I Want To Blame The Weimar Government Essay

The Great Depression was not the primary reason for the collapse of the Weimar Republic, as it could have survived if they were able to make logical decisions. When the diktat of the Treaty of Versailles was signed by the ‘November Criminals’ in 1919, the government was making the most adverse decision in Germany’s history, and consequently it activated the collapse of the Weimar Republic. With Germany being a nationalistic country, a vast majority of the public felt betrayed by the government, as they lost many privileges, in addition to the demilitarization of the Rhineland, war guilt, and the Reichswehr being cut down to 100,000 men (Mtholyoke, n.d). This began the slowly growing hatred that the public had

A significant cause of the fall of the Weimar Republic was the political instability and weakness of the government. The negative response to the government started from its very inception in 1919 when the monarchy of Kaiser Wilhelm II was replaced with a democratic Republic. Many Germans did not welcome this change to democracy and did not like the new parliamentary government, preferring to have one strong leader rather than an elected President, Chancellor and Reichstag. The government was also associated with the surrender of the Allies in World War 1 and was criticized for accepting the terms of the Treaty of Versailles which was one of the most important treaties which to end the war in peace. This was an action that many Germans believed to be unfaithful. The Treaty of Versailles was harsh on Germany, and politicians were termed to the ‘November criminals’ for their actions. After World War 1 the ‘stab in the back’ myth plagued the Republic throughout its existence. Many Germans had not forgotten or forgiven the November Criminals and wanted the Treaty overturned. This is where the extremist parties waited for an opportunity to attack the Weimar Government. The weak Constitution was also a weakness within the government, Proportional Representation. This meant that it was hard for ant political party to ever have a majority in the Reichstag. The government had to be made up of different parties (coalition governments). The republic was usually governed by coalitions

The Jews were persecuted because Hitler felt that they were the reason why Germany was in such bad economic shape after World War I and they were also the reason why Germany lost World War I. Hitler made this known to the world and different nations agreed with him. But the Jews being the “scapegoat” began before Hitler became ruler of Germany. Jews have been the scapegoat for many centuries. At one point England had Jews banned from their country. The reason why nations blame Jews first is because they have been disliked for many years so it is easier for countries to blame them than to admit when their country is at fault. Jews have been known to be the “chosen ones” and to be economically stable (have money) so when the economy collapsed in Germany after World War I, Jews where immediately blamed.

Hitler misconception concerning the causes of Germanys collapse in WWI greatly influenced his evil decisions as warlord. His beliefs that Germany would not have been defeated had the war continued had no basis in reality. The German cause was lost. The ‘lessons’ he learned from WWI were all the wrong ones. What he always called the “stab in the back” was no such thing, which makes him a liar. When Germany surrendered, it was for the purely pragmatic reason of survival. Why allow your enemies to occupy and ravage your country? That would make little sense unless your desire is for your country to pay the price for failure, as Hitler was in the end. His little dictatorial feelings were hurt because Germany let him down so he allowed them to

The main reason for the ultimate destruction of the Weimar Republic was the War Guilt Clause within the Treaty of Versailles. After World War One, Germany was forced, due to their defeat, to accept the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Article 231 of the treaty states, “The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage.” This was a strategic clause implanted within the treaty by the Allied Powers, because it required Germany to pay 33 billion US dollars in war reparations to the United States, France, Great Britain and Belgium. As a government fresh from the drawing board, starting out with such a great debt makes you destined to fail. This debt

was in the summer an they had to pay £50,000. But in 1922 they had

The Weimar Republic and Germany’s response which followed it are both stages of Germany’s intricate history that cannot be understood on their own. Both periods of Germany’s history have a commonality in their being brought on by the rippling effects of the Treaty of Versailles. This treaty was imposed on the German Empire at the final stages of the first World War. In an irregular way, considering the weight of the treaty, the Treaty of Versailles was signed among a group of national leaders which lacked German representation; this non-German group of people, in a single day, wrongly castrated Germany.

