All this infuriated the German people and in March 1920, the Freikorps tried to overthrow the Socialist government. This attempt collapsed after workers called a general strike.
In 1923, Germany got behind in reparation payments to France and Belgium. The Allies were furious and French and Belgium troops were sent to occupy the Rhur coalfields. They demanded payment in coal and steel and tried to make the German worker work for them to get it. The Government instructed the workers to resist them peacefully and to make them know that they weren’t welcome. This policy was called Passive Resistance. While this policy was adopted, German heavy industry came almost to a standstill due to many strikes and workers refusing to co-operate. It wasn’t until September 1923, that Gustav Stresemann, the new Chancellor ended the policy. It was hurting Germany more the Belgium or France so he resumed the reparation payments.
A long-term cause of the economic problems in Weimar Germany was the rising wages and rising prices, which had been going on since the war. Passive Resistance undermined the rapidly decreasing currency and by October 1923, the Deutsch Mark was worthless. It was this, which finally made Chancellor Stresemann reject the policy of Passive Resistance. The problem of hyperinflation was solved by the time the Republic collapsed, with a new unit of currency and the help of the Dawes Plan, but it was still and important factor in its failure. The inflation crisis was another sign of the weakness of the government.
After the Kaiser had abdicated in November 1918, and before the Weimar Republic was set up, armed communists had led a revolt against the new Socialist government. They were only repressed with the help of the Freikorps. It was memories of this and what was happening Russia that led many German people to fear Communism and prejudice themselves against them.
When the inflation crisis hit in 1923, Hitler got the chance he had been waiting for, to overthrow the government. He captured the Bavarian dictator and made him join the Nazi party. Once he was released, the dictator alerted the police and the army and Hitler was crushed. He was sent to prison and the Nazi party fell apart. This attempt at revolution was known as the Munich putsch, named after the city in which it took place.
The Dawes Plan helped Germany to steady itself. It involved the USA lending them vast sums of money to invest in industry and enable them to pay the reparations. This meant the Germany was entirely dependent on the US. In 1929, came the Wall Street Crash. Millions of Americans lost all their money and it plunged the country into a deep depression. America was forced to recall the loans it had given Germany and this left Germany in a new economic crisis, which affected half of the world. With the Great Depression came the inevitable. Unemployment soared and millions were left starving on the street, rooting through dustbins. It was now that Hitler, out of prison and after having reformed the Nazi party promised the people exactly what they needed; a strong government and a cure to unemployment. This was a sign that the Weimar Republic was rapidly loosing control. In the election in July 1932, the Nazis gained more votes in the Reichstag than the next two biggest parties put together. Despite this it took another election in November 1932, to convince President Hindenburg to appoint Hitler chancellor. He had little choice in the end and Hitler became chancellor on 30th January 1933. This was the last stray for the Weimar Republic. As soon a Hitler was in control, he set about turning Germany into a one party state. This signed the end of the Weimar Republic.
It was partly the government’s fault that the Weimar Republic failed, as an inefficient government can’t rule well. Hitler was the trigger that sparked the end but it was the economic crises caused by the Wall Street Crash that allowed him to gain power legally. All these factors united to b ring about the collapse of the Weimar Republic.