Why was the Weimar Republic able to survive threats posed to it by its enemies in 1918-1923?
Why was the Weimar Republic able to survive threats posed to it by its enemies in 1918-1923?
The German hyperinflation of 1923 brought about a complete collapse in the German economy whilst at the same time created a situation where large scale unemployment and starvation was rife within Germany. Coupled with the eventual abolishment of ‘passive resistance’ and with the substantial problems which Germany had inherited following the end of the First World War and the forced peace which it had lead to, in the form of the Versailles Treaty, it was apparent that through the period of 1918-1923 Germany would be susceptible to threats from both the extreme left and right. Significantly however, the Weimar Republic was able to stave of these attacks and it is within this point where it becomes apparent that through the period which led up to the ‘golden years of the Republic’ Germany was forced to defend itself ferociously to ensure that the mantle of power did not fall into the grasp of either the extreme left or right. Whilst at the same time it is also evident that the opportunities afforded to the Republic’s enemies, in particular to the right, were spurned. The extreme left itself was largely indecisive and subordinate to the command of the now-communist Russia whilst the extreme right was both internally divided and never acted coherently as a force and thus did not seize upon its chance, which some have argued would had lead to the eventual takeover of power by the extreme right.
Throughout the period of 1918 -1923, Weimar Germany faced the potential threat of the extreme left, however although certain circumstances were favourable to a takeover of power by the left in reality the extreme left lacked both the guile to seize their opportunity and more significantly the leadership which would have been required to act decisively. It is nevertheless appreciable that the left did have certain strengths which assisted it in its bid, although unsuccessful, to overthrow the Republic. Following their derision at the outcome of the National Congress in December 1918, the Spartacists were formed as Germany’s Communist Party, the KPD. To the extreme left of the political spectrum the KPD were intent on ensuring that a return to the state of the Kaiserreich would never occur and therefore were prepared to unleash their forces to bring about this aim. As a consequence the KPD were able to establish control over Berlin in January 1919 albeit for a brief period and then subsequently maintain command over Berlin until May, when the Bavarian Revolution was crushed brutally by the ‘Freikorps’. Moreover the peace time climate that the left was operating in was one full of unemployment and starvation, notably fuelled further by the onset of the economically devastating hyperinflation and by the Allied naval blockade, and this therefore meant that a resurgence in the leftist parties occurred. In addition the KPD was also supported heavily by USSR, now a communist country under the dictatorship of Lenin, and this came directly in the form of financial assistance and through the efforts of the Russian communist agent Karl Radek. Ultimately however the extreme left’s bid for power was doomed from the start. In an atmosphere that demanded authority and decisiveness the Spartacists were lead by the intellectual combination of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, although on the face the pair represented a force which could revise Germany in reality they were weak and vacillating. The fact that the Spartacist revolt was forced through by the desires of German trade unionists rather than by Liebknecht, who contrastingly believed that it would be a resounding failure, clearly indicates that the KPD was reliant upon weak and indecisive leadership who were not prepared to act firmly to obtain their aims. Furthermore the rising itself lacked both organisation and military strength and thus the attempted seizure of power ended in defeat at the hands of the ‘Freikorps’. This however had more serious repercussions as it ensured that the KPD was never fully able to recover from the annihilation that they had suffered and this meant that their popularity amongst the German people dwindled, with the highest share of the vote received in Reichstag elections amassing to a mediocre thirteen percent. Whilst at the same it is also appreciable that the support that they did receive was localised in the regions of the Ruhr, Saxony and Berlin and was never widespread throughout the whole of the country, which would have been necessary to ensure an overthrow of power. Moreover the Majority Socialists, in particular through the work of President Ebert and Defence Minister Noske, who in relation to his use of the violent paramilitary force of the ‘Freikorps’ to quell the Spartacist revolt was dubbed the ‘bloodhound of the revolution’, were determined to ensure that the Weimar Republic was not to be controlled by the desires of extremists and this therefore meant that they were prepared to destroy those who opposed them, even if it meant the death of former comrades. This consequently resulted in the brutal murders of both Liebknecht and Luxemburg which clearly derailed the KPD’s ability to function whilst at the same time brought new leaders in the form of the ‘Stalinised’ working class subordinates of Thalmann, Pieck and Ulbricht to the centre of the party and this ensured that the KPD was never really able to regroup and attempt a concerted attempt to overthrow the Republic.
