Was the Weimar Republicdoomed to failure from the start?

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Was the Weimar Republic doomed to failure from the start?

In order to answer this question we must first establish whether in fact the problems that the Weimar faced were insuperable and how much of a threat they posed the survival of the republic. The years of 1918 to 1923 are recognised by many historians as the crisis years as they were a period of much discontent. To add tot his were social, economic and political breakdowns and much opposition from several quarters. The problems it faced were an amalgamation of factors which eventually led to its demise in 1933.  

From its first initial introduction in 1919 it was faced with many problems occurring from the aftermath of the First World War. The November Criminals who signed the Treaty of Versailles were exiled out the country and the ‘stab in the back myth’ left the public with a sense of betrayal and bitterness towards the Republic itself.

President Ebert, the first leader of the republic, relied on volunteer forces (the Friekorps) to fight a counter revolutionary civil war against the extreme left. This action drove a wedge within the working class and contributed to a deep division in the Labour movement throughout the Weimar period. The constitution itself was flawed and it contained within it the seeds of its own destruction. Article 48 was to provide future abuse as this was invoked to appoint the last four chancellors of the republic, including Hitler. This system of proportion representation made it easy for anti-democratic parties to gain seats in the Reichstag and the chances for any party gaining a majority support in the Reichstag was minimal. With a republic run by the very ones who had ‘betrayed’ the country and a constitution that was flawed a somewhat tenuous loyalty to the republic had been formed.

Before the arise of any additional problems there was already an instability in the government, with the abandonment of the Kaiserreich, three parties made up the broadly based Weimar coalition. This introduction of proportional representation became a controversial issue and was the subject of much criticism at the time. By having several parties running the country, all with different aims and ideas, it was difficult to agree on policies. It can also be argued that this system led to the arise of Nazism and Communism.

There was also tension in the government due to the ambiguous relationship between the President and The Reichstag. The president acted as a offset to the Reichstag as a result of fears of parliamentary absolutism. He could dismiss and dissolve the Reichstag and had the right to interfere with legislations. This ambiguity meant that there was uncertainty from the start as to whether ultimate authority was with a representative assembly or the elected head of state. Due to the continuity of traditional social and economic institutions and the introduction of progressive civil liberties, the daily life of the republic was greatly influenced by conservative foundations. Many of these institutions, such as the legal and education systems and the civil services were opposed to the republic. Although it had it´s problems, the Weimar Constitution proved to be democratic and liberal which was an improvement on the totalitarian and strict Bismarkian constitution. However, it could not control the circumstances and conditions in which it was forced to function.

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The Treaty Of Versailles, a peace treaty with the allies, meant harsh terms for Weimar; compulsory military service was to be abolished, the army was to be reduced from 600 000 to 100 000, naval personnel not to exceed 15 000, a limit if twenty-four naval ships with no submarines, all military and naval aviation to be abandoned and all importation, exportation and production or war materials was to be stopped. This resulted in Weimar having insufficient resources to keep order and defence and left many soldiers unemployed. Weimar was ordered to provide all countries that sustained damages from ...

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