What problems faced the new republic in Germany from 1918 to 1923 and why did it survive?

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What problems faced the new republic in Germany from 1918 to 1923 and why did it survive?

The Weimar republic was a highly democratic government which ran Germany after the Kaiser abdicated in 1918. In 1919 a new constitution was drawn up in Weimar, and in its first four turbulent post-war years the new government struggled to survive as it had to overcome economic, social and political problems.

        Despite the apparent conceptual strength of the new democratic republic in Germany, the republic did have some political weaknesses. Firstly the new republic was born out of defeat, which to a formerly proud military nation, made the republic seem weak from the very start to the German people. This initial feeling towards the new constitution was a set back from the very beginning in winning public and political support. The Elites, made up of old regime judges, politicians and military figures, did not have great support for the new constitution and this was partially due to its association with defeat and the first impression this gave. Winning the support of the German people was essential for a new government and would be a hard task even without the association with defeat. However the Weimar government overcame this lack of support over time both by being to many German people the lesser of two evils (It was a choice between Weimar Germany and a communist or old regime Germany) and through key successes like the solving of hyperinflation by re-inventing the Mark.

        Secondly, the new republic and the socialist politicians associated with the Versailles treaty were wrongly seen as traitors by some German people who felt they had been ‘stabbed in the back’ after the signing of the humiliating treaty. Some politicians, such as Walther Rathenau, were assassinated. The treaty of Versailles was considered hugely unfair by the germans and the severity of its terms were unexpected as many had been expecting a ‘wilsonian’ peace based around the fourteen points.

        Thirdly, Germany was not used to democracy but a strong dictatorial leadership, there were many who called for a return to a similar model of government as the old regime. The frequent changes in government made the new republic look weak and the Weimar republic failed to gain widespread support in the early years because of this unreliability.

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        The Weimar republic also faced determined political opposition from both the extreme right and left wing political groups. In January 1919, the newly formed KPD, led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, attempted to seize power by force in the now named ‘Spartacist Uprising’. This was suppressed by the government with essential help from the Freikorps who, though they hated the Weimar republic, hated the communists even more. This use of the right wing Freikorps by the government did have its drawbacks though as the left wing revolutionaries felt that they were being betrayed by Ebert and the majority Socialists. ...

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