The main threat to the stability of the Weimar Republic in the period 1919 to 1923 came from the political violence of the extreme right. How far do you agree with this judgement?

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‘The main threat to the stability of the Weimar Republic in the period 1919 to 1923 came from the political violence of the extreme right.’ How far do you agree with this judgement?

There are varying reasons to agree with this judgement, with events for example that further the argument for political violence of the extreme right. However there are some aspects that can argue and therefore disagree with this judgement. Firstly, the extreme right’s political violence. This essentially started in 1920, in relation with the Kapp-Lüttwitz Putsch, where in the Treaty of Versailles January 1919 demanded a reduction in the German army. For right wing nationalists it was too much of a demand and so that meant they would want to reject this as well overthrow the Weimar state, this aggressive attitude and rise in fear was just the stepping stone to the political violence which therefore agrees with the judgement that they were the main threat to the Weimar republic with the risk of being overthrown. The events of the Kapp-Lüttwitz Putsch revealed the army’s reluctance to support the Republic.

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Furthermore, the ex-members of the Freikorps from the right continued to threaten the Republic after the failure of the Kapp-Lüttwitz Putsch. This was due to the way that despite other extreme violence from other organisations the majority of the murders between 1920 and 1922 were from the right, specifically 354 out of the 376. Though, a large General strike paralysed the capital. After Lüttwitz declared Kapp Chancellor, the government fled to Dresden and appealed to the workers to strike in defence of the Republic. It also showed how the government’s survival depended on unreliable forces. Noske was forced to resign ...

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