Do the problems of 1919-1924 suggest that the Weimar Republic was doomed from the start?

      Political tensions were also present when the Weimar Republic came to power. The Kaiser’s regime was backed by a number of powerful elites in German society such as the Junkers who were further right-wing than the SPD and saw them as a threat. Their stance on reform rather than revolution or imperial rule meant that they polarised parties support for extreme left and right wing parties. The German nation was used to being ruled, rather than ruling itself. Democracy was a new concept within  and many people were wiling to look to the left and right wings for political leadership. Strength and image were considered more important than policy itself. The weakness of Ebert’s government was further emphasised by fact that they signed the armistice that signalled the German’s surrender, and this was seen as a ‘stab in the back’ to the army. After this they too signed the Treaty of Versailles that meant they had to accept that they were guilty of starting the war. More fundamentally however, the Weimar Constitution used the system of proportional representation which caused a proliferation of smaller parties and therefore weak coalition governments. Despite these problems, at the time Ebert’s party had the greatest support and the far left and right groups were internally divided and therefore much weaker than they seemed. Overall, the Weimar Republic avoided early collapse yet the left and right wing parties continued to grow in popularity during the 1920’s. This is shown by the growing number of assassinations on political figures every year through the 1920’s.

    Hyperinflation caused a large loss in popular support for the Weimar Republic especially within the middle class. The lower class often struggled to eat and workers were taking money home in wheelbarrows. Yet popularity may have grown with those who profited from the situation such as land owners, speculators and people in debt. The unpopularity of the SDP was clear as there were threats from both the Left and Right. The greatest threat was the Communist Uprising with the Spartacists League in 1919. The Freikorps moved in and crushed the revolt killed about 600 communists. However, the threat from the right was also present and felt in the Kapp Putsch in 1920 when the Freikorps, mainly those growing up in the days of the Kaiser, took over Berlin. Ironically, the government was saved by the working class communists, their enemies. The right wing, however, were very lightly punished as Ebert knew he needed them. Their unpopularity grew and this is shown by the growing number of assassinations on political figures every year through the 1920’s. Ebert’s government did have some support, especially external support and the fact that many people were unhappy with the extremists which was shown in protest of 700,000 people over Rathenau murder. On the whole, however, the Weimar Republic gradually lost support from key support groups and the only real backing to the regime came externally from the USA and UK.

     The early problems of the Weimar Republic did seem to have a lasting effect upon the attitudes of the German people and clearly had an impact on the eventual failure of the regime. I fail to deduce that the early economic problems were a factor in their failure as it recovered well and it was the later economic problems like the Great Depression that were major factors. Political stance and popular support had much to do with the downfall however. Having no tradition of a democratic government, signing the Treaty of Versailles and constitutional problems such as proportional representation meant that the Weimar Republic was given the image of a weak state, an image that lingered in the minds of people through till the last few days and errors of the regime. Their support also declined as threats from the right and left became ever more prevalent. Overall, I believe that certain aspects from the early problems between 1919-24 contributed to the failings of the government in 1933 but I don’t believe it wasn’t doomed to failure from its start.