Was the Weimar Republic Doomed from the Start?
C. Jeary 10C 28/9/2001
Mr. Panter
Was the Weimar Republic Doomed from the Start?
From the evidence in the forthcoming essay, we can confirm that the Weimar Republic wasn't necessarily doomed from the start. It was however, but was dealt an extremely difficult hand with which to start controlling a weakened Germany after WW1. With the benefit of hindsight we know that the Republic lasted for a whole decade. Its tenure which lasted a decade, can be divided into two distinct halves: 1919-1923 and 1923-1929; at the end of 1929, after the Republic experienced the effects of the Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression, it was finally overthrown and the Weimar Republic came to an end.
After the end of WW1 when Allied troops broke through the German Hindenburg line, Germany emerged shocked, beaten and weakened from expenses of war. Many people were not sure whom to blame for defeat and demanded change in Germany's Government. In October, sailors at the naval base at Wilhemshaven mutinied and another mutiny occurred at Kiel when the marines were told to attack the Allies. On 7th November 1918 Kurt Eisner declared Bavaria a Socialist Republic, and all over Germany, similar groups followed, bringing about a change of Government in Germany to the left wing.
On the 9th November Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated and Friedrich Ebert, leader of the SPD (Social Democratic Party) declared Germany a Republic, with him as President. His first act was to proceed with the signing the Treaty of Versailles on the 11th of November 1918, which blamed Germany for the war, Germany also had to pay an extreme sum of money (6600 millions gold Marks) to the Allies for War Reparations, and its forces were cut to 100,000 men (without conscription) and a few siege machines. These three major concessions caused the SPD to be branded, 'the November Criminals' as Germany was on its knees, completely in debt and in a state of chaos. This was not a very good start for the Republic!
Before the war, Germany was a Nationalist country; the Kaiser held supreme power at the head of a hierarchy of social divisions. Now with the SPD in power, Germany suddenly changed into a Socialist country, with everyone of same social status. Many people, (especially the old army and elderly people who remembered the 'good old days'), weren't ready to accept the changes and tried to regain power and restore Germany to the country they wanted.
The Republic drew up the Weimar Constitution, setting out very clearly how Germany was to be run. There would be two main leaders: Ebert, the President and his colleague Philipp Scheidemann, the Chancellor. These two would run most of the country with the help of Germany's Houses of Parliament, the Reichstag and the Reichsrat. Each German state would send a representative to the Reichsrat, which was the Upper House. Representatives of the Lower House, the Reichstag, were to be elected every 4 years. An election would be held all over Germany whereby in total, for every 60,000 votes, ...
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The Republic drew up the Weimar Constitution, setting out very clearly how Germany was to be run. There would be two main leaders: Ebert, the President and his colleague Philipp Scheidemann, the Chancellor. These two would run most of the country with the help of Germany's Houses of Parliament, the Reichstag and the Reichsrat. Each German state would send a representative to the Reichsrat, which was the Upper House. Representatives of the Lower House, the Reichstag, were to be elected every 4 years. An election would be held all over Germany whereby in total, for every 60,000 votes, a party could send a representative to the Reichstag, so if a party received 180,000 votes from all over Germany, it could send 3 representatives to the Reichstag. This sounds very simple, but with so many people wanting so many different things all over the country, no single party had a majority of seats in the Reichstag for the whole of 1919-1933. This led to many problems with law and order. Ebert, as President, had to form many coalitions with other party leaders to maintain the Government's stability. However, if Ebert made a decision unfavourable to one party, he would lose all support from that party, making decision making very difficult.
Between 1919 and 1923 there were four main events that were to test the strength and dominance of the SPD in Germany, shortly after its establishment. To understand these, it is necessary to understand the political divisions that existed at the time in Germany. There were two main wings, the left and the right; on the extreme left wing was Communism (which was on the rise following the Russian revolution against the Tsar), which, theoretically, gave everyone equal status. On the extreme right wing was Fascism where the country was divided into a hierarchy of different groups. Between these extremes were Liberals, Socialists (who were in power at the time) and Nationalists.
The first test came on the 15th of January 1919; the Spartacus League, Germany's Communist Party staged a revolt in Berlin in an attempt to seize power. Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg led them. They marched on Berlin, and President Ebert, with very few troops after the Treaty of Versailles, had to call on the Freikorps (free-corps) to crush the revolt. These 'Freikorps' were volunteer soldiers, many of whom were Nationalist ex-WW1 soldiers wanting to see the army regain power again and wreak revenge on the Allies. They were bitter opponents of the Communists. They executed Luxemburg and Liebknecht and crushed the revolt. As a consequence of the use of the Freikorps, Ebert and the SPD lost the support of the Communist parties.
