Weimar constitution coursework

2. 1923 was one of the worst years for the Weimar Republic. During the first few years the Republic faced many crises. It was working in very difficult situations: trying to stabilize Germany; trying to rebuild the country’s infrastructure after the World War; and having to cope with the problems caused by the Treaty of Versailles. 1923 brought the French occupation of the Ruhr. Strikes were called and passive resistance encouraged , which meant the workers in the Ruhr refused to work for the French. The strikes meant that no goods were being produced. This led to the hyperinflation: Germany was not producing goods due to passive resistance and this meant it was getting poorer. Because Germany was getting poorer, the government simply decided to print more notes so it would be able to pay some of the war loans and reparations. Circulation of the Papiermark rocketed. The value of the Papiermark plummeted so much that by August 1923 1 million Papiermarks were needed to buy just 1 United States Dollar. It became very difficult to establish stability or even get new laws passed. Because of this the situation in Germany was worsening every day. The republic claimed that it could no longer afford to meet reparation payments required by the Versailles Treaty and the government stopped making some payments. In response , in January 1923,French and Beligian troops entered the Ruhr , the main region of Germany’s  coal, iron and steel production . This led to strikes and passive resistance by the German workers who refused to co-operate with the troops. The French and Belgians sent in their own workers to operate the mines and to get the loads that were already on the trains  moving into France and Belgium. This occupation of the Ruhr led to a collapse of the German economy. There was massive inflation and a large increase in unemployment and Germany was now unable to pay any reparations.

The troops stayed in the Ruhr for another 2 years until 1925 when the passive resistance was called off and Germany began to make reparation payments again.

1923-

January- France invades the Ruhr.

General strike and hyper inflation.

October- Black reichswehr rebellion.

October-The Rhineland declared independence and communists take power is Saxony and Thuringia.

November- Hitler’s Munich putsch.

The German states had too much power and often ignored the government. The Army, led by the right-wing General Hans von Seeckt, was not fully under the government’s control.   It failed to support government during the Kapp Putsch or the crisis of 1923.

3. The Weimar republic failed most of the time. It was weak from the very start. It was faced with a great number of problems from the outset. The German nation was used to being ruled, rather than ruling itself and democracy was unheard of before this time. Many groups within Germany blamed the new government for the harsh terms imposed upon it by the Treaty of Versailles. There was great opposition to the government both open and violent and rebellions broke out on a number of occasions by factions both left and right including Hitler’s young Nazi movement in Munich. The Weimar republic failed to contain both the communists and nationalists. As democracy was a new concept in Germany many people were willing to look to the left and right wings for political leadership as they considered strength and image more important than policy. The new Weimar republic used proportional representation as the basis for government. This did not work as well as expected, as no one party could take control with ease and there were many coalitions and alliances which led to a weak government. Therefore not many laws were able to be passed. Proportional representation did not have safeguards against a quick rise of a extremist party as only a tiny majority of votes could get deputies elected into the Reichstag. The Weimar constitution allowed the President to dismiss the Chancellor even if the Chancellor retained the confidence of the Reichstag or even appoint a Chancellor who didn’t have the support of the Reichstag. This enabled the eventual rise of Hitler and the Nazi party. In the end it was the law that led to the downfall of the Weimar republic. The president could, according to the constitution, rule by decree. This enabled Hitler, upon assuming the role, to legally take measures that ensured a rapid end to democracy. The Republic’ failure was mostly due to the struggling economy. The treaty of Versailles had imposed a reparation bill of £6600 million on Germany which caused great strain on the economy. By 1923 the republic claimed it could no longer afford the reparation payments required by the treaty and defaulted on some payments. In response, French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr region the centre of Germany industry. Strikes and passive resistance were encouraged by the government. This was ineffective as the French brought in their own workforce to get the industries moving again. This lead to even greater struggles for the German people. Workers on strike were no longer earning wages and goods were not being produced for export. The governments response was to print more money to deal with the crisis but this led to hyper inflation. The country grew even poorer as a result of this. The Weimar republic was not always a complete failure. There was a short period of relative stability for the Weimar republic between 1923 and 1929. Gustav Stresemann was Reich Chancellor for 100 days in 1923 and Foreign minister from 1923-29. During these years there was a decrease in civil unrest and improved economic conditions. Stresemann’s first move as foreign minister was to issue a new currency, the Rentenmark, to halt the extreme hyper inflation which was crippling Germany. It was successful because Stresemann refused to issue more currency which had previously been one of the reasons for the spiralling hyper inflation. Once stability was established a permanent currency, the Reichsmark, was introduced in 1926 and Hans Luther was appointed Finance minister and he helped balance the budget. In 1924 an agreement, the Daws Plan, was made between American banks and the German government by which the American banks lent money to Germany to help it pay reparations. Relations between Germany and the USSR were also improved and Germany was admitted to the League of Nations. Stresemann’s reforms did not relieve the underlying weakness of the Weimar Republic but gave the appearance of a stable democracy. Stresemann’s death in 1929 marked the end of this “Golden Era” of the Weimar republic and sadly a decline followed. The attempt to establish a liberal democracy in Germany eventually failed with the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party and by 1933 Hitler had gained overall power in Germany. In its 14 years the Weimar republic had managed to survive despite severe economic problems, Political extremism and unrest and financial crisis.