Stresemann continued his efforts in getting Germany to be accepted internationally with his foreign policies. In 1925, Stresemann signed a series of treaties at Locarno know was the ‘Locarno Treaties’ of 1925. This dampened, to some extent, French aggression towards Germany, which is seen in their retreat from Ruhr (1924-25), and was a way to display a peaceful Germany to the Allies. Stresemann’s policies worked as only a year later, in 1926, Germany was invited to join the League of Nations. Stresemann used the status achieved to give Germany more liberation (Young Plan) even in terms of disarmament where in 1926 the Inter-Allied Military Control Commission withdrew from Germany. Moreover, he even used this to raise the issue of German minorities in its lost lands. Along with this, Stresemann manipulated the Treaty of Berlin to not only improve relations with USSR but to put pressure on the west to support Germany with the threat of getting close to the Soviet Union. Furthermore, the Treaty of Berlin allowed Germany to receive armaments in exchange for providing economic expertise to the USSR. With international relations improving, internally the Weimar Republic was gaining support as well.
The period 1924-29 also brought about a lot of cultural advances. Previously, Germany’s culture mostly reflected its rural side but with the mass urbanization and increase in foreign influence, this new part of Germany demanded a culture of its own. The ‘swinging twenties’ of the USA was adopted by Germany especially the jazz and magnificent film industry. There was a general spirit of experimentation in all science, art and theatre. The visual arts saw an explosion of innovation with ‘expressionism’ developing. New media such as photomontage and Dadaism developed. Artists like George Grosz and Otto Dix were part of this ‘Neue Sachlichkeit’ (new objectivity) movement which believed that art should not only entertain but also comment on society and be understood by the common man. Literature too developed with writers like Grottfried Benn and Erich Maria Remarque’s anti- war novel, which challenged the ‘stab in the back’ view. This created a sense of freedom of speech and thought, accelerating advances in these fields. Music and art also developed with Schoenberg’s use of atonality and the coming up of modernising architects like Bauhaus. Additionally, old traditions, such as the patriarchal thinking still present in society, were challenged. Women started smoking, had short hairstyles and wore modern clothing as a form of rebellion and campaigned for sexual liberation. Employment opportunities, thus, increased for women but contraception and abortion were still illegal.
Though it may seem like it was actually a ‘Golden Period’ for the Weimar Republic on the surface a lot was not going to plan, as they would have liked it to be. To begin with, there was the constitution. Firstly, the proportion of representation from each party was so little that it was impossible for one party to come to power thus creating confusion and delays in decreeing laws due to the diversity in views. This disorganisation led to there being 6 different Chancellors during the period of 1924-28, each pertaining their own different ideologies in terms of law and order. Along with a Chancellor the Weimar Republic had a President. Article 48 allowed the President immense power to govern creating an almost dictatorial regime. If the President was not pleased the Chancellor, he had the power to remove him from position and appoint someone of his wishes. This meant that the government was restricted to the President’s ideologies, which further restricted free will and democracy, for example, Hindenburg, who was appointed as President in 1925, was a strict conservative rightist and therefore Germany remained mostly a strict rightist country under his power. In 1930 Hindenburg appointed Bruning as chancellor and agreed to sign ‘presidential emergency decrees’ under Article 48 if the government faced opposition in the Reichstag. Therefore, under Hindenburg’s governing and Bruning’s chancellorship the government no longer functioned democratically as Bruning relied on the president’s emergency powers to push through the legislation he desired. Hindenburg’s policies were collapsing the German democracy as he represented an abuse of the constitution’s emergency powers, which were initially meant to protect the democratic functioning of the constitution, not to disrupt it. Moreover, Hindenburg’s failing energy and senility (he was 85 when he got re-elected in 1932) made him an easy prey to his rightist advisors as he was heavily influenced by those surrounding him. Thus the extremist parties were profiting simultaneously from Hindenburg’s ineffectiveness, which was an enormous gain for the Nazis. Furthermore, the pubic was unhappy with the electoral system because voters were voting for the party rather than the individual deputy. This left the voters with ambiguous decisions to make as they did not know if their party was standing for the post they desired or even if the deputy appointed supported their ways of thinking.
Moreover, after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, many Germans supported the ‘stab in the back’ theory where they blamed the Weimar Republic, or as they were called ‘The November Criminals’, for Germany’s defeat in the war. With hyperinflation, unemployment and then the Wall Street Crash, there was an increase in extremist parties like the Nazi Party and the communist parties. There was a lack in trust in the government for they were seen as working in favour of the Allied powers especially with Stresemann making peace pacts with their ‘enemies’ and even through the paying of reparations. This can be seen during the disarmament period starting in 1926 with the Kellogg-Brian Pact. The German population was outraged to have disarmed to such a minimal level and not have other countries, which were also involved in the war, reduce their level of military structure. The military was Germany’s proud possession and to have that stripped away from them was very humiliating. The Germans believed in military strength to regain power rather than international political relations. Additionally, the Allied troops still occupied much of the west bank of the Rhine and the Weimar Republic had not made much progress in overturning the Treaty of Versailles.