The second challenge to power came in 1920 when Ebert, in an act to regain Communist support, tried to disband the Freikorps. There was a rebellion; the Freikorps marched on Berlin and proclaimed Dr Wolfgang Kapp as Germany's new leader. The army wouldn't fire on their own side, so the government fled. But many of the Berlin population didn't like Kapp. They obeyed the government's request for a General Strike, which cut all water, gas and electricity supplies into Berlin. Kapp was forced to flee to Sweden and the Freikorps were disbanded. However, a small number of Freikorps remained and formed an extreme group called 'Organisation Consul' which in 1921 murdered Matthias Erzberger, Germany's Foreign Minister, who had agreed to the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.
The third test came on the 24th June 1922 when Organisation Consul murdered Walther Rathenau as he was driving to work in an open top car. The group pumped bullets into him with an automatic pistol and finished the job with a hand grenade.
The fourth test came on 9th November 1923. The night before Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazi party broke up a meeting in a beer hall in Munich at which leaders of the Bavarian State Government were speaking. He forced the leaders to agree to take part in a putsch (rebellion) against the Government the next day. However (he let them go and) many changed their minds. The next day 3000 Nazis, led by Hitler and General Ludendorff, (a WW1 hero), marched on Berlin. Hitler thought he would gain support on arrival from the police and army; they, however, opened fire on the Nazis. Sixteen Nazis and four policemen were killed in the shooting, and Hitler and Ludendorff were arrested for conspiracy.
During WW1, Germany paid its war bills by printing more banknotes than usual, this may seem a good solution. However having more money led to prices rising, and as the prices rose, workers demanded more pay, which raised the prices of goods even more. (And so this situation keeps on continuing), this is called 'Hyperinflation' and is extremely dangerous to a country's economy. This had happened in Germany from 1914 onwards but it reached a climax in 1923. With the War Reparations bill fixed at £6600 million and the debts from the war, Germany was financially crippled. Allies made sure Germany would remain weak by taking Germany's raw materials such as coal and iron. Towards the end of 1922 Germany failed to make a payment, so the French and Belgians responded by occupying Germany's industrial heartland, the Ruhr. Ebert responded by telling the workers to go on passive resistance and strike, so France and Belgium couldn't receive their goods. However, Germany still had its own bills to pay, so excessive printing continued. This led to Hyperinflation, which took the price of a loaf of bread from just under 4, to 1.5 million marks. Banknotes were revalued but paper money remained worthless, poverty heightened and people traded with eggs and bread. There were short-term gains from Hyperinflation; i.e. people who took out loans before the Hyperinflation, could pay them off with a week's wages. This led to Hitler choosing this time to strike with the Munich Beer Hall Putsch.
From 1919 to 1923, the Weimar Republic experienced all these problems. However after 1924, Germany entered the 'era of recovery and respectability'. Gustav Stresemann became Germany's Foreign Minister after the death of Rathenau. Between 1924 to 1929 Germany gained stability and recovered slightly and re-introduced itself into the International community.
Stresemann first act as Foreign Minister was to introduce a new currency, the Rentenmark. At the same time, government spending was reduced. These measures ended Hyperinflation and brought confidence to German again.
Stresemann also put down uprisings from Communists in Thuringia and Saxony, and dealt with the Munich Beer Hall Putsch. For the rest of the 1920's Communists found it hard to try and overthrow the Socialists, producing stability to Germany.
Stresemann greatest success came in 1924 when he negotiated the Dawes Plan with the Allies: the USA loaned Germany 800 millions gold Marks. And also agreed that the reparation payments should to be reduced and paid over a longer time.
In 1929 the Young Plan was devised to extend the payment deadline to 1988.
Between 1924 and 1929 Germany received 25 billion marks in loans, which enabled Germany's industry to rebuild. Stresemann also signed the Locarno Pact in 1925 with France and Belgium whereby all three countries respected their borders.
Then in 1926 Germany joined the League of Nations, which had been set up after the Treaty of Versailles by Woodrow-Wilson. Also in 1928, Germany along with 59 other countries signed the Kellogg Briand Pact against the use of war in foreign policy.
Stresemann went against his associates' judgments to introduce Germany back into the International world, but he succeeded and became a National hero. But during his time Germany flourished in many areas, including art, writing and architecture.
In 1919 the Weimar Republic inherited serious political and economic problems and had to fight to maintain its position until 1923, however it successfully maintained political stability and prevented a revolution by an extreme party for a decade. People forgot about the 'good old days' of the Kaiser and Stresemann brought stability and prosperity to Germany again. However this 'golden age' was an illusion based on foreign loans. Exports fell and huge sums were spent on welfare and health care. Political stability was wafer thin and in 1925 Hindenburg was elected President. In 1929 during the Great Depression, after the death of Stresemann and the Wall Street Crash, the Republic fell to its knees and eventually collapsed from economical and political frailties that had existed since the conception of the Government.
The Weimar Republic wasn't doomed from the start, but never had full control due to inherited opposition and the demands of the Allies after WWI. It was given such frailties; it was always susceptible to being overthrown. There was a 'Golden Period', but this was based mainly on foreign loans. When these ran out, the Republic was so weakened it collapsed and finally collapsed when Stresemann died and the Wall Street Crash devastated Germany's financial situation. Hindenburg was elected President and the Weimar Republic's reign had ended.
