The Weimar republic also faced determined political opposition from both the extreme right and left wing political groups. In January 1919, the newly formed KPD, led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, attempted to seize power by force in the now named ‘Spartacist Uprising’. This was suppressed by the government with essential help from the Freikorps who, though they hated the Weimar republic, hated the communists even more. This use of the right wing Freikorps by the government did have its drawbacks though as the left wing revolutionaries felt that they were being betrayed by Ebert and the majority Socialists.
In March 1920, the Kapp Putsch occurred. 12,000 Freikorps marched into Berlin in an attempt to overthrow the government. The initial stage of the attack succeeded and a new government headed by Wolfgang Kapp was declared, but in a sudden show of support for the Weimar government the people of Berlin ordered a general strike which brought the whole city to a stand still as every public service was unable to run. The fact that the German people refused to see the new government as an authority is evidence that there was public support for the Weimar republic or at least more than there was for a right wing government.
The third uprising of note was in November 1923 when, led by Hitler, the then little known Nazi party tried to seize power in Munich which is now known as the Beer Hall Putsch. Though this uprising wasn’t particularly threatening to the Weimar government, it did indirectly show the problem that the elites caused when it came to bias in the courtroom and bias in most administrative positions. When Hitler was tried for high treason he received only eight months in a comfortable prison. This was because the presiding judge Georg Neithardt not only had tried Hitler before and had been impressed by his public speaking but also he was sympathetic with Hitler’s cause, as he was biased towards the old regime having first served under the old regime.
It was not the strength of the Weimar government but more the disorganisation and weaknesses of the attempted revolutions which were their undoing, the uprisings lacked strong leaders, coordination and conviction which made them ineffective and easily quashed. I think the largest factor in the failure of these uprisings was the lack of public support and enthusiasm for total political upheaval, after the war people didn’t want more fighting and unrest, they wanted stability and reliability. Though these revolts were failures they did however emphasise the instability and volatility of the new republic.
I think the reason why the Weimar government managed to hold on to power, despite putsches from both the right and left wings, is because as yet neither of these movements had a strong enough leader or enough public support. I think that this is made evident in the Kapp Putsch, for although they had sufficient arms and numbers of men they did not have the support of the people, which was their downfall. The problem of the electoral system did not come to light in the early years as none of the extremist parties ever gained enough support between 1919 and 1923 to pose a serious threat.
The system of proportional representation was a problem from the start, though in theory it seemed a good idea as it was very democratic, in practice it was completely impractical. Proportional Representation is an umbrella term used to describe an electoral system that tries to align seats won with votes won, but this system allows smaller parties or ‘third’ parties to hold more seats than they would have in a majority system. In Germany this system was a problem because there were several larger parties and lots of ‘third’ parties which meant that there was never a clear majority winner after an election so the winning government wouldn’t have enough of a majority without joining up with other parties to form a coalition party in order to pass laws and bills.
Coalition parties meant compromises on policies and strategies by parties; this meant that there wasn’t a clear and dominant government or course of political action. The parties’ inability to cooperate effectively led to re-election after re-election resulting in there being eight governments in total between just 1919 and 1924 some lasting just a few months. Despite the chaotic temperament of the Weimar system of government the German people still went out in droves to the polling stations to cast their votes each re-election, in fact the lowest turnout between 1919 and 1924 was 79% which, when considering the number of elections there were and the impatience the German people must have felt, is more evidence to the fact that the majority of germans still were supportive of Weimar.
More evidence to the fact that the German population was supportive of the Weimar constitution is that even during this period of unrest and economic crisis people voted for pro republic parties. For example in June 1920 the KPD won just 2.1% of the vote while the SPD won 21.7%. Faith in the government grew when the parties proved they could work together in the Grand Coalition to solve hyperinflation.
It wasn’t only the political problems which people associated with Weimar with dislike. The treaty of Versailles was hated by the Germans and so the politicians who signed it were hated too. The rumour fuelled by right wing discontent led the German people to believe that they had been ‘stabbed in the back’ and that in fact the army had been capable of winning the war when it was signed. Throughout the war the German people had been told that they were fighting a defensive war so when Germany was told it would have to accept ‘guilt for war’ this came as a harsh surprise.
The limitations put on the German military forces were humiliating for a once proud military nation, and this generated huge dislike towards the treaty. Also another term which severely damaged the countries moral was the loss of land and the shrinking of its boarders, it wasn’t that Germany had lost land; it was the fact that it had lost a considerable percentage of its population. Families had been split up and suddenly a family that was living in Germany was now living in Poland.
Germany was affected economically too, the reparations Germany had to pay were huge, yet, they were only a very small percentage of the countries total income. At first the reparations were paid without any problems, but as Germany’s economic problems worsened it fell behind on its coal and timber payments and immediately in January 1923 France and Belgium occupied the Ruhr. In response to this action the Weimar government and the German people worked together and even the rightwing and left wing parties cooperated. The German workers in the Ruhr went on strike which in the short term was effective as this greatly decreased France’s supply of coal, but in the long term this course of action weakened their already struggling economy and so in order to pay the strikers and compensate for lost tax revenue the government turned to printing more money which caused inflation which then escalated in to hyperinflation.
Hyperinflation was devastating for the majority of the German population, especially those with savings. However, there were those who gained from hyperinflation. For example those who owed money or had mortgages found that the though the amount of money they owed didn’t change but the value of the money did and so all loans and debts could be paid off in one go. Also businesses were able to borrow money, spend it on new machinery and, and then pay it back for virtually nothing. The German government also benefited in at least one way. During WWI the government had borrowed vast sums to finance the war effort and as hyperinflation rose, the government saw its debts being worn out. The working class who could have been very badly affected by hyperinflation managed to survive as the trade unions made sure that wages rose with prices and so as prices went up so did their wages.
In conclusion I think that though the Weimar republic did have its strengths and its key successes such as universal suffrage, increased rights, protection for germans, and the resolving of hyperinflation, it too had many flaws and weaknesses. I think that if it had not been for weakness of some of the attempted uprisings and disorganisation and lack of support of others then the Weimar government could quite
realistically have been toppled. With out the support of the German people and the help of the freikorps when needed the Weimar government would not have been stable enough to withstand the many attacks and problems it faced.
