Problem facing the Weimar Republic

Problem facing the Weimar Republic

Why did the Weimar Republic Collapse?

Political Problems

The Weimar Republic had a number of disadvantages. These hampered it from the beginning.

1. It had accepted the humiliating and unpopular treaty of Versailles. So the new regime was regarded with disfavor by many. German nationalists could never forgive it.

2. There was a traditional lack of respect for democratic government. In 1919 the view was widespread that the army had not been defeated. it had been betrayed, stabbed in the back by the democrats who had needlessly agreed to the Versailles treaty.

3. The parliamentary system introduced in the new Weimar constitution had weakness. The most serious this was that it was based on a system of proportional representation. So that all political groups would have a fair representation. Unfortunately there were different groups that no party ever won an overall majority.

4. The political parties had very little experience of how to operate a democratic parliamentary system. The Communist and Nationalists did not believe in the Republic and refused to support the social democrats. The combination of these weaknesses led to more out break of violence and attempt to over throw the republic.

Outbreak of violence

The Weimar Republic failed to curb the persistent violence that broke out in the country.

1. In January 1919 the separatist rising occurred in which the communist, inspired by the success of the Russian revolution occupied almost every major city in Germany. The rising was led by Karl liebknant and Rosa Luxemburg. The government managed to defeat the communist only because it accepted the help of Freikorps. It was a sign of the government’s weakness that it had to depend on private forces which it did not itself control.

2. Another great rising was the Kapp Putsch in March 1920. It was an attempt by right wing group to seize power. It was sparked off when the government tried to disband Freikorps. They refused to disband and declared Wolfgang Kapp Chancellor. The German took an action against the Putsch because the generals were in sympathy with the right. In the end the workers of Berlin came to the aid of the Social Democrats Government by calling a general strike.

3. A series of political assassination took place in Germany. There were mainly carried out by ex-Freikorps members. Walther Rathenau, Jewish foreign minister and Matthias Erzberger leader of armistice delegation were killed. When the government fought strong measures against such acts of terrorism. There was great oppositation from the right wing parties. Whereas the communists leaders had been brutally murdered.

4. Another threat to the government occurred in November 1923 in Bavaria known as ‘Beer Hall Putsch’. It is so called because the march set out from the Munich beer hall in which Hitler had announced his national revolution the previous evening. Hitler helped by General Ludendorff, aimed to take control of the Bavarian state government in Munich and then lead a national revolution to over throw the government in Berlin. However this organization was suppressed by the government.

5. The violence did down during the years 1924 to 1929 as the republic became more stable. But when unemployment grew in the early 1930s the private armies’ expanded and regular street fight occurred between Nazis and communists. All parties had their meetings broken up by rival armies and the police seemed powerless to prevent it happening.

Economics Problems

The Weimar republic was constantly played by economics problems which the government failed to solve permanently.

1. In 1919 Germany was close to bankruptcy because of enormous expense of the war. Her attempts to pay reparations installments made matter worse.

2. In January 1923 French troops occupied the Ruhr in an attempt to seize goods from factories and mines. The Germany government ordered the workers to follow a policy of passive resistance and German industry in Ruhr was paralyzed. The French had failed in their aim, but the effect on the German economy was disastrous. The value of the Mark came to almost nothing, inflation gripped the whole country. However the situation gradually improved when the Stresemann came to power. He called off passive resistance in Ruhr, stabilized currency and resumed reparation deliveries to France and Belgium. It was mainly due to Dawes Plan which came into effect in 1924. American Banker Charles Dawes provided an immediate loan for Germany, arranged annual installments spread over a long period. The currency was stabilized there was a boom in such industries as iron, steel, coal, chemicals and electrical. The work of Dawes Plan was carried a stage further by the ‘Young Plan’ agreed in October 1929. This reduced the reparation amount by ¾ and arranged the payment of installment spread over 59 years. In this way American assistance helped Germany to stabilize her economy.

3. The world economic crisis which developed in October 1929 made the situation worse. The USA stopped army loan and began to call in many of the short terms already made with Germany. This caused a crisis of confidence in the currency.

4. As a result of economic depression the Germany industries were closed and by 1931 un employment and poverty became very common. The government came under criticism from almost all groups in society. By the end of 1932 the Weimar Republic had been brought to verge of collapse.