Weimar Republic Essays

Henry Pachter said in an autobiographical fragment, “It is a matter of historical injustice to say that, for all its shortcoming, the Weimar Republic was one of the freest states that ever existed, that it afforded the working classes greater opportunities for collective improvement than any other European state at the time.” (14) .(7) E. Kolb, The Weimar Republic, p. 86. .There is little doubt in my mind that despite its all too obvious political and economic failings, in terms of society and culture the people of the Weimar Republic had the privilege to be apart of one of the most advanced and modern countries in Europe.Throughout its lifespan the Weimar Republic contained a society marked simultaneous by change and an inability to ada...

[40] Henig, The Weimar Republic, p.84 .[25] Henig, The Weimar Republic, p.78 .[38] Henig, The Weimar Republic, p.62 .[36] Henig, The Weimar Republic, p.78 .[17] Henig, The Weimar Republic, p.83 .

The weaknesses in the Weimar Republic allowed for the Nazi’s to gain power through Article 48, where the President is given emergency powers to suspend the Reichstag at a moments notice.The capitalization of the weaknesses in the Weimar Republic, led to the growth and rises to power of the Nazi Party in 1933, because of the Nazi’s constant exploitation of the Weimar Republic and all of its mistakes, using them to its own advantage as well as the manipulation of incidents involving the Reichstag.What this says about the Weimar Republic is that it was always faulted, giving the president as much power as possible, even giving him the option of choosing his Chancellor.The Nazi’s exploited the Weimar Republic’s mistakes, using the mood of re...

This whole situation undermined confidence in the Weimar Republic.The French invasion of the Ruhr, in January 1923, was a major threat to the Weimar Republic in two ways.Hyperinflation was another major threat to the Weimar Republic.Another threat to the Weimar Republic came from Hitler’s Putsch in November 1923. .Moreover, the new Republic was prone to other threats during the years of 1919 to 1924.The Weimar Republic had close association with the new government and the November Criminals.Therefore,the stability of the republic was seriously threatened because from the very beginning, democratic politicians controlling and implementing laws in the system were considered criminals who betrayed their own country.

Weimar Republic faced a problem of either economic collapse by not helping the economy, or economic collapse by trying to help the economy, and having more restrictions placed on them by the leauge of nations.This was very damaging to the Weimar Republic.They proclaimed the National Assembley disollved, the Weimar constitution void, and the government deposed in favour of one headed by Kapp and General Von Luttwitz” D Thompson This was highly embarrassing to the Weimar Republic and was a serious problem as t exposed them as a weak government lacking the support of the army.The problems all seemed to stem from the fact that the Treaty of Versailles did not give Germany a fair hance to improve herself, and did not give a fair chance to the...

It therefore remains that, whilst there were obvious intrinsic weaknesses within the Weimar Republic, the government managed to survive until an unfortunate and catastrophic series of events in the late 1920s.The end of Weimar Germany was nigh.The leaders of the Weimar Republic escaped to Stuttgart and called for a general strike.Plagued by immense hyperinflation, particularly following the execution of a passive resistance policy against the French who had invaded the Ruhr in 1923, the Weimar Republic survived economic disaster with the appointment of Gustav Stresemann as Chancellor.As Ruth Henig highlights, ‘Weimar Germany was a society in transition, experiencing the pressures of modernisation and of industrialisation.viii’ Any attemp...

His major works, particularly Die Dreigroschenoper (the threepenny opera) were popular during Weimar (until the Nazi regime) because they represented and were influence by the society and politics of Weimar Germany.The Mahagonny opera is most probably to the best-known of Weill’s works from the Weimar period, its historical affect defines, alongside that of Die Dreigroschenoper, as the most frequently performed works of musical theatre of the Weimar Period.The name references not only the price of admission, thus the economic status of the Weimar Republic, but is also alludes to the political issues of capitalism national socialism and the working class on which the play itself is based.Weill’s music and the Weimar Republic’s influence c...

