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Establishing the Weimar Republic. Key Facts. The First World War, which began in August 1914, led to the Kaiser’s downfall in November 1918. The Socialists who controlled Germany after the Kaiser’s downfall were divided over the question of how the country should be run.
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Key Facts • The First World War, which began in August 1914, led to the Kaiser’s downfall in November 1918. • The Socialists who controlled Germany after the Kaiser’s downfall were divided over the question of how the country should be run. • Attempted revolution by the left-wing socialists and communists to seize power in 1919 called the Spartacist Rising was put down by the right-wing Friekorps. • A new constitution was drawn up at Weimar by August 1919. • Germans objected to the terms of the Versailles treaty as a ‘dictated peace’. • Germans were deeply angered by the terms of the Treaty • In 1920 some right-wing extremists took part in the Kapp Putsch. It failed. • After the failure of the Kapp Putsch, some right wing extremists began to use murder and violence as a political weapon. • In 1922 Germany failed to pay its reparations on time. • In January 1923 France occupied the Ruhr, Germany’s main industrial region. • In 1923 Germany was the victim of hyperinflation. This had a devastating effect on most Germans and the value of the German marked declined.
The end of the war • By November 1918 Germany was losing on the western front to Britain, France and the United States. • The German people were short of food after four years of war. • Hatred spread throughout the country against the leader, the emperor or ‘Kaiser’ Whilhelm II. • Sailors mutinied in German ports such as Kiel and Hamburg. These spread to the army and to the workers in the cities. The whole country was threatened by revolution.
What next? • On the 9th of November the Kaiser abdicated and fled to Holland. • On the same day, the social democratic party led by Friedrich Ebert declared that Germany was now a republic. He was horrified when he heard from the generals how bad the situation was. Two days later, on the 11th November, the new republic signed an armistice with the Allies. The first world war was over.
Reaction to the Armistice • Some people believed the war could be continued. • Hitler for example believed that it was a Jewish conspiracy to save property in Germany. For him the politicians who signed it were the ‘The November Criminals’ • Some regiments in the army had barely been used and believed that they could start another offensive in the spring of 1919. • The German people had been told that the war had been a defensive one and could not understand why they had surrendered as Germany had not been invaded.
The effects of this on the Republic • The belief that Germany had not been defeated made the Weimar republic unpopular from the start. The Weimar politicians then agreed to the Versailles treaty and bared the brunt of much anger from the German nationalists. • They were accused of ‘stabbing the army in the back’ because people believed wrongly, that the army had not been defeated.
How would Germany be ruled? • Germany had been ruled by a monarch since 1871. It was now a republic. What form should the republic take and who would rule? • In 1919 elections were held across Germany. The Reichstag could not meet in Berlin because of the street violence. Instead the authorities moved to city of Weimar. This city gave its name to the new republic.
Democracy Established • All Germans over 20 had the vote. The Reichstag was elected every four years by proportional representation (each party gained a number of seats in proportion to the total number of votes they got in the elections.) • The chancellor was the head of the government and needed support of over half the members of the Reichstag. • The head was the President, who was elected by the people every seven years. Normally the President left the job of running the country to the Chancellor. However, he could suspend parts of the constitution and rule by special powers in the case of an emergency under article 48 of the constitution.
Weaknesses of the Constitution • Germany had no tradition of democracy and of making democratic systems work. The Kaiser had despised democracy and his influence remained in the country as generals, diplomats and civil servants were still in their positions. The democracy had three main weaknesses.
First Weakness • Proportional Representation: No political party could ever had a majority in the Reichstag. A party winning 10% of the votes would get 10 seats in the Reichstag. Governments were made up of different parties: coalitions. Coalitions worked quite well when times were good and the economy was doing well but major splits took place as soon as there was a political and especially an economic crisis.
THE MAIN POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE WEIMAR CONSTITUTION Communist LEFT RIGHT
Second Weakness • The civil service, the judiciary (judges) and the education system were largely unchanged. The majority of these were either lukewarm or actively hostile towards the Republic. The result of this was that powerful conservative forces were able to influence the daily life of the Republic. The new constitution was looking forward while many Germany’s institution changed little if at all.
Third Weakness • The only person who could govern effectively if there was a crisis was the President. By using article 48 of the constitution he could take on special powers. This meant that he was actually suspending Germany’s democracy. The intention was to create the means by which government could continue to function in a temporary crisis. However, the effect was to allow parliamentary forces acting in the name of the President. During the crisis of 1923, presidential powers were used as intended and to good effect. It was in the crisis that eventually brought Hitler to power in 1933 that Article 48 assumed a particular importance.
Task. Complete the table below showing the strengths and weaknesses of the Weimar Constitution
Task 2 • Finish the activities 1-3 on page 30 of ‘Weimar and Nazi Germany’. • Read the sources carefully and answer the questions to the best of your ability.
Task 3 • Did the constitution make the Republic Weak? • Some things to think about.. • First attempt at democracy • Article 48 • Political Parties • Proportional Representation
