Assess the reasons why the Weimar Republic faced so many problems in the 1920s

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Danny Carr                ELS

Assess the reasons why the Weimar Republic faced so many problems in the 1920s

In 1918, Germany became a democratic republic following the abdication of the Kaiser, and a new constitution was drawn up in 1919, at Weimar. During the first five years of the Republic, the Weimar Government faced many problems and struggled to survive. There were several reasons why the Weimar Republic faced so many problems in the early 1920s. Firstly, the history of the authoritarian Government meant that people did not trust the concept of democracy. Germans were used to being told exactly what to do and having no say in it. Democracy, in contrast, suggested that they had a say in what happened in their country, and although many thought this was a positive thing, they did not trust the system. This meant that there was opposition from both the left and right, and there were several revolts and uprisings from each side; from the Spartacist Revolt in 1919 from the left to the Munich Putsch by the Right in September 1923. The way in which the Government dealt with these uprisings also caused them problems. The new Weimar Government also immediately faced an association between them and the war humiliation along with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, which many saw as treason. The reparations agreed upon in the Treaty of Versailles lead to the Ruhr being occupied by France and caused poverty in Germany with many families struggling to afford basic commodities such as food. The reparations imposed by the Treaty were also one cause of the hyperinflation which was a huge crisis for the Weimar Government in 1923. Each of these reasons is important in explaining why the Weimar Republic faced so many problems in the early 1920s, but the most substantial cause of the problems was that the German people refused to accept the legitimacy of democracy.

Before the constitution was drawn up in January 1919 by the Weimar Coalition, the percentage of votes for the coalition of parties in favour of the republic suggested that there was broad support amongst the German people for democracy; 76.2% voted for coalition parties with 38% for the SPD (Social Democratic Party) alone. The Weimar Constitution established the democratic republic in mid-1919; Germany had a truly democratic system of government. However, the president had the power to dismiss the cabinet, dissolve the Reichstag and veto legislation. Article 48 was drawn up as an emergency clause, and gave the president the right to allow the cabinet to govern without the consent of Parliament whenever it was deemed essential. However, this right was abused in the later years of the Weimar Republic and many critics say that Article 48 gave the president too much power.

This democratic system was a complete change to the authoritarian government that existed in Germany beforehand, and many Germans therefore struggled to trust the concept of democracy. Many people were willing to look to the extreme left and right wings for political leadership to get their country back on track after the war, and in the first few years of the republic there were several uprisings from each wing of the political spectrum. There was never total acceptance of and confidence in, its system and its values. Strength and image were also considered very important by the German people, which caused more problems for the Weimar government.

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The Weimar Government faced an association with the war defeat; the humiliation of the Treaty of Versailles and the reparations. This hindered the Weimar government right from the start, as many Germans considered the signing of the Treaty of Versailles treason. Even though the government had very little choice in signing the Treaty, many Germans seemed to blame them for the war defeat, even though it had been under the authoritarian government that the war had been lost. When the terms of the Treaty were known in Germany, there were storms of protest from German civilians, leading to a ...

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