Even though it had its flaws, the constitution was democratic and liberal which contrasted the strict and totalitarian previous constitution. But it couldn’t control the conditions in which it inherited:
The Treaty of Versailles could be said to be great contributing factor into the republic’s demise. One term said that the army couldn’t exceed 100,000 members and the navy also had drastic restrictions placed on it. This meant that the republic didn’t have a large enough army to defend Germany and keep order.
Another harsh term was the demand that Germany pay reparations to the countries that fought in the war. These were in the form of both money and trade goods. Another economic affect that the treaty created was loss of many economic regions in many of Germany’s colonies and territories. It was felt amongst the majority of Germans that the treaty was unfair and any problems it brought were the faults of the ‘November Criminals’.
The cost of war, lack of strength in the Mark, willingness for the government to print money, government expenditure outweighing income and attempts to put of the payment of reparations all contributed to the problem of hyperinflation.
The middle classes were the main losers of the crises because their life savings were wiped out in value so what could have bought a house after HI could only buy a loaf of bread. The crises also affected people on fixed incomes because they ended up earning next to nothing. But there were some winners out of the crises: Those with debts and mortgages could now easily pay them off. The mark was now very week so exporters received a lot of business. The crises aided the Republics survival by reducing unemployment rate, increasing the amount of economic activity and it also attracted business from the USA. But the negative side was that the people lost faith in their government because it caused them a lot of pain.
The Ruhr crises also could have contributed to the Republics down fall. The Germans tried to stall on their reparation payments, which annoyed the French. They decided to take action by sending troops into the industrial region of the Ruhr. The German government then responded by ordering all workers to passively resist. This meant that the workers still needed paying but they were not earning the government any money. In the end, the financial situation became so strong that the new Government called off the passive resistance and took measures to end Hyperinflation.
The government had many political crises that contributed to its downfall. One of the left wing problems arose from the Spartacists. Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg led them. The main party’s idea was similar to that of the Bolsheviks: they wanted Germany to be ruled by Soviets. The Spart. First launched a bid for power in 1919 but they were apposed by lots of Anti-Soviets who arranged themselves into groups called Freikorps. Ebert made a deal with the FK to put down the rebellion, they did so.
The FK were called in to use again to put down a communist rebellion in Bavaria. Even though the communists received another blow in the Ruhr, they still remained a strong political force.
The Weimar Republic also faced R-Wing opposition. This mainly consisted of people who like the old style government led by the Kaiser.
One famous r-wing uprising was the Kapp rebellion. When 5000 FK marched into Berlin the army wouldn’t fire on them but fortunately the workers striked and caused the capital to stop and the chance of the Putsch succeeding non-existent.
Many of these factors led to civil unrest, which in turn helped the Nazis, gain power and destroy the republic however the Weimar republic wasn’t destroyed directly by one of the problems. This means that the republic could have continued on but it inst possible to say whether the problems would catch up with it. Therefore, I cannot conclude either way as to whether to Weimar Republic was doomed from the start.