According to a Teacher’s Guide to the Holocaust, In the First World War, Germany was one of the losing powers. Following the war, Germany was forced to pay heavy war reparation taxes, which plunged the state into a recession and caused enormous inflations in the economy (The Rise of the Nazi Party) According to the History Place, Adolf Hitler, the leader of a small political party called the National Socialist German Workers’ Party gained power in Germany

The most significant cause of the fall of the Weimar Government was the strength and organization of the Nazi Party, which meant Hitler was ready to replace the Weimar Government. Hitler was an influential speaker who varied his message to suit the listener. He promised to make Germany strong again, and restore German pride. He spoke against the Treaty of Versailles, blamed the Jews for Germany’s problems and wanted to unify Germany, considering all German speakers to be part of Germany. He promised order and stability and used the threat of communism to encourage Germans to vote for the Nazis.

Was the Weimar Republic doomed from the start? The Weimar Republic from its establishment in 1919 following through to its decline in the Great depression (excluding the Golden Era) had many flaws and failures politically that didn’t appease the general public nor parties that favoured them over groups that was extreme/unethical for Germany such as the Nazi party. A major part that sent Weimar to their doom was signing the Treaty of Versailles on the 28th July 1919, this seemed the ultimate betrayal from the Republic and angered Monarchists such as the Freikorps.

After Germany World War I ended in 1918, Germany suffered economically and socially. The Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to take the blame for the war, pay reparations, give up territory, and downsize their army. Up until the end of the war, German leaders had told German civilians that they were winning the war, which was far from the truth. After the loss, Germans had lost faith in their government. Tension and distrust between the people and the state increase, when hyperinflation began. Hyperinflation was a result of the German government printing more paper money not backed on gold in order to pay the reparations required by the Treaty of Versailles. Hyperinflation increased distrust in the government because Germans could not afford everyday item and they suspected that the German government was suffering economically, as well. As a result of the distrust, Germans began forming political parties aspiring to overthrow the government, such as the National Socialist German Worker’s Party, that later became known as the Nazi Party. Adolf Hitler joined the Nazi Party in 1920, and by 1921 Hitler became the leader of the party and he became increasingly popular. Because of his popularity, during the global Depression, Germany’s President Paul von Hindenburg, appointed Hitler as Chancellor. As Chancellor Hitler was able turn Germany's government into a dictatorship by manipulating events in order to eliminate his opponents and give himself more political power.

Hitler’s seizure of power at the beginning of 1933 and the rise of the Nazi Party that accompanied it is the very indirect and circumstantial result of the culmination of over a decade of interconnected events. This was lead most strongly, however, by the discontent and frustration of the burgeoning new German middle class. The Nazi Party’s scathing criticisms and emphasis of Weimar’s shortcomings and failures had “something to offer for everyone” one could say, and thus did something no other political party, radical or otherwise, could achieve at the beginning of the 1930’s: unite vastly diverse demographic groups under a single banner. It is of the utmost importance, though, to understand that while I say “culmination”, I do not mean that the NSDAP (Nazi Party) enjoyed a gradual, steady growth in popularity beginning in the 20’s and extending

The Weimar Republic failed as a result of many significant and underlying factors. The problems included politics, economics, and the popularity of the Nazis along with the effect of the Great Depression. However, besides all these faults that appeared after the establishment of Germany’s first Democracy, Weimar was handicapped from the beginning due to the effects of the First World War. Alongside the repercussions of the war, the Treaty of Versailles further lowered the chance of success for the Weimar Republic.

The Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic was set-up in January 1919. It seemed like a new

The Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic was created in Germany in 1918 as a result of widespread socialist unrest. A liberal constitution was drawn up in 1919. There was extensive instability in Germany around this time. The Weimar government had trouble pleasing right and left wing parties because, at this time, Germany was very polarised politically. Hitler dissolved the republic in 1933.