Weimar Republic Essay Notes

Weimar Republic Essay Notes

See Entire Document Download Document
Text Preview

Account for the failure/collapse of democracy in Germany in the period 1918-1933. Intro The Weimar Republic was established in the aftermath of Germany’s defeat in World War One, with parliamentary democracy operating from 1919 and introducing an advanced social welfare system. The notion of loyalty to the nation had been particularly influential since Bismark’s wars of unification in the 19th century. The prospect of strengthening their nation by military means, and of it achieving greater status as an international power, had enormous appeal to Germans even if it meant the loss of civil liberties.

As the German army was significant in achieving German unification, serving and former soldiers would seek to exploit their prestige by interfering in political process with Hitler using soldiers as an instrument for the achievement of Nazi objectives. The Great Depression directly led to social dislocation across Germany with increasing unemployment, social welfare inadequacies and a democracy that lacked visionary leadership. Economic discontent and war weariness caused growing popular unrest. The key reason for the eventual collapse of the democratic republic was its failure to bring about fundamental socio-economic-judicial change.

The Great Depression brought to Germany not only deep economic dislocation and withstanding social distress, but it also brought a deep sense of psychological disillusionment. It was in this atmosphere of national disillusionment that the Nazi Party was able to prosper. The German authoritarian tradition had deep psychological and social roots within the majority of the German populace. Democracy was seen as a novel, untried form of government that had no precedent in German history and through Germany’s spiritual and material collapse after the war, the Republican democratic experiment seemed alien to German tradition.

Unrest circulated Germany and culminated in the revolution of November 1918 when the belief spread that the army had been ‘stabbed in the back’ by the socialist politicians who negotiated and signed the armistice, branded the ‘November Criminals’. The German army was seen as a formidable fighting force and could have won the war but was defeated, not on the battlefield but by the pacifists and Socialist who had undermined the war effort.

The myth easily promoted that it was the anti-war agitators which had fomented unrest amongst civilians and weakened the morale of the troops, and the new civilian government who failed to support the military that was to blame for Germany’s undeserved defeat. This was then quickly perpetuated by the military to criticise and reinforce hostility towards the new democratic Weimar Republic as it became associated with the loss of World War and the humiliation of accepting the peace terms imposed by the victorious Allies.

The Treaty of Versailles was regarded as Diktat or dictated peace, as in Article 231 the ‘war guilt’ clause, Germany was forced to take full responsibility for the outbreak and damage of the war to justify making her pay compensations to the Allies in the form of reparations. In addition, Germany’s military was greatly restricted with both the army and navy suffering from heavy reductions in troops and limitations on equipment.

Despite the economic severity of the peace terms, the Treaty did

See Entire Document Join FreeBookSummary to continue reading
See Entire Document Join FreeBookSummary to continue reading

however produce a sense of aggrieved nationalism amongst Germans of almost every background. It caused a profound sense of injustice and resentment, a determination not to co-operate with the implementation of the Treaty and the desire to undo its provisions as soon as the opportunity presented itself. For many this would also enhance hatred of democracy and generate desire to return to the authoritarian rule which had in the past, seemed to ensure their nation’s rise to great power and prominence.

With the introduction of the constitution in 1919, Germany had become one of the most democratic nations in the world, although this newly-adopted constitution was praiseworthy in its democratic arrangements, in practice it proved to be highly ineffective as it upheld several weaknesses that undermined the functioning of the republic. The system of proportional representation encouraged political instability through its proliferation of splinter parties that consequently made it difficult to create and maintain coalitions.

This fragmented political system led to 25 separate parties being formed between 1918-1929, and subsequently the failings of 6 coalition governments between 1919-1923. This factionalism was but one contributing factor, the President’s emergency powers under Article 48 (otherwise known as the ‘suicide clause’) also became one of the methods used to overthrow democracy completely. This ‘presidential right’ was invoked constantly throughout the republic and even Friedrich Elbert did not hesitate to utilize its power more than 135 times during his 5 year term in office, in order to safeguard the republic from attacks from the left and right.

It was not necessarily the clause that was at fault but rather the way it was misused. It was the inability of politicians to make the compromises necessary for effective government and the perpetual ‘wheeling and dealing’ that was needed to properly sustain coalition governments which made many Germans disillusioned with parliamentary democracy, the constant shift of power within the parties also contributed to government instability. The consequences of Article 48 were unseen at the time.

It specifically allowed the president to override any or all of the democratic practices which the Constitution had deemed fundamental. What could be the consequences of this would be seen in the ultimate appointment of an extremist such as Adolf Hitler in the crises that were generated by the depression years. Political violence was a strong characteristic of this period for the new government was faced with opposition and aggression from both forces of the extreme left and the extreme right.

