Looking back numerous mistakes can be seen in the formation of the republic, this mistakes were one of the reasons why the Weimar Republic was doom from its beginnings that weakened Germany's first experiment with democratic self-government. By accepting the Versailles Treaty, republican leaders saddled Germany with an excessive burden of reparations, disarmament, war guilt, and loss of colonies and territory. Reparations fueled the runaway to inflation, the Ruhr Occupation, and Hitler Putsch in 1923. Disarmament encouraged the creation of the Free Corps, domestic violence and militarism. And signing the treaty with its war guilt clause helped convince many conservative Germans that the republic had sold out Germany. The bitterness created by the Versailles Treaty was, ironically, directed toward the Weimar Republic.
Some of the other big failures were the failure of Democratic Leadership appeared time and again throughout the 1920s. Weimar coalitions lacked experience, strength, and the readiness to crack down on enemies of the republic. They also failed to build a popular majority for the republic by articulating the values of democracy. Democratic leaders proved inept at managing the numerous crises faced by the republic in the early years like the violence, inflation and Ruhr Crisis. The Shock of repeated crises continued to expose the weakness of the republic and encourage its enemies. The Kapp Putsch, Ruhr Occupation, hyperinflation of 1922-23, and Hitler Putsch in 1923 all reminded Germans how inept Weimar democratic governments were. Not until Gustav Stresemann became Chancellor in August of 1923, and later Foreign Minister in 1923 did the early period of disturbance draw to a close. Stresemann ended passive resistance, stabilized Germany's Mark, initiated the, restored Germany to the international stage in the Locarno assembly of 1925), and brought Germany into the League of Nations in 1926. This introduced a period of stability and prosperity that lasted until the outbreak of the Great Depression in 1929.
But even after political stability and economic prosperity had returned, Germany still faced serious problems. One problem was the radicalization of the middle classes in the wake of inflation of 1922 and Depression. Inflation cost middle-class Germans much of their life savings, something they never forgave the government for alluding this to happen and they especially never forgot this. After that, many turned to parties on the right or on the left that promised some sort of compensation or relief. The economic disaster of inflation pushed moderate, middle-class Germans toward the political extremes, mostly on the right.
Political parties supporting the Weimar Republic and opposing the nationalist right were badly divided. Most of the other political parties thought of the Nazi as a weak party that would not cause any danger. SPD was badly occupy with internal problems because inside of this party there were extreme communist, that wanted a revolution for Germany, and the socialist that did not totally believed in getting to power by a revolution.
The Great depression was the force that precipitated the collapse of the Weimar Republic. The depression greatly injured the political system by paralyzing it. This happened when the governing coalition collapsed over the problem of unemployment that was expanding at an alarming rate in 1930. In September 1930, the new Chancellor called elections in hopes of creating some kind of working majority. Instead, Germans voted increasingly for parties on the extremes the Nazis and the Communists specially, so that no governing coalition was possible. The Nazis and parties on the left held a sizeable majority in the Reichstag, but they could not ever work together. They could always vote laws down, but could never agree to support any legislation. Finally, the Depression created a vast reservoir of unemployed, politically volatile, panicked, resentful people who now listened to ever more radical voices that promised radical action. Therefore the Depression accelerated the collapse of the Weimar Republic and the rise of the radical Right. Germans abandoned all of their hopes on the failing republic in search of a more radical solution to the economic and political crisis that Germany was going through.
Therefore even before the “Great Depression” sealed the fate of the Weimar Republic, Germany's first experiment with democracy was disintegrating. Never firmly established, it was handicapped by the excessive idealism and divisions of its friends, mounting opposition from its enemies, inadequate leadership, and the burdens of Versailles. Germany had some superficial political stability in the late 1920s, a stability that rested on a precarious prosperity. But this could not hide the growth of structural and political crisis facing Weimar Germany. The disintegration of the middle classes as reflected in the decline of the liberal parties. The weakening of the political left seen in bitter battles that happened inside of the party. Also in the declining trade union strength. The crisis of the political system visible in the ever-changing coalition governments. And the rising anti-democratic sentiment reflected in the growth of radical parties on the right. If Gustav Stresemann would have lived for a longer time there could have been some hope for the Weimar Republic but he died. Gustav Stresemann was very lucky because he got to power in a period were the howl of Europe was economically recovering, making his job easier and most of the radical parties were dormant but not dead. When Gustav Stresemann died and the depression hit Germany again most of the middle class lost everything that they have save and the Germans started to look again to the extreme parties in hope of recovering what they have lost and to get ride of the party that in their eyes was a total failure.
These developments did not guarantee the collapse of the Weimar Republic and rise of the Nazis, but they did make Germany's future uncertain.