Again the group attempting to overthrow the government viewed these as successes, but over all were failures, as they created more instability and tension on the Weimar republic to keep the majority of the German people happy.If the outset of political instability wasn’t enough in 1919, the treaty of Versailles and similar foreign affairs added to instability, and other struggles for the Weimar republic.The last major revolt between 1919-1929, and last major failure of the Weimar republic was the beer hall Putsch of 1923.This conveys an unfair justice system, which is a failure of the Weimar republic.This was an immanent success of the Weimar republic, and one that kept the ball rolling.

The Weimar Republic, formed primarily as a result of the movement that saw the end of Kaiser and his authoritarian regime, succeeded the Second Reich.Thus we see that there were various aspects at which one might look at while judging the continuity the Weimar Republic could have had after the events of 1918-19.By the time Germany was on the verge of defeat, the Second Reich was thrown out of office and was replaced by the Weimar Republic.He clearly blames the SPD and Ebert and thus, the Weimar Republic for the defeat and uses the phrase-‘The German army has been stabbed in the back.Adolf Hitler did manage to cleverly manipulate these issues when he toppled Weimar and we must say that he did use most of the issues of 1918-19 in his criti...

Weimar Culture and Challenges to Tradition The personal freedoms often associated with Weimar culture – whether seen as an inevitable, pendulum-like reaction after decades of Wilhelmine authoritarianism, or as a flowering of postwar expression – led to a period of unparalleled vibrancy in literature, the arts, architecture, and philosophy.The Weimar government, at various times, faced food shortages, hyperinflation, massive unemployment, and an unprecedented economic depression, and any analysis of the failures of democracy in Weimar Germany needs to take into account these inherently disruptive economic phenomena.Those who emphasize the cultural decadence of Weimar Germany, of course, run the risk of sounding prudish, or even worse, as ...

How far do you agree that the new Weimar Republic was seriously threatened by political extremists in the years 1919-24?In conclusion, although the Weimar Republic did indeed experience many threats from political extremists, with some seemingly serious threats against it which showed the many flaws in the system such as the power of the elites and the army’s standing in the new regime, yet none of the attempts had enough public support backing them to have a serious impact.With the new Weimar Republic these elites were supposed to lose their power and control due to the democratic regime, however this did not actually happen.Between the years 1919 and 1924 the Weimar Republic experienced many threats against its new democratic regime, h...

"The state of emergency in the Weimar Republic; Legal disputes over Article 48 of the Weimar."The Weimar Republic.Tijdschrift voor Rechtsgeschiedenis, 2010: 136-158. .Some of the reasons that doomed the Weimar Republic was the defeat of WWI, the economic hardships caused by the Versailles Treaty, and the notorious Article 48 in the Weimar Constitution."The End of the Weimar Republic."

One major effect that affected the way in which people remember the Weimar republic was the Treaty of Versailles.This was a right wing coup which tried to overthrow the Weimar Republic.They felt they were stabbed in the back by the new government of the Weimar republic for signing the treaty.Was the Weimar republic was doomed from the outset?The main problem for the Weimar republic was the crisis of hyperinflation, where prices were increasing out of all control.

In conclusion I think that though the Weimar republic did have its strengths and its key successes such as universal suffrage, increased rights, protection for germans, and the resolving of hyperinflation, it too had many flaws and weaknesses.The Weimar republic was a highly democratic government which ran Germany after the Kaiser abdicated in 1918.Despite the chaotic temperament of the Weimar system of government the German people still went out in droves to the polling stations to cast their votes each re-election, in fact the lowest turnout between 1919 and 1924 was 79% which, when considering the number of elections there were and the impatience the German people must have felt, is more evidence to the fact that the majority of germa...

The Weimar Republic for example would still have been a good target for his campaign.Nevertheless, many other aspects could have been exploited in the same way to their advantage, such as the weakness of the elite and the Weimar Republic.The Weimar Republic was set up after the war and the overthrow of the German Kaiser.Before this event, Germany was in a period of comparative stability and the Weimar Republic was not completely failing.For example if the Weimar Republic had not been collapsing, then the elite would not have turned to Hitler for help with the economic situation.

