Weimar Germany 1918-23: Was the Weimar Republic Doomed to Failure?

Laura Kay Swain

History

27/01/03

Weimar Germany 1918-23: Was the Weimar Republic Doomed to Failure?

On the 9th of November 1918, the new democratic German Republic was initiated in order for the Allies to agree to an armistice of the First World War. It is argued by many historians that the years of the first German democratic regime were numbered from the outset due to the many limitations that worked against the Weimar Government and the various obstacles in the form of political hostility from both the left and right wing idealists and the inherited socio-economic problems. This essay will examine if and how factors into which the Weimar constitution was born would almost certainly not allow democracy to prosper. The reasons for the creation of the Republic alone would not act as the steadiest of foundations for the building of political success.

The Emperor of Germany, Kaiser Wilhelm II, the last ruler of the terminated Second Reich, was convinced to abdicate by General Ludendorff in accordance with the wishes of the allies. The militarists including General Ludendorff and Field-Marshal Hindenburg, who held considerable political power, agreed that Germany would receive a better peace deal if it were a democratic, de-militarised state. Those who conceived this idea rather more acrimoniously anticipated the blame of the new government for Germany’s defeat in the war, masking the generals for this responsibility. Ludendorff and Hindenburg would later use propaganda in the form of the ‘stab in the back’ myth, which claimed that the Socialists had not given their support to the army and the war effort thus condemning Germany to defeat. When Field-Marshal Hindenburg was called to give evidence to the Inter-Allied Commission, he refused to make a plea but instead stated;

“Our repeated requests for strict discipline and strict laws were never met. Thus our operations were bound to fail and the collapse had to come… An English general rightly said ‘The German army was stabbed in the back’. The sound heart of the army is without blame… Where the guilt lies is clearly proven. If further proof was necessary, it lies in the quoted remark of the English general and in the boundless astonishment of our enemies at their victory.”

Hindenburg had twisted the words of the English Major-General Malcolm to his own benefit; this fabrication fuelled the fire of the ‘stab in the back’ myth. The loss of the Monarch and the Second Reich angered many, in particular the militarists, as the ending of a mainly military rule in Germany surely spelt trouble for their supremacy. This hostility in the initial stages of the democracy hampered the growth of the new regime. The 28th of July 1919 saw the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. This treaty ruined the German Republic economically and politically furthers stunting the growth of democracy. The territorial clauses of the Treaty of Versailles cost the government a large percentage of valuable income per annum. Its imposed foreign policies turned the government into a puppet government. The war guilt clause certainly did not gain the government that was forced to sign the treaty any points in popularity either. The reparation bill forced upon the country left the new republic with a debt of an inconceivable size which it was extremely unlikely to ever be able to pay back. Only 16% of taxation funds covered the cost of the First World War to Germany. The treaty caused massive damage to the credibility and esteem of the Weimar Government but was unavoidable for the government. Refusal of signing the Treaty of Versailles would have resulted in the annihilation of Germany by the entant powers, a new war it could simply not afford to fight (or defend) as a country. President Friederich Ebert stated in ‘The Political Institutions of the German Revolution’;

“There is no alternative to accepting the armistice terms. It is, however, already apparent that these conditions will not produce a just peace. The sacrifices imposed upon us are tremendous, they must lead to our peoples’ doom."

At this time, an armistice with terms anything else but damaging and humiliating to Germany would not have been accepted by the Allies. German Nationalists and Militarists used the Treaty of Versailles against the new republic alike to discredit it.

As well as these political complications, Germany and its government suffered a series of militant uprisings. On the 28th ...

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“There is no alternative to accepting the armistice terms. It is, however, already apparent that these conditions will not produce a just peace. The sacrifices imposed upon us are tremendous, they must lead to our peoples’ doom."

At this time, an armistice with terms anything else but damaging and humiliating to Germany would not have been accepted by the Allies. German Nationalists and Militarists used the Treaty of Versailles against the new republic alike to discredit it.

As well as these political complications, Germany and its government suffered a series of militant uprisings. On the 28th of October the Naval High Command lead by Grand Admiral Reinhard Scheer ordered a final bid at trying to break the British Royal Navy blockade, which was preventing the import of vital goods to the country. Unfortunately, the sailors at the naval base at Kiel, who had been out of action for a while, had mutinied. This sparked the establishment of Soviet rule in German towns and cities by sailors, soldiers and workers’ councils who set out to take over the law enforcement and local government of these areas. Due to the mobilisation of the Soldiers of the German Army, repression of this left-wing uprising was an impossibility. November of the same year saw the creation of a coalition government called the Council of People’s Representatives which consisted of the SPD (German Social Democratic Party) and the USPD (German Independent Social Democratic Party).

