Collapse of the Weimar Republic

1136 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Successes of the Weimar from 1919-1933

Collapse of the Weimar Republic

“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.

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.

Roughly 2.7 million German soldiers returned from the First World

War with some sort of permanent disability, and in 1923 the Reich

Lab...

... middle of paper ...

...overy, and return to the prewar economic atmosphere they had been used to. All of these factors together were far too much to expect a very strong, well-organized party with popular support to deal with. Unfortunately, the fact that there was no strong, organized and well-liked party to take control made matters even worse. After years of stagnant policy making, and very little change, it is no wonder the people turned to something new, and something that promised to make things change. It is truly unfortunate for human kind, that this party happened to be the Nazi Party.

Bibliography:

1. Bessel, Richard. “Why Did the Weimar Republic Collapse?” Why Did German

Democracy fail, Ed. Ian Kershaw. London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1990.

2. McKenzie, John. “The End of the Republic” Weimar Germany 1918-1933. London:

Blandford Press, 1971.

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

  • Why the Nazis and not the Communists?

    1833 Words  | 4 Pages

    There could have been a return to parliamentary Party politics. There were some signs to show that democracy may have been revived. During the continuous utilisation of Article 48 to govern, the Reichstag gave their vote of no confidence in challenging the executive use of it. Also, a section of the public appeared to still support the Republic; the Centre Party and SPD continued to have steady support until 1932. However, it seems that any chances of democracy were ruled out. The political Parties were still inclined to pursue their own political interests when a united, broad and moderate front was needed. Two moderate Parties even defected to Hitler after the offensive from the right and Hindenburg made little effort to restore the influence of the Reichstag.

    Read More

  • To What Extent Was Hitler a Weak Dictator?

    1859 Words  | 4 Pages

    Within Nazi government, Hitler acted as the final source of authority, which serves as evidence against the notion that Hitler was ‘weak’. Having consolidated power by 1934 Hitler was, at least theoretically, omnipotent, being Chancellor, Head of State and “supreme judge of the nation”. However, the notion that Nazi government systematically pursued the clear objectives of the Fuhrer is challenged by the reality of Nazi government structure. It has been widely accepted by historians that the Nazi State was a chaotic collection of rival power blocs. Mommsen’s explanation that this was the result of Hitler’s apathy towards government a...

    Read More

  • Factors Leading to the Rise of the Nazi Dictatorship in the 1930s

    520 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Great Depression played a big role in helping the Nazi Party capture power. Many nations were suffering from the Great Depression in 1930, including Germany who had to pay for the war reparations. During this period of economic and politic crisis, the country had been easily influenced by the politics parties. They wanted someone who is capable and had what it takes to be their leader to lead them through the huge crisis that they were facing. Most Germans who are in desperate state as they wanted Germany to be like once, able to be proud of and not in such a state where they had to struggle to fulfill the almost impossible terms of the Treaty of Versailles. They considered that period as a disgraceful decade in their history. Due to the Treaty of Versailles, the bitterness feeling that was left for the Germans. That is when Adolf Hitler, the Nazi Party’s last leader came in and promised people that he would help to restore the peace and make Germany greater, but as their leader. The bitterness feeling that the Germans felt, also did a part in helping the Nazi Party to capture po...

    Read More

  • The Collapse of Weimar and the Rise of Hitler

    1031 Words  | 3 Pages

    But possibly the greatest threat for early Weimar Germany was the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty left the Weimar with a massive debt that she was unlikely to repay. The problems that were handed to the new government and the events that occurred as the new Republic was created can be seen as a factor that lead to its eventually downfall. Weimar Republic’s type of government caused another problem. Its parliamentary system was proportional representation, allowing small, locali... ...