Weimar mark fell to the 10 per cent of the old value during 6 years.President Ebert declared general strike, but non-working workers had to be paid, so Ebert had to print out more money, which caused big inflation.Paying of reparations made Weimar budget almost empty, so government decided to stop paying them, but this was mistake, because it caused that in 1923 (Jan.) the French army started to occupy Ruhr.Weimar republic had to face also political chaos, which caused many left, but also right-wing revolts and assassinations.Three main reasons why Weimar republic became unstable were, that the economic situation was more than wrong, then that constitution had many mistakes and finally that the political situation caused many revolts, wh...

Voter disillusionment with middle class parties was also a contributing factor to the fall of Weimar.The Nazis glorified the ‘stab-in-the-back’ myth and gave blame for all Germany’s wrongs to Weimar and ‘World Jewry’.Voter disillusionment with the moderate parties can thus be seen to be a factor in the fall of Weimar and the rise of Hitler.Therefore it can be said that economic crisis’s played an important part in the fall of Weimar and the rise of Hitler.Had any of these events occurred separately there is a chance that the Weimar Republic could have survived them however the accumulative effect of them all occurring simultaneously was certainly the reason that Weimar fell and Hitler came to power.

So in 1923, Stresseman had to admit that they were wrong for setting up this policy, and withdrew it.At the same time, the Weimar Republic was facing another crisis the Munich Putsch.And by doing this they agreed to continue paying the reparations with huge loans from the Dawes plan, again this angered the German public as it meant that they were submitting to the Allies, and this greatly reduced the respect for the Weimar Republic.It was also a very difficult time for the republic, because it also had to admit to the public that it was wrong.This became very difficult for the Weimar Republic because they felt they had to deal with these crises correctly, as otherwise the German public would begin to doubt the government even more than i...

The Weimar Republic produced probably the most advanced welfare state in the western world.The Weimar Republic in this period had the most explicit statement of civil rights ever produced in a constitutional document.The prosperous years between 1924 and 1929 are usually considered to have been the most affluent and stable in the history of the Weimar Republic.The debate on trash and filth, coming as it did in the mid- 1920s, when the distinctively new cosmopolitan, commercialist character of Weimar culture was becoming increasingly apparent, provided telling evidence of the extent to which culture remained a burning political issue.Almost half a million people sang in workers’ choral societies in the Weimar Republic.

The details of the Weimar Constitution created issues of its own accord towards the stability of the Republic.With the ending of the First World War, Germany entered a grand new era in its history, one that showed promise and change for the good, however, immediately from its outset, the Weimar Republic encountered serious difficulties both externally and within.In this essay, I will asses how surprising it is that the Weimar Republic did not fall into ruin between the years 1919-1924 by considering the effects of the war and the weakness of the Weimar Constitution upon the Republic as well as the economic problems faced and the threats from both sides of the political spectrum.The moderate left however were the complete opposite and sou...

As a result of these attacks, there were deaths and severe injuries which were in the hands of the Weimar Republic, all because groups from the left wing and groups from the right wing didn’t agree with the way the government was running Germany.Another mishap from the Weimar Republic was the fail to pay back the reparations bill from the Treaty of Versailles.The Dawes Plan of 1924 was formulated to take Weimar Germany out of hyperinflation and return Weimar’s economy to some form of stability.The fact that all of these attacks failed, shows that Weimar governments were yet again successful, when it came to dealing with their problems.The main points of the Dawes Plan were simple in their effort to re-float Weimar Germany’s economy.

However, ultimately, each of these successes was met by a comparative weakness not just in foreign policy, but in all aspects of the Weimar Republic during these years.Finally, the Weimar Republic also went through a period of so-called ‘political calm’.Despite this, the fact that there was social progress between these years 1924-29 lends support to the argument that it was not just in foreign policy that the Weimar Republic had any successes.The cultural developments therefore did little to stabilise the Weimar republic as neither culture showed particular support for Germany.Following the unstable years of 1918- 23, the Weimar Republic enjoyed five years of supposed prosperity.

