In Early Weimar (1919-1923), the new Weimar government faced opposition from both left and right. There was a significant lack of support; this was noted by several historians including Bessel, ‘All support was lost in 1920’s because of hyper inflation and lack of stability’. Another view that he expressed for the reason why the new Weimar government was failing was because, ‘Germany was so used to having a monarchy and not a democratic constitution’. Sections of the working class had quickly become somewhat alienated meaning a huge decrease in votes. As well as this, Farmers, the army and business men disliked Weimar due to the economy. The army preferred the old system and now had to compete with others for funding. Business men were fully aware of the economic problems Weimar brought about; they also disliked the fact that trade unions had power. The German historian Edgar Feucht Wanger had this view on the amount of support Weimar had ‘To say that Weimar was a republic without republicans is perhaps an exaggeration, but the supporters and opponents of democracy were at best fine balanced’. It was also around this time that hyper inflation came about. A historian by the name of Henny held expressed this fact, ‘Inflation escalated to hyper inflation, emphasising a big economical problem’
Weimar was only seen as a compromise as no one could really think of a better solution, people were all too glad for change. However, quite soon the novelty of this new government began to tire, certain political parties hated Weimar and worked actively to destroy it, these parties included Nazi’s, Nationalists and communists. The Left wing Spartacist group, lead by Luxemburg and Liebknecht, admired the new Russian Communist political system, and with the fall of the Kaiser, saw an opportunity to attempt to place Germany into a similar system. In January 1919 they revolted, and tried to take control of Berlin, with the support of the USDP they proclaimed a new revolutionary government. However, Ebert had already won the support of the military with the Ebert-Groener pact, and the troops suppressed the revolt. This pact was significant, the government had associated itself with the right, and perhaps this early incident is one of the factors which would convince the government to appoint Hitler Chancellor in 1933; a decision which, of course would lead to the Weimar republic’s ultimate downfall. At this time, Hitler himself fought hard undermine Weimar, ‘Egged on by veterans of both the imperial army and freikorps, even general Lundendorff by his side, in November 1923 Hitler led attempt to overthrow by force the Bavarian government.’ These factors further tainted the government, leading many to believe that indeed, from these early stages, Weimar was in fact doomed.
Then came the ‘Golden Era’ (1924-1929), it was described as such by historian Layton, this was said by many to have been a time of relative stability. The 5 years of economic recovery is sometimes viewed as miraculous and astounding. Even so, the critical eye must decide whether that recovery was relative and real as certain problems needed immediate attention, namely the economy. It was at this time when the new Germany witnessed considerable economic growth, growth that may have secured a Weimar future’. Had it not been for the WSC (1929) and consequent world wide depression Weimar may have been able to capitalise on her early foundations and made real and progressive gains in the search for stability and a future.
In 1924 Gustav Stresemann was chosen to be secretary of foreign affairs, an office he was to fill with such distinction under four governments that he was called the greatest master of German foreign policy since Bismarck. He enjoyed immediate success with the acceptance of the Dawes Plan, which restructured reparations on the basis of Germany's ability to pay. With his note of February 9, 1925, he took the initiative in arriving at a rapprochement with the Western Allies, especially with France, in guaranteeing the maintenance of the boundaries established at Versailles. The main aim was to provide general security so that political and economic stability could be achieved.
After initialialising the Locarno Pact on October 16, Stresemann hurried home to insure its acceptance by the government. In a speech broadcast to the nation on November 3, 1925, he appealed for support, saying: “Locarno may be interpreted as signifying that the States of Europe at last realize that they cannot go on making war upon each other without being involved in common ruin.”
As another part of his peace offensive, Stresemann signed a rapprochement with Russia, called the Treaty of Berlin, in April of 1926. And, following an unsuccessful trip to Geneva in March, he finally saw on September 8, 1926, the unanimous acceptance of Germany's admission into the League of Nations.
Despite his health, which declined rapidly after the Christmas of 1927, and against medical advice, Stresemann retained his position as German foreign minister. In 1929 at The Hague, he accepted the Young Plan which named June 30, 1930, as the final date for the evacuation of the Ruhr.
Stresemann did not live to see that evacuation. The victim of a stroke, he died in Berlin in October of 1929
The years 1929-33 saw many problems for Weimar, problems that surely saw off the Weimar republic. 1929 ended badly, with the death of Gustav Stresemann being a significant factor. As well as this there was an economic depression, causing many a problem, this was given weight by historian Edgar Feucht Wanger who said of the situation, ‘There was a depression in the 1930’s, and a weak coalition couldn’t decide what to do’. However, it was Hitler and his Nazi party that proved to be the most troublesome factor in Weimar’s life. Hitler ‘Used Article 48 and constitutional means to undermine Weimar, in a way self destructing itself.’ It was also in these final years of Weimar that the Wall Street Crash came upon Germany, blighting them severely. The Wall Street crash did not affect her straight away though; it hit America first before hitting Germany in the early 1930’s. It was said by historian Geary that ‘(There were)…Withdrawal of loans due to the Wall Street crash, this meant problems for Weimar and fear for the future.’
The role of certain individuals was also detrimental to Weimar’s final demise too. It was then President Hindenburg that made a very important decision, a decision that would later change the entire face of history. This particular feat was the controversial decision of making Adolf Hitler Chancellor in January 1933. However this did not end Weimar straight away, it died a slow and agonising death, with Hitler easily amounting enough support from the discontented working class. This simply marked the beginning of the end of Weimar as people knew it.
In many people’s opinions the Weimar republic was not doomed from the start, even after this has been decided it is indeed hard to exactly pin point when Weimar began to fail. Many believed that it happened from as soon as the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1923. Geary held this view which I indeed, agree with, ‘It was not 1923 that was crucial, it was the collapse of 1929-33 that was really the ultimate failure of Weimar in allowing Hitler to drum up support from the discontented working class.’
