The Collapse of Weimar and the Rise of Hitler
In 1919, a defeated Germany was forced to abandon government under the
Kaiser, who had fled to Belgium and adopt the Weimar, a democratic but
flawed system. Soon after Hitler and the Nazi Party appeared, and
years later the Weimar Republic fell. What accounted for the fall of
the Weimar? My essay will prove that there was not a single reason,
but in fact a series of events that lead to the collapse of the
Weimar.
President Ebert used the Freikorp, who were a rightwing mercenary
unit, to put down the Spartacus uprising, a communist inspired
revolution. After that, Ebert was always seen as an enemy in the eyes
of the extreme left, and so consequently the government he
represented, Weimar, was also seen in the same light. Next, the Kapp
Putsch saw Dr. Kapp, leader of the Freikorp and an extreme
right-winger, try to take control of Berlin with his mercenaries.
This time Ebert used the moderate leftwing in the form of the trade
unions, to put down the revolt, by calling a general strike in the
region. This would result in the rightwing becoming against the new
republic, along with leftwing groups. 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...
... middle of paper ...
... events, which allowed Hitler to
undermine parliamentary democracy in Germany. Had any of these events
occurred separately there is a strong chance that the Weimar would
have been able to survive, however the effect of them all occurring
simultaneously was almost certainly the reason in which the Weimar
collapsed and allowed Hitler and the Nazi Party’s rise to power.
Bibliography
“Fall of Weimar and Rise of Nazis.” August 28, 2001.
[http://www.history.sfasu.edu/Jackson/412/Outline_Weimar&Nazis.htm][5/26/2003]
Rempel, Gerhard. “The Nazi Road to Power”.
[http://mars.acnet.wnec.edu/~grempel/courses/germany/lectures/27power_road.html]
[5/26/2003]
Sage, Henry J. “The Rise of Nazi Germany: The SS-State.” September 9,
2001.
[http://www.nv.cc.va.us/home/nvsageh/Hist122/Part3/Germany1933.htm][5/26/2003]
The deal meant that Ebert had the army on his side as long as Groener still had his powers. Germans were unhappy with this because this benefited Ebert rather than the people. Now with the deal Ebert was able to suppress opposition. Example of this would be the Spartacist Uprising being crushed in 1919 and the death of the Communist leaders. Many Germans would be unhappy because they could see that Ebert was using the army and Freikorps to suppress opposition which meant they weren’t allowed to demonstrate their ideas.
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.
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 exact opposite of this idea is the view of Communist Party member Clara Zetkin. When she talks about how the only way that Germany can really get rid of monarchy is by having a proletariat uprising it can be seen that she obviously embraces communist policy. (Doc 3)....
build up a name for himself, as well as, to get to know people in high
loans in 1920 would easily be able to pay these off now - leaving them
...of Carsten and similar historians writing at the time is that the far-left were not as politically strong as first thought so consequently there was a lack of any serious opposition to the established order and in turn they were allowed had more independence and self-determination in implementing Germany’s first republic. So the social basis for a constitutional government in Germany was a lot more widespread than formerly thought. Furthermore, the apprehensiveness of the social democrats can be interpreted in terms of distrusting the unstructured mass movements that existed in the pressing post-war years, and placing their trust in the old elites. However, works such as Feldman’s, ‘The great disorder. The German inflation 1914 – 1924’ argue that the perspective representative potential of soldiers and workers unions and councils were in fact decisively contentious
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.
The Weakness of the Weimar Republic and Hitler's Rise to Power The question directly relates to the idea that the political power of a country can be taken over by ambitious people in different ways. From our knowledge we know there is three ways this can be done…by take over by force, also known as a 'coup d'etat', in a more democratic and just way or by a political deal. In the 1920's and the 1930's Hitler led a right wing political party and was seen by many as a dictator. He wanted to overthrow and control the German government and he tried all three of these ways in an attempt to do so, some methods were more successful than others.
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 highlighted that reason in her speech to the National Assembly.
Weimar’s failure was, however, not inevitable, for the republic survived a period of severe political and economic crisis in its early years. The first threat came from the left, disappointed with the results of the revolution. They wanted a transformation of society, as in Russia, based on the workers’ and soldiers’ councils which had spontaneously sprung up during the German revolution. Such a ... ... middle of paper ... ... er have been in the running.
Germany was in need of a democratic government in order to meet the harsh provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. Established by members from the Social Democrat Party in 1919, the Weimar Republic became the central power in Germany for the following years. The republic was found in the city of Weimar and was a replacement, so to say, for the imperial government that had previously stood as the central authority. Even though the Weimar Republic managed to lead Germany for 15 years, it experienced devastating drawbacks such as hyperinflation, lack of support from the public, and the constant efforts from different groups to overthrow the government; because of these factors, different political groups sought a resolution, such as overthrowing the government and pushing for a strong leader. Severe economic problems arose in Germany essentially due to the punitive provisions of the Treaty of Versailles.
The causes of the failure of the Weimar government are multi-faceted. However, I assert that the Weimar government's inability to keep the people's confidence in their capabilities, which eventually rendered them obsolete, was fundamentally due to the threats from within rather than the external hazards. Through exploring the flaws in the constitution and the threats to the WG's authority from the outside, it will be proven that what brought the WR down were its intrinsic vulnerabilities , and that the external threats were only catalysts of their downfall; without the presence of the internal weaknesses in the first place, the external perils would not have been able to threaten the rule of the government.
German people were unused to a democracy and blamed the government “November criminals”, for signing the Treaty of Versailles. From the very beginning, the new Weimar government faced opposition from both sides of the political spectrum. The Left wing Spartacist group, lead by Liebknecht and Luxemburg, looked up to the new Soviet councils in Russia, wanted to place Germany into a similar system.
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.
The Bauhaus became the most famous art institution in the late 19th century, and was established during the formation of the Weimar Republic. Its innovation of art with industry reflected a new era, even though it only lasted until the Nazis came into power in 1933. Nevertheless, it left its own imprint in which new artist that came into the institution learned new crafts and artistic skills that they applied into their own work. This would eventually lead the institution to influence contemporary artist with modern design, style, architecture, and art. The Bauhaus purpose was to implement all the arts together with industry. However, it had to be appealing and pleasing to the eyes. Their aesthetic work had to reflect simple, linear, geometric,