The Weimar Republic's Failure

The Weimar Republic's Failure

On the 9th of November 1918, the new democratic German Republic was

initiated in order for the Allies to agree to an armistice of the

First World War. It is argued by many historians that the years of the

first German democratic regime were numbered from the outset due to

the many limitations that worked against the Weimar Government and the

various obstacles in the form of political hostility from both the

left and right wing idealists and the inherited socio-economic

problems. This essay will examine if and how factors into which the

Weimar constitution was born would almost certainly not allow

democracy to prosper. The reasons for the creation of the Republic

alone would not act as the steadiest of foundations for the building

of political success.

The Emperor of Germany, Kaiser Wilhelm II, the last ruler of the

terminated Second Reich, was convinced to abdicate by General

Ludendorff in accordance with the wishes of the allies. The

militarists including General Ludendorff and Field-Marshal Hindenburg,

who held considerable political power, agreed that Germany would

receive a better peace deal if it were a democratic, de-militarised

state. Those who conceived this idea rather more acrimoniously

anticipated the blame of the new government for Germany's defeat in

the war, masking the generals for this responsibility. Ludendorff and

Hindenburg would later use propaganda in the form of the 'stab in the

back' myth, which claimed that the Socialists had not given their

support to the army and the war effort thus condemning Germany to

defeat. When Field-Marshal Hindenburg was called to give evidence to

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containing two imperfections. These two flaws came in the form of

Article 48 and the election system of proportional representation.

Article 48 gave President Ebert the power to rule by decree in times

of state emergency. It was never exactly clear on what the term

emergency actually meant. In Ebert's early days, he utilised the

Article 48 in order to repress the Kapp Putsch. This move by Ebert was

extremely unpopular and didn't do much for the governments

credibility. The other constitutional defect of proportional

representation would allow only small minority parties to be elected

thus creating a series of coalition governments in the German

Republic. Proportional Representation in due course led to

unproductive, uncooperative governments, limiting the Weimar

Republic's ability to succeed.