Political System of Germany

The Weimar Republic would have continued to be a functional government far longer than achieved if not for the defeat of WWI, the economic burdens imposed by the Versailles Treaty, and the flawed Article 48 which all contributed to the down fall of Germany’s first attempt at a legitimate Democracy. This paper will argue that the societal, economical, and constitutional aspects all played a role in the hopeless Democracy Germany attempted which ultimately lead Germany into a totalitarian state that would further shake the world with the rise of the NSDAP and Adolf Hitler.

Each state has their own specific unique laws established individually for their state. In conjunction with those laws that exist over the people in their specific state there are also federal laws that govern the states as well as the people who live in them. These laws that govern the people are known as state laws and federal laws. The U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land in the United States. “It creates a federal system of government in which power is shared between the federal government and the state governments. Due to federalism, both the federal government and each of the state governments have their own court systems (Comparing

In addition to the damaging consequences of the First World War with the requirements of the Treaty of Versailles, certain features of Germany caused the state to be susceptible to the influence of this dangerous ideology. Along with the damage to the national ego as a result of the First World War, Germany had co-existing and conflicting highly modern strands of development forced to integrate with powerful remnants of archaic values and social structures, and had a deeply fractured parliamentary political system, and the weaknesses of this system reflected the social and political differences within the population. This shame and failure after World War I was superimposed onto a modern country which once had an advanced economy, a sophisticated state

Germany became a unified country in 1871 under the leadership of Otto Von Bismarck. The separate states up until this time were independent, Prussia being the strongest and most influential, followed by Austria. There are several contributing factors to the unification of Germany, the most influential of which being the leadership of Otto Von Bismarck. The three wars that Prussia fought with Denmark, Austria and France also played significant roles in the unification of the German states. Another factor to consider is the increase in support of nationalism around Western Europe at the time, and the changes in German society. Through an evaluation of these factors and relevant sources one can

Germany was a parliamentary democracy based on the constitution that Germany was run by. The Bundesrat being part of the constitution consisted of 58 members who were elected by the state assemblies, the Bundesrat had the power in theory to the law making process and by this having this possibly the right to alter the constitution. The Bundesrat had the power to veto legislation

“Constitutional Law of the Greater German Reich” is a primary document dating back to 1939. The source was authored by Ernst Rudolf Huber, a legal scholar well-known for his role in shaping Nazi law. The purpose of this document was to convey to the citizens of Germany, that the power of the Fuhrer state has the capability to extend across all bounds as it acts only in accordance to the people. Therefore, separating it from a parliamentary democracy, which merely advertises the will of the people while only focusing on conflicting social interests. The source holds value as it indicates Huber’s role in the Nazi regime. Through demonstrating how he uses his prior knowledge of administrative law to draw positive attention towards the principles

In November of 1923, Hitler tried to take advantage of the crisis facing the Weimar government by establishing a revolution in Munich, Germany. It seemed like the perfect opportