The Failure Of Democracy In Weimar Germany

The Germans popular normative conceptions of parliament became so drastically influenced by previous autocratic and dictatorial regimes, that the nation’s progression toward a democratic constitution in the immediate wake of the First World War can be described as none other than chaotic. Weimar Germany is the unofficial period between the election of a democratic constitution in 1918 and the republics eventual collapse in 1933. For decades, it has been questioned how a system that comprised all essential elements of a flawless democracy, can fail. Historians have approached the topic from a variety of perspectives, and one of the consistent threads suggests that a multiplicity of causative factors surrounding social, political, and economic

These extremist groups induced concern for the central government by using propaganda and revolts to expose the democracy’s weaknesses. In regards to political instability, it is necessary to understand how proportional representation required coalitions and made it difficult to obtain and maintain legislative majorities, because at times, there were more than thirty political parties on the ballot. Analysing the broad political spectrum, historian Richard Evans believes this tendency toward violence was a contributory factor in the Republics instability, arguing, “… gun battles, assassinations, riots, massacres and civil unrest prevented Germans from possessing the stability in which a new democratic order could flourish.” This culture of political violence began with the emergence of the Freikorps units immediately after the declaration of the Republic and became entrenched in Weimar politics thereafter. On multiple occasions, parties that composed the broad political spectrum attempted to overthrow the central government. The Spartacist Revolt (1919) and The Kapp Putsch (1920) are the two-major extremist takeover attempts that occurred during the early years of the democracy. Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg led The Spartacist Revolt, where somewhat 50 000 left wing

German state in 1924-29 can be characterized as ‘prosperous’, where the nation achieved a period of stability, economic security, and improved living standards. Gustav Stresemann is accredited for the survival of the liberal constitutional democracy but more importantly the nation’s recovery, particularly after the hyperinflation crisis which struck early 1923. This section of the paper will consider the establishment of foreign policies and the international assistance that allowed such economic revival. The US-led Dawes Plan (1924) and Young Plan (1929) were diplomatic agreements that reduced reparation figures and negotiated more flexible payment schedules. Germany received loans from foreign banks and financiers, allowing a reorganization of the economy. The era saw a surge in production with the construction of factories and development of new mechanisations and assembly line techniques. Economic stability allowed for the restoration of reparation payments, clearing occupation at the Ruhr and freeing industrial resources located there. By 1927, the expansion of the German state culminated in the introduction of a comprehensive unemployment