German tradition had influenced the view of the German people during the time in which the Weimar Republic was in power.The nationalism felt by the German people during the period in which the Weimar Republic was in power, allowed the Nazis and Adolf Hitler to come to power in Germany.Hitler embodied nationalistic views and with his involvement in the Munich Putsch and his idea of Volksgemeinschaft, influenced the German people, and in due course allowed the Nazis to come to power in Germany, hence terminating the Weimar Republic.Nationalism was an important and integral factor in the downfall of the Weimar Republic and in turn, the ensuing failure of democracy in Germany in the period 1918-1934.That figure was represented by the Nazi pa...

In his enchanting speeches, Hitler offered the Germans what they needed most, encouragement.This helped Hitler to gain support as Germans had begun to hate the Weimar Republic.The first five years of the Weimar Republic were full of difficulties.An image had been created of a powerful party with strong leadership.Through the use of political exploitation, extraordinary use of propaganda, Hitler’s oratorical skills and immense charisma, and the Weimar Republic’s own created faults, Hitler and his Nazi party were able to seize power in a country shattered by failure of democracy, and a huge national crisis.

The Federal Republic demonstrated clear changes from Weimar, but also contained elements of continuity from the past both in its constitution and party system (Roberts, 2000).The ‘German Model’ further developed the state after 1945, in contrast to poorly-developed welfare state of Weimar (Schmidt, 1992).It is argued that the country’s first attempt at democracy failed due to a “specific set of circumstances facing interwar Germany, coupled with defects in the Weimar constitution […]” (Conradt, 2009, p.7).“In the Bonn Republic power was diffused to institutions, not the general population, despite the frequent invocation of the phrase ‘Die Staatsgewalt geht vom Volke aus’, [the government authority emanates from the people] the famous Ar...

The threat this posed to the Weimar Republic was that it proved how easily susceptible Germanic society was to communist uprisings, but did continue to demonstrate a dominant government policy.The replacing government was led by Chancellor Gustav Bauer of the SPD and Erzberger of the Centre Party, and they mutually agreed, along with the rest of Weimar, that any more resistance to their opponents was self-derogatory for the whole constitution.Such accusations gave the anti-Republican right a false belief in the morality of their illegal actions, and provided a serious threat to the Weimar constitution.Although the economic crisis did not result in the collapse of the Republic, it shook the faith of many Germans.This sent the Weimar const...

Their views were easily made public, the general blame of Weimar for losing the war rising from these powerful individuals, ‘… let them eat the broth they have prepared for us.The most extreme of these came in the form of the Kapp Putsch, for the right and the Spartacist Uprising, for the left, in both casing entire German cities were captured and held only to flee and return power to Weimar, not when Weimar intervened but the opposing extremist party of Weimar’s behalf.This further proved to the German people Weimar incapability, not to mention drew support for the strong capability of the extremist parties.Adding to Weimar’s threatened state was the constant presence of extremist parties, made possibly by the lack of public support for...

In conclusion, the Weimar Republic was not a very good democracy as it was not in control of their people and had many uprisings against it.He had the support of the Freikorps, the Berlin Police, and some of the Army.The Weimar Republic was formed in the town of Weimar in February 1919 when a new German National Assembly was formed after the war.This was very unpopular with the German people, who had always been told that Germany was winning, and so could not believe that this was accepted, as there were no Allied soldiers on German soil.He aimed to make Germany stronger, and to take back the land given to Poland in the Treaty of Versailles.

Weimar governments between 1924 and 1929, each one a short lived .groups who wanted a more strict system.1925, presidency was important in the Republic, given its power to .gave support to the Republic, as the economic situation stabilised in .for Weimar democracy.

As Weimar leaders were forced to call upon the army to sustain the Republic against attack, as a result government were forced to introduce policies with which the army approved.Famously acknowledged as a “republic born with a hole in its heart” the overturn of the Hohenzollern monarchy in replacement for the Republic, was fraught with difficulties from its onset, including the failure of the conservative elites to support democracy, the perceived injustice of the Treaty of Versailles, economic and political instability, and the rise to power of the Nazis.Subsequently, German reluctance to accept defeat and thus the Treaty of Versailles, forever tarnished the nation story of the new Weimar Republic, and henceforth become a primary agent ...