Reasons For The Failure Of The Weimar Republic

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Why did the Weimar Republic Fail?

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.

Post war Germany 1918, was under severe economic and cultural damage after a humiliating defeat against the allies. This further worsened as the people of Germany had been led to believe that they were winning the war due to the use of government propaganda. The German army collapsed in the autumn of 1918 when the allies launched their final attack on German lines. However the blame was shifted to the weak politicians rather than the military exhaustion, also known as the ‘stab in the back theory’ or the ‘Dolchstosslegende’. October and November 1918 were crucial months in establishing the future of Germanys political, economic and social well being after the war. Germany’s naval command at Kiel decided to take on the British Navy who were blockading ports in Northern Germany and consequently starving the nation. The sailors therefore decided t...

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...ops fought by passive resistance of the German workers. The hyperinflation crisis which was brought about by the government, who thought by printing more notes they were to be able to repay their debts. This only further de valued the German Mark and made living and working in Germany almost impossible. The first half of 1922 saw the US dollar equal approximately 320 marks but by September 1923 hyperinflation was exacerbated and 1 US dollar was the equivalent to 160 million marks. November 1923 saw the peak of hyperinflation with the American dollar being worth a whopping 4,210,500,000,000 German Marks. Throughout these economic waves, Germany witnessed the political instability of the collapse of two government coalitions. Richard Evans, a British historian, states that the ‘weakness of the republic was not gaining the support of the army and conservative elites.’

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