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 highlights that reason in her speech to the National Assembly. She states, “This is the first time that German women may speak as free and equal members in the parliament… We can now for the first time speak of a new Germany
In an editorial from the Communist International, the author explains, “The Weimar regime is really the bloody class terror of the bourgeoisie under the mask of democracy. Industrialists are striving for the class dictatorship of the bourgeoisie…” (Doc 2). A statement like this changes the thoughts of the German people, which is the audience of this editorial. Calling out the Weimar republic for being a conspiracy to strive for upper class dictatorship wouldn’t have helped the image of the republic, and a republic without a good foundation of citizen agreement will not be stable. This can also be seen in George Grosz’s “The Toads of Property,” where the upper class factory owners are playing poker and the working class is sadly walking around in the background. Not only does the cartoon give the appearance that the factory owners are more powerful than the working class, but it also gives the impression of an unsteady economy that is occupying the working class’ mind with worry. Since the government didn’t seem to care about the WC’s condition, it gives them another reason to not like the Weimar Republic other than the ideas expressed in the
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. This could be compared to the many different governments created and dismissed in France’s Revolution towards the end of the 18th century. The new excitement from overthrowing the monarchy and the different opinions about how to run the new government made it very unstable, which is why France jumped from a monarchy to the National Assembly to the Legislative Assembly, and so
In Document 3, “The Situation in Germany” published in 1920, communist party member of the Reichstag, Clara Zetkin, talks about how the Weimer regime is only the terror of the bourgeois middle class hiding under the mask of democracy. Zetkin states how the republic is not giving power to the people, but instead becoming a dictatorship of the middle class. This document discusses how the republic is not actually making any change but instead expressing an anti-war attitude in order to disarm the revolutionaries who oppose them. However, the document holds a bias as Clara Zetkin is a communist Party member of the Reichstag, who is the main opponent of the republic. Despite this, Zetkin remains a reliable
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.
The Posing of Threats by the Political Right to the Weimar Republic in the Years 1919-25
Evaluation of Weimar Germany The Weimar Republic was an extremely complex and diverse place throughout the entirety of the interwar years. The society and the culture that the Weimar created had several different facets and frontiers according to how one chooses to approach it. The fundamental themes of the period evolve around Political conflict, economic instability, social unrest and diverse ideologies. In relation to this essay I shall be focusing my attention on the latter themes, as I believe that the determinants of social unrest and conflicting ideologies are paramount when investigating the social and cultural development of the Weimar Republic. There is little doubt that pre-war and post-war German societies were very different.
...hed as such and remained on the most part a psychological concept, one that served as a technique of Gleischaltung towards the increasing totality of state authority. The classless society ideal remained as inherently flawed and never could be established given the economic climate, foreign policy goals and the various inconsistencies and paradoxes within government policy. The Volksgemeinschaft was established perhaps through perception, but through reality it remained a superficial, idealised myth towards which the German people could motivate themselves. However, if Germany remained uninterrupted by war, then it could have been possible for the Nirvana of national harmony to be established to a greater extent after this period of catharsis and thus renewal had completed. Nevertheless, once Germany went to war the fabric of the Volksgemeinschaft was torn apart.
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.
The German government ordered passive resistance but workers needed to be paid. The government printed money and hyperinflation set in. During this crisis in Germany, caused indirectly by the Treaty, when Hitler tried to seize power he was unsupported. Therefore the Treaty of Versailles, on its own, was not a reason why Hitler rose to power. After 1929, the Great Depression acted as a catalyst, igniting the German people's anger for the Treaty of Versailles and it then became a factor in Hitler's rise to power.
...n power vowed to grant a representative government and a constitution. These visions then diffused into France which caused the King, Louis Philippe, to abdicate and a republic was created. The vote for every man in France was also promised. The revolutionary feeling swept into Belgium, where liberal reforms were passed, and into Holland reform was granted by the King before revolutionary unrest could take hold. As this was taking place, ideas of a unified Germany were also emerging and the German Confederation reforms, similar to those just granted in Holland, were proposed. In March of that year, the revolutionary ideology passed into the Austrian Empire. Riots occurred in Vienna and the Royal Family believed that the Empire was in jeopardy. Due to this, Chancellor Metternich was discharged, and with him went the ideas that had previously dominated most of Europe.
Richard Bessel’s article stresses the political structure of Weimar Germany as the cause of its failure. Its structure was flawed in numerous ways, all of which contributed to its inevitable failure. First of all, the problems within Germany due to the First World War were massive. This caused economic, political and social problems which first had to be dealt with by the new Weimar government. The loss of the war had left Germany with huge reparations to pay, and massive destruction to repair. In order to gain the capital needed to finance efforts to rebuild, and repay the Allies, the economy had to be brought back to its prewar levels. This was not an easy task.
...ce of many Germans to the Weimar Republic – perhaps even paving the way for Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party’s rise to power in the 1930s.
The main reason was that people were discomposed that Germany had lost a war and most of the people blame for the defeat. On the other hand, during 1929-1933, the worldwide Great Depression, which impacted Germany, and there was no leader of Weimar could solve the economic problem.
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.
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.
Though many have maintained that the Weimar Republic was a failure, did not take into account of the miracle that the Weimar government stayed in power for fourteen years. Nevertheless, Weimar Germany during the period from 1919 through 1924 faced extreme unpopularity, attacks from both political parties, and a disastrous economy. If the Weimar Republic had been more successful, Hitler might have not been able to use these troubling factors against the Republic, to come into
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.