracy and blamed the government “November criminals”, for signing the Treaty of Versailles. From the very beginning, the new Weimar government faced opposition from both sides of the political spectrum. The Left wing Spartacist group, lead by Liebknecht and Luxemburg, looked up to the new Soviet councils in Russia, wanted to place Germany into a similar system.

    Read More

More about The Collapse Of The Weimar Republic

Open Document