Essay On The Fall Of Weimar

The period of 1919 to 1923 saw numerous factors threaten the stability of the Weimar Republic. The political violence from both the left and right wing parties, the weakness of the Weimar Constituion itself and the economic issues such as hyperinflation all posed as threats to the stability of the Republic. However, although the statement above claims that the political violence from the right was the main threat to the stability of the republic, the Treaty of Versailles resulted in the republic itself been built upon resentment and failure. In turn, this

First, the defeat of WWI was not just the beginning of the Weimar Republic but could be considered a catalyst to its downfall as well. During the later stages of WWI

Due to the failure of the Weimar Republic and general public dissatisfaction arising from poor economic conditions exacerbated by the Treaty of Versailles, coupled with the 1929 Wall Street Crash, German citizens were understandably desperate for change. Until this point in time the Nazi party, and Hitler, had been essentially unpopular. However, the economic situation ensured Hitler’s increasing popularity as the people looked toward more extreme but non-communist ideals. The initial consolidation of Nazi power in 1933 arose from key events such as the support of the Nationalist Party with the Nazis to form a coalition government, implementation of the Enabling

Thus, a series of parties against the Weimar gained power, although through coalition, reducing the power of the already fragile Republic. Here we can see the system of parliamentary democracy was a factor in the collapse of the Weimar. The series of economic crisis’ which affected post World War One Germany assisted in both the fall of the Weimar and the rise of Hitler. The Treaty of Versailles left the country with extremely large debts and when Germany did not keep up with payments, the French responded by invading the Ruhr, an industrial region in Germany, resulting in a general strike and ruining the middle class who would eventually make up the foundation of Nazi supporters.

This was the longest and most severe slump ever to hit the industrialized world, which lasted through most of the 1930s. The Great Depression caused mass unemployment, wide spread poverty and despair. The German economy was especially vulnerable since it was built out of foreign capital, owing mostly to debts to the United States and was very dependent on foreign trade. Adolf Hitler knew his opportunity had arrived to strengthen extreme political movements that promised to end the economic problems.

During the hardship of the 1920s and1930s, political incompetence was highlighted, the Weimar Government proved its incompetence time and time again. .The instability of the Weimar Republic was so great that the average life-span of Reich cabinets was from 6-7 months. Their incapability of providing justice to outbreaks of violence, such as political assassinations is one example of the incompetence of the Weimar Republic. When Germany found its self in undesirable economical situations due to the Treaty of Versalles, they printed money to pay off reparations, which resulted in super-inflation. During the period of super-inflation people’s life savings became worthless which contributed to the downward circle of a reduction in standard of living. As unemployment rose and people began to afford less and less with their money, people commenced searching for a better alternative to the Weimar Government. Hitler’s ability to build upon these feelings whilst offering security, prosperity and full employment, convinced Germany, in a state of disillusionment, to support the nazi party. The Weimar’s instability contributed to the collapse of the Weimar republic provided perfect conditions for the nazi party to rise to power.

In the lead up to the depression the Nazis had 12 seats and just two years later in the peak of the economic crisis the Nazis had 107 seats. This reflects the dissatisfaction that was shown in the present government and the fact that Hitler was the only person who promised the solutions that they people wanted. Many historians have stated that if Stressman had not died in 1929 then Germany may have recovered to its former strength and Hitler may never had the chance at gaining power. From 1930 onwards the country is being ruled by presidential decree through the use of Article 48, so therefore no party could gain a majority for the German economy to get back on its feet. Hitler took advantage of these times of hardship and promised these desperate people what they wanted, employment and a way out of these poverty times. Hitler was the only option left, and is desperate time people look for desperate politics to solve these problems. Weimar

The collapsement of the Weimar Republic was due to many social, political and economical issues within. From its birth it faced numerous political problems, for which the causes were many and varied. These problems included political instability, deep divisions within society and economic crisis; problems were constantly appearing for the new government. The Weimar Republic never really had a stable political party, having a whole six different parties between 1924-1928 does not create stability. Many of these parties were also narrowly sectioned, with messed up

The Failure of Democracy in Germany in the Period 1928 to 1934 Those in power in Weimar Germany so consistently mishandled the political and economic situation leading up to the period 1928-1934, that a well-structured challenge from the Nazi Party brought about the fall of democracy. This Nazi Party was stronger ideologically, structurally within the party and politically, with Hitler as Fuhrer a major factor himself. In addition, factions within Germany for whom a right-wing political system was more beneficial, such as the army and big business, aided the eventual change in governance. Thus a series of events occurred which can be summarised by these three main factors: failure of the Weimar

After the abdication of the German Kaiser, Kaiser Wilhelm II, in 1918, Germany attempted to turn their country into a Democratic republic. The Weimar Republic was a parliamentary democracy that was formed after the fall of Germany in WWI. The German people believed that the Weimar Republic was responsible for the signing of the ‘Treaty of Versailles’, which significantly reduced the power of German to defend themselves and rebuild their county at World War I, the people believed that the Weimar Republic stabbed the country in the back after the signing of ‘Treaty of Versailles’. Some of the other major weaknesses that assisted in the growth and rise of the Nazi party were:

Since the Weimar Republic was established in the aftermath of World War One, it was almost inevitable that it would be blamed for Germanys surrender and the Treaty of Versailles. The supposed surrender was even harder to accept since in 1918 Germany had signed an armistice with Russia. Weimar was in essence ‘brought about by defeat’ . The ‘November Criminals’ who signed the armistice were always associated with Weimar, thus making it difficult for Weimar to be associated with anything but defeat and humiliation. The war guilt clause was also difficult to accept because it lay all the blame on Germany for starting the First World War. This along with reparations were crippling not only the economy but German society itself

The Weimar Republic also known as the German Reich was the unofficial designation of Germany state between 1919-1933 and was the first democratic parliamentary republic of Germany -1- . The name ‘Weimar Republic’ originates from the state of Weimar where the constitution of the republic was written on august 11, 1919 -2- . During the time period of the Weimar Republic, Germany faced many economic and political issues, including the Treaty of Versailles signed on 28 June 1919, the hyperinflation of currency of 1923 and above all the Wall street crash of 1929. The question for this investigation is to what extent was the wall street crash of 1929 the leading cause of the collapse of the Weimar Republic?

The collapse of the Weimar Republic can not be seen as solely indebted to the severe economic problems faced during the period of its rule, but consequently it was the economic issues that became a footstep to the ultimate demise of the Republic. Subsequent to Germany’s defeat in the First World War and German Emperor Kaiser’s abdication from power, the Weimar Republic was proclaimed. The Republic that had emerged from the German Revolution of November 1918 would inevitably fall as a result of numerous issues. However, the extent of which economic problems had in the dissolution of the republic, and how these issues caused or came about due to separate concerns faced by the new democratic system became a major contributing factor.

These included the aspect of German imperialism, the unresolved defeat of 1918, financial collapse and the forced struggle against the activities of the National party as well as inflation. Other factors which influenced the failure of Weimar were the structural weaknesses induced by the constitution and the basic lack of support for the Republic

The Weimar republic from 1919 to 1929 had many successes and failures, starting in chaos and ending in relative stability. However, due to individual perspective these successes and failures were often viewed as both successes and failures- not either. Class, political leanings and other moralistic beliefs, primarily influenced the individual's perspectives. Overall, due to the relative stability, (the aim of any government) primarily achieved by Streseman's influence, the successes outweighed the failures by 1929.