    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

  • Lessons from Nazi Germany: Safeguarding Western Democracy

    1272 Words  | 3 Pages

    The failure of the Weimar Republic left the door wide open for the Nazi party to come in and take control. There was no respect or obedience for the Weimar Republic and anyone who promised to eliminate or change it would easily win over the people. Had this system of government provided stability and strong institutions (the backbone of a successful government) there would have been no desire for a takeover and any such attempts to destroy it would have been faced with opposition. This was not the case, and the Weimar Republic couldn’t meet the needs of the people; it couldn’t protect them economically, socially, or militarily. It was eventually succeeded by a government that promised to do those things, and accomplished quite a great deal of

    Read More

  • Weimar Republic

    2422 Words  | 5 Pages

    There were various factors that contributed to the failure of the Weimar Republic of Germany and the ascent of Hitler’s National Socialist German Workers Party into power on January 30, 1933. Various conflicting problems were concurrent with the eventuation of the Republic that, from the outset, its first governing body the socialist party (SPD) was forced to contend with.

    Read More

  • Treaty Of Versailles Essay

    1352 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...Republic was marked by failure. The inflation in 1923, caused in part by the Versailles settlement, drove people away from democracy and towards Nazism. Socially, the Nazi movement had taken root with many conservatives as a way to unify and oppose the treaty. Books and literature written by Nazi leaders such as Hitler himself were propaganda to the movement and allowed for the party to solidify its goals. Politically, the republic was fractured and messy allowing for many parties to rise and fall out of favor. The early Nazi movement was based off the popular notion of oppression created by the Treaty of Versailles. Thus, the Treaty of Versailles fostered a political and social environment for the Nazi Party to grow and eventually seize power. It is ironic that this treaty ended the “war to end all wars,” while also inadvertently started yet another world conflict.

    Read More

  • Hyper- Inflation in Germany 1923

    1351 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...After we consider all these points mentioned we begin to see how everything worked and connected to form one huge disaster for Germany. We start to see how all these things played a part, the reparations led to unemployment that led to no money that led to overprinting of money. How the huge consequence of the reparations led to the unsuccessful paying of it leading to the French invasion of the Ruhr which led to strikes and therefore no products to trade with. How the unstable Weimar government led to extremist parties that damaged the economy further and brought inflation to its highest. The effects were probably the worst, the starvation coupled with the disease epidemic that killed people off and the worthless tonnes of paper notes roaming around the nation. It all in all was a very bad time in Germany one that they always found it hard to recover from.

    Read More

  • Nazi Germany

    2481 Words  | 5 Pages

    In the 1920's, Germany encountered a great mired in an economic depression. Millions of citizens suffered hunger and many remained out of work. The national spirit of the once-proud people became low. The Germans became enraged by their loss of World War I and stood humiliated by the terms they had to accept in 1919 the treaty of Versailles. The War had a destruction of millions of deaths. Germany had to give up territory, slash its military, and pay billions of dollars in reparations for the damaged it caused during the war. Hitler used his nation's despair and humiliation as fuel for a new political monument, which took shape as the Nazi party (Schoenbaum 8).

    Read More

  • Birth Of Nazism

    2728 Words  | 6 Pages

    This was the state of 1933 Germany, one that not endured since the Thirty Years War. Everything familiar to Germany had been replaced by the Treaty of Versailles. This state was the "breeding ground" of Nazism, or National Socialism. At a time of severe depression, the ideas and promises of the National Socialists looked very promising. Many Germans lacked faith in the existing government and began to turn to political groups that called for extreme changes. Nazis had divined a plan, and were willing to lead Germany to the grandeur that she deserved. Lead by the bold and charismatic Adolf Hitler, the light of a brighter future began to shine through the clouds of the post war era.

    Read More

  • The Collapse the Weimar Republic

    708 Words  | 2 Pages

    They were the ones who carried out the war, they were cut down to size

    Read More

  • The Extent to Which the Weimar Republic Recovered after 1923

    445 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Weimar Republic

    593 Words  | 2 Pages

    But was it doomed from it's beginning? One of the main fields where problems arose was the legacy of World War 1. Germany's unexpected defeat was blamed on the "November Criminals" and made people suspicious of the new government. The Treaty of Versailles associated the government with Germany's acceptance of this national humiliation. The soldiers returning back from the front line were bitter at the republic and many joined right wing paramilitary groups, such as the Freikorps.

    Read More

More about Collapse of the Weimar Republic

Open Document