With such political confusion and fundamental political problems still acting as a hitch to stability, many people began doubting the Weimar Republic and democracy in a whole and were more inclined to a rightist, or dictatorial government to regain Germany’s great status. Thus, the issue of the traditional way of being ruled under an authoritarian government began to rise, which historians like A J P Taylor thought was a reason to the rise of support for Hitler. The Weimar Republic being the first democracy Germany ever had was a big change for the Germans. For some it was even just an easy option to blame the republic for the troubles in the country.
The elite were also more in favour of an authoritarian regime as it reduced the risk of the rise of communism. The nobles wanted the ‘old way of life’ to ensure a large share in agricultural and industrial economies. This lead to the outbreak of riots between the SPD and KPD in 1919. Such fear of communism and loss of wealth lead many to support extremist parties and not the republic, which allowed all parties to have a representative present.
Additionally, the Great Depression of 1929 contributed a great deal to the Weimar Republics downfall. A main factor was that Germany was getting many loans from the USA and when the economy collapsed this dependence on foreign inflow of money too turned out to be fatal. This proved as an obstacle to the German economy leading to a slow down in economic growth, which was necessary as Germany was still lacking behind many of the European countries. Even before the depression, the German economy had begun to decline due to the decrease in rate of agricultural goods from the year of 1928, where over one third of the farms were running at loss. In the 1928 elections the KDP gained over 10 per cent of the vote; the Nazis made significant gains especially in the rural areas where peasant farmers and Junkers were becoming extremely hostile to the regime. Unemployment, due to this, also rose to over 1 million people without jobs starting from 1928.
Surprisingly, the Weimar culture too played a role in weakening the republic. Many extremists’ supporters saw the revolution as a disintegration of German tradition and evidence on the “unpatriotic nature” of the Weimar government. With so much change around them, the German people needed a constant in the midst of all this chaos, thus the inclination towards extremist views. The Weimar Republic was made to seem unsympathetic by the extremists and un-revolutionary by the radical cultural patrons.
It is evident that the Weimar Republic did relatively well compared to the previous and impending years. However, there was obviously a false sheet of pretence used by the government, as behind the scenes, evidence is more inclinatory towards a weak government rather than a strong one, on in its ‘Golden’ time. They most certainly did propagate this as the republic only sought out for short-term success, like the Dawes Plan, rather than long-term reforms. The Weimar government lacked a charismatic leader, had economic shortfalls, society was hostile towards it and above all, it in itself was a weak organisation bound to fall threw with the first hint of trouble (as seen in 1929 with the Great Depression). It is all right to say that maybe the environment in which it came up in was unfavourable but facts show that its downfall was more in its own hand than that of conditions.
Yes:
- Failed coups (leftist and rightist)
- Dawes Plan
- Locarno Treaty & invitation to join the LON
- Gustav Stresemann
- Rentenmark
- 1926-Allied occupation of Rhineland removed
- 1927-Inter-allied control commission to supervise German disarmament was withdrawn
- 1928-Kellog Brian Pact
- 1929-Young Plan (2 billion pounds, 59 years)
- American influence –technology
- Weimar culture
- Art- Dadaism. Ex, George Grosz
- Architecture. Ex, Walter Gropius
- Philosophy. Ex, Thomas Mann
- Cinema. Ex, Fritz Lang
No:
Political disillusionment in Germany:
- Extremist parties still making an impact on the street. Fighting between Nazi/SA and KPD/paramilitary Red fighting league. Friekorps. Deaths-riots
- Liberal party DDP-Lost ground therefore, M/C became polarised
- Late 1920’s Centre Party move to the Right and some of its leaders like Bruning began to favour authoritarianism.
- 6 Weimar govt. between 1924-29= increases instability
- PR system: instead of co-operating, parties stuck by their political ideology. Therefore, no chancellor could hold a govt. together for more than 2 years.
- Pubic unhappy with PR system because voters were voting for the party rather than the individual deputy.
- Parties divided. Even the SPD was not in agreement.
- Growth of narrow sectional interest parties. Gained a total of 78 deputies at their peak in 1930. Advocated narrow interests e.g. compensation from the losers of hyperinflation.
- Lacked a charismatic leader. People still believed in the “stab in the back” ideology.
- Hindenberg appointed President in 1925. Conservative Right.
- Elite still opposed to democracy e.g. Army, Church and teachers.
- Instable govt. too many political parties and the need to form coalitions which proved short-lived- electoral system.
- Extremists parties irreconcilable divisions.
- Dependant on foreign economies- in-flow from USA
- Comprehensive unemployment insurance of 1927
- Agricultural priced decreases – 1927
- November criminals
Historiography
