Ebert’s moderate line aroused left wing opposition and there was a big backlash from the spartactists that tried to take over in the hope of a communist revolution. Ebert correctly judged the mood of the majority of the German people and was justified in using the army to maintain the new government. Ebert’s short term measures had immediate and long term effects. Firstly, his deal with Greoner and the army ment that the government had support against the left, however this ment that the elite were in a strong position to undermine democracy later. Secondly Ebert’s deal with industrialists (the Z.A.G) led to an immediate workers rally for reforming the new government and the workers did not challenge private ownership of industry, Furthermore this ment that industrialists would come to power and reject the Weimar regime.
In November 1918 the new German government signed an armistice which was sought by the generals and could not blamed on the civilian politicians, but the peace terms were harsh and unpopular. Nevertheless the worse was yet to come for Germany, the threat of allies to resume the war and the fear of total German dismemberment led the government reluctantly to sign the Treaty of Versailles. The principle of the treaty was for Germany to accept full responsibility for all the loss and damage which the allied governments had been subjected to, this was in order to justify making Germany pay compensation in the form of reparations. This was a treaty which not only infuriated the right wing but virtually the whole of Germany rejected it. As the Germans had expected a victory the sudden collapse of their hopes bred anger as well and frustration. To many Germans the treaty was scandalous, a German lawyer Hugo Preuss said “The criminal madness of the Versailles Diktat was a shameless blow in the face to hopes of political and economic recovery”, many Germans believed this as it was an act of criminal irresponsibility by short-sighted, vengeful politicians and in my opinion this was very true. The constitution of the new Weimar republic was very democratic. It established parliamentary government. The Weimar constitution was a well-considered mix of democracy and protective measures against anarchy; the regime’s greatest weaknesses lay elsewhere but it could have introduced democracy slowly. The constitution, however, did give leeway to anyone who wanted to destroy the republic, for instance, proportional representation gave equal rights to its enemies, the constitution could also give scope to states that were hostile to the government and they might even try to overthrow it. Subsequently the elite remained committed to the destruction of Weimar because of the constitution and they were also given fundamental rights. So the Weimar constitution had many weaknesses and these could have led to disaster in the republic so some would say that from this point Germany was very lucky.
In March 1920 we see Adolph Hitler’s first attempt at transforming the republic. The Kapp Putsch was the first major crisis from the right, Hitler was part of the Putsch but the leader was Wolfgang Kapp and he planned to overthrow the Government. Conversely the Kapp Putsch failed as many of the German people refused to take part, but although a failure, the Kapp Putsch illustrated how it was only a matter of time before the Weimar Republic was overthrown. During this period there was no major threat from the communists to the democratic regime however they did arouse fears of moderate socialists but were far too weak to gain power.
Germanys biggest problem still lay ahead, after all the events so far, the German people still weren’t aware of the problems their Country faced, However what was to happen next was one of the greatest’ ordeals that Germany had to go through and was what I think came the Germans the proof that they needed to stop backing their government. After the world war the Germans had money to pay, but to keep the public happy they did not tax, instead the government borrowed and printed money which caused inflation. When the treaty of Versailles was introduced this inflation became a problem; the Germans had to pay reparations and were more and more in debt. This hyperinflation was partially due to the German government who could have risen the taxes but the allies too bared the responsibility as they imposed the strict conditions of the treaty which ment Germany’s debt problems increased. This problem nonetheless was later solved as expert financers were appointed in banks, old currency was replaced by new, government expenditure was reduced and renegotiations of reparations were asked for. The fact that Germany had this inflationary crisis showed that she was liable to such catastrophe but the fact that the Weimar regime overcame the crisis meant that it could be considered a factor in the republics later collapse. In 1923 Munich, the Nazi party, led by Adolph Hitler declared a revolution. Leaders Otto Von Lossow and Gustav Von Kahr forced at gunpoint to join Hitler, other Bavarian officials were also rounded up including General Ludendorff were forced to agree to a new government that they aimed to establish in Berlin. At the time Hitler’s Putsch was a minor event, but from it he learnt important lessons which led to the eventual collapse of the Weimar regime.
By 1923 the Weimar republic had survived a series of attempted coups and revolts from the right and the left. These had been serious threats, not so much because of the strength of the various opposition groups, but also because of the sense of national humiliation following the treaty of Versailles and then the economic crisis of 1923. On the surface these were years of recovery for Germany so at the beginning they posed as weakness but buy the end of 1923 they were successful achievements.
The background and the events of 1919-1923 seemingly doomed the republic but, Germany did still have a chance of establishing a democracy. After the major political and economic crisis’s Germany had survived, this was because the extremist forces of both the left and the right failed to attract much support and were disorganised and divided. The elite- the strongest opposition which faced the Republic although not committed to democracy were not prepared to overthrow it as they feared worse outcomes and greater chaos. Furthermore, luckily for Germany Article 48 of the Weimar constitution was in the right hands and was used wisely by Ebert and Streseman tackled hyperinflation very successfully. The Weimar Republic survived its turbulent first four years that did leave it scarred by the experience and left prospects of democracy looking poor, but having survived the crisis ment it had considerable strengths.
Ghazal Shahidiani