There were over 376 political murders between 1919-1922, 356 of which were committed by the right, with political bias evident as the courts clearly treated conservative defendants leniently with many in the judiciary not accepting the principles of democratic rule and showing sympathy to those who worked against the Republic. The military leadership feared both the extreme left and also the real possibility of disintegration of military discipline in the armed forces.

President Ebert also wanted to ensure there would not be a communist revolution, so in November 1918 commander of the army General Groener and President Ebert made an agreement that in return for maintaining discipline and order in the army, the military would put itself

See Entire Document Join FreeBookSummary to continue reading

at the government’s disposal and support the republic. The right-wing army leadership was prepared to support a moderate left-wing socialist government against elements that threatened the stability of the republic. This allowed the German army to retain its influence and to also become a key political force in the future history of the republic.

In 1919 the German army supported the Weimar government and restored order to the capital through utilizing the Freikorps units when it was threatened by the radicalism of the Spartacist Uprisings and other left-wing challenges, but in 1920 the government faced threats to its authority from the extreme right. Right wing elements in German society such as nationalist groups, industrialists and the military had never accepted the republic for it was held responsible for Germany’s political and social disorder as well as its economic hardships.

In March 1920 extreme right-wing elements attempted to over-throw the elected government in what became known as the Kapp Putsch. The immediate cause of the Putsch was triggered by the government’s attempt to carry out the military clauses of the much hated Treaty of Versailles. Berlin was declared to be under right-wing government leadership and the army refused to move against the coup, but when President Ebert called on the aid of the workers, a general strike was called which completely paralysed the city and in turn, disintegrated power of the Kapp government and it collapsed within days of the takeover.

The Kapp Putsch may appear insignificant and almost comical in its failure but it had important implications for German democracy as it was the first attempt to seize power by the radical right, it exposed the weakness of the government in that it had limited support and revealed the growing power of the German army within the state. Overall it further widened the divisions between the army and the republic.

It became clear that the relationship between the army and the government rested solely on their opposition to communism and their determination to put down left-wing revolts and although the Republic faced threats from both the left and the right, it survived because the army saw the threat of a communist revolution as a more immediate danger to be dealt with. The financial and political turmoil of 1923 also provided an opportunity for Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party to attempt a putsch in Munich. Even though this attempt of a takeover was also a failure, it succeeded in bringing Hitler to national prominence for the very first time.

The economic structure of the Republic had several fundamental flaws which made it highly vulnerable to external pressures, however the economic impact of the Treaty of Versailles, particularly reparations, distorted Germany’s economic situation completely. The presentation of the Allied reparation demands caused a political crisis and the fall of the government as immediately after the war, Germany had little capacity for economic recovery as all key industrial resources had been lost in the peace treaty.

Germany also had little export trade, and was unable to attract any major foreign investments or loans. Moreover, the government itself was weak and vulnerable to

See Entire Document Join FreeBookSummary to continue reading

the pressures from the left and the right and was not prepared to carry through with the necessary economic reforms because it would only increase the suffering of the people. The effective shut down of the vital industrial area of the Ruhr in 1923 and the olicy of passive resistance had disastrous results for the already failing German economy as the government was forced to both financially support those resisting French occupation in the Ruhr, as well as spend its scarce foreign reserves of currency to import coal for other German industries that relied on the supply from the Ruhr. By the summer of 1923, government costs soared by over 700 per cent and the inflation that had plagued German economy since the war, quickly degenerated into the phenomenon of hyperinflation and the Germans experienced such a rapid fall in the value of their currency that it had become virtually worthless.

Financial disaster had profound effects on German society and the radical parties took advantage of the hardship and despair caused by the crisis. The communists won an extra 58 seats in the elections of 1924 and the Nazi Party began to grow and increase its influence. The situation in the early 1920s was superficially more threatening but fundamentally less destabilising than in the early 1930s.

The early attempts to overthrow the republic lacked the necessary co-ordination with the radical left and right disunited and the role of the army ambivalent, the government was now able to keep control and efforts to rehabilitate Germany’s finances were seen by the other powers that external assistance was now necessary. Survival was then followed by recovery and consolidation during the ‘Stresemann era’. Gustav Stressemann was prepared to take the pragmatic tactic which would finally extricate Germany from its ever-growing economic collapse.

By imposing necessary cuts in government expenditure, introducing strict budgetary controls and replacing the devalued currency with the Rentlemark, he succeeded in underpinning domestic efforts to restore financial solvency and provided through the investment of both the Dawes and Young Plan, the foundation for prosperity between 1924-1929. Stresemann’s broad aim was to restore Germany’s power and prosperity but he accepted the fact that Germany was in no position to challenge the Allies military and revise the Treaty of Versailles by force.

Stresemann also realised that other countries could not afford to let German economy collapse completely and so made great use of the close interdependence of economic and foreign policy with his realistic strategy of fulfilment, which meant complying with the terms of Versailles to improve relations with Britain and France and thus encourage them to revise or lessen the severity of the treaty. Germany’s acceptance into the League of Nations in 1926 and the 1929 Locarno Agreement further symbolized Germany’s return to the international community and guaranteed its western borders.