On January the 1st of 1919, the Congress of the KPD - the Executive of the German Communist Party was founded by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxembourg. Another Left wing uprising this political party believed that Germany was ripe for the transition into a Communist state. On the 5th of January through to the 12th of the month, a radical collection of people including, radical socialists, communists and left-wing rabble-rousers, formed the Sparticist uprising with the aim of implementing a Communist German State (or a German version of communism). President Friederich Ebert became increasingly concerned over the uprising and employed a renegade group of de-mobilised war veterans name the Freikorps (or Free Corps) to repress the Sparticists. Ebert’s steps to put down the uprising succeeded in overwhelming the immediate problem however, it would insure the resentment of any extreme left political parties towards Ebert’s Socialist government for quelling the left-wing revolt. For a government, which desperately needed the support of other political assemblies, it had already alienated thousands if not millions of individuals.

On the 28th of July, the Treaty of Versailles was signed and by the 11th of August, the new democratic constitution had been substantiated. Parliament had to meet now in the town of Weimar as opposed to the traditional location of Berlin due to the unrest caused by the violence of the Sparticist rebellion. The Kapp Putsch occurred between the 13th and 17th of March. The Kapp Putsch lead by Dr.Kapp was a right-wing uprising inspired by the Freikorp mercenaries. Ebert effectively reversed the tactics in which he used to quell the uprise the left-wing rebels against the Kapp separatists. The government used the left-wing trade unions to put down the revolt lead by Dr.Kapp by calling a general strike. Historians argue that if it wasn’t the enforced disarmament of Germany a stipulated in the Treaty of Versailles, the government could have controlled the situation more efficiently with military force rather than employing the help of mercenaries. However, German government officials were told that using the army against the soldier’s councils or the Freikorps was futile.

Commander Von Seekt of the German Army stated that;

“Reichswehr (Imperial Army) does not shoot on Reichwehr”

This quotation from a senior officer of the ‘Reichswehr’ clearly shows the anger and resent towards the government on their handling of the Freikorps. This went on to further alienate the right-wing idealist causing more political and social division. These failed revolutions were set to continue right through Weimar’s disturbed existence.

Another of the Weimar government’s downfalls are to be found within its reformation, or more accurately lack of reform of the Civil Service and Judicial system of Germany in it’s time in power. For a clean break to be made from autocracy to democracy, it would have been necessary to replace all of the civil servants and judges with democratically chosen, politically independent individuals. Unfortunately for the government, removing all of the old, right wing officials would have been impractical. For example, the system of justice can only function in a non-perverse fashion if those who are in judgement of others are independent from politics and not biased towards any organisation or political persuasion. Within the justice system of the Weimar republic, many examples of right-wing bias can be found. One case involved a Communist who called the Weimar Republic a “Robber’s Republic”. This individual was sentenced to a month imprisonment. Another similar case involved a Right-wing Nationalist who called it a “Jew’s Republic” and was fined a mere 70 Deutschmarks. With this kind of system in place, it was impossible for the people of Germany to benefit when using state services. It is clear that the old civil service and Judiciary were not supportive to a productive democratic society and were unlikely to allow the republic to make progress.

The SPD entered the First World War as a party united towards a common cause. By January of 1919, the SPD was divided into to two factions, the independents and the communists. This would ultimately lead to an indecisive government. Unlike the left-wing politicians, the entire right wing were unified in their fight against the democratic socialist system. The KPD and the USPD did not want a constitutional monarchy unlike the SPD leadership who were in favour of this. Similarly, the USPD admitted that the right wing revolts of their earlier days had been protests against militarism not capitalism. A quote from ‘Die Rote Fahne’ or ‘The Red Flag’ on the 29/11/18 summarises this view of most of the communist idealists.

“The bulk of the soldiers are revolutionary against militarism, against war and the open representations of imperialism in relation to socialism, they are still divided, hesitant and immature.”

This view was shared by a number of communists and in response to this opinion, the Sparticist revolt came about which was first and foremost, an anti-capitalist revolt. The split in the pro-republic parties was not constructive in strengthening the foundations of the new socialist democracy. If you combine this factor with the fact that the socialists had never run a country before, let alone the fact that there had never before been a democratic regime in Germany, it is plain to see why such a republic could and did fail.

The new democratic constitution was ratified on August the 11th 1918 containing two imperfections. These two flaws came in the form of Article 48 and the election system of proportional representation. Article 48 gave President Ebert the power to rule by decree in times of state emergency. It was never exactly clear on what the term emergency actually meant. In Ebert’s early days, he utilised the Article 48 in order to repress the Kapp Putsch. This move by Ebert was extremely unpopular and didn’t do much for the governments credibility. The other constitutional defect of proportional representation would allow only small minority parties to be elected thus creating a series of coalition governments in the German Republic. Proportional Representation in due course led to unproductive, uncooperative governments, limiting the Weimar Republic’s ability to succeed.