Although Stresemann was highly effective in stabilising Germany economically (if for only briefly), the Republic still however lacked the strong charismatic leaders that it so desperately needed rally support for democracy and even though political violence had significantly declined, as extremists of both the left and right found that the new economic prosperity

See Entire Document Join FreeBookSummary to continue reading

halted their growth, the election of the monarchist Paul von Hindenburg as President in 1925, served as a warning that the republic had not won widespread support.

Stresemann’s years of influence coincided with a period of cultural innovation in Germany, and in particular in Berlin as sections of the community which had been repressed in conservative pre- World War I Germany finally had the freedom to express and experiment in a more liberal atmosphere. The horrors of World War I, followed by economic and social dislocation contributed to the disillusionment with politics, nationalism and other causes amongst sections of the community who instead turned to experimental art forms.

This new artistic liberty was only made possible because of the cultural freedoms permitted under the Republic, however it did not guarantee support for the new system as much of new literature and theatre openly mocked German society and politics of the 1920s. The new vitality in the cultural field did nothing to cement the advantages of democracy in the German mind as the social and sexual excesses of the 1920s was viewed as decadence and alienated the traditional conservative nature of many Germans. The fears of cultural decay were politicised by the Right and blamed on the Weimar Republic for allowing traditional culture to be undermined.

The collapse of moral and culture standards only further reinforced the public’s hostility towards the regime. Overall, Stresemann’s reform did not relieve the underlying weaknesses of Weimar but gave the appearance of a stable democracy and his gradual approach allowed anti-republican forces to continue to destabilise the Republic through advocating more radical (if unrealistic) solutions. Democracy in Germany up to 1934 had inherent weaknesses that were exacerbated by the onset of the Great Depression, which became a catalyst for change from 1929 and the unrest that followed.

Determinist historians like Ian Kershaw argue that this inherent weakness would inevitably bring down democracy. From 1923–1929, there was a short period of economic recovery, but the impact of the Wall Street Crash led to a worldwide recession. Germany was particularly affected because it depended heavily on the American loans to ensure their nation’s economic prosperity. Germany had a seemingly insurmountable level of debt, continual unemployment issues, long term reparations commitments as well as serious structural flaws of high wage levels and trade union influences.

Between March 1930 and May 1932, the German Chancellor Heinrich Bruning pursued an orthodox economic policy of rigid deflation which through increasing taxation and decreasing government expenditure drove the economy deeper into the depression. Against the background of economic and political chaos, the Nazi’s National Socialist German Workers’ Party gained momentum. Hitler, while in the beginning of his rise to power, lagged behind in popularity compared to the Communists, slowly gained recognition, acceptance and finally adulation. This proved in the 1930 election as the Nazi Party went from 12 to 107 seats.

Ultimately, the Great Depression was a catalyst that exacerbated inherent weaknesses and allowed the rise of extremist parties on the right and left. It gave extremist parties a platform on which to attack the already weakened government and eventually allowed the destruction of the democracy

See Entire Document Join FreeBookSummary to continue reading

itself. Historian William S Shirer notes that the depression did not cause the collapse of the republic but rather gave men like Hitler the opportunity to take advantage of misfortune as a means to further political process, “. Like most great revolutionaries he could thrive only in evil times. The people’s suffering he would) transform cold-bloodedly and immediately, into political support for his own ambitions”. Appeal of Hitler Influence of Conservative elites- political intrigues 1930-1933 Bruning relied on the support of the president and Article 48 to carry out his economic program. This was the start of presidential government, as the Reichstag was effectively bypassed. Through Article 48 and internal competition among conservative democratic leaders, Hitler was able to gain chancellorship legitimately and rapidly cause the destruction of the German democracy when he gained total power after the death of Hindenburg in 1934.

Conclusion From its foundation, Weimar had the seemingly insurmountable issues of inherent constitutional weaknesses of proportional representation and rule by decree, absence of democratic tradition and experience, undermining influences of conservative elites in a society that remained pro-monarchy and authoritarian at its foundation, the shameful and unjustified link to the Treaty of Versailles which imposed great international humiliation as well as heavy economic distress upon the German population.

The Republic was associated from the beginning with a lack of discipline, with anarchy and revolution and was associated with the instability of the aftermath of defeat in the First World War. One of the most crucial causes of the collapse of the Weimar Republic was that it was constantly plagued by issues which the government continually failed to solve permanently.

These factors were some but not all of the underlying causes of the failure of the republic. No one cause led to the collapse of an entire system of government. Rather, it was a combination of constitutional framework, tradition and the interplay of personalities. As well, political and economic circumstances were crucial.

See Entire Document Join FreeBookSummary to continue reading
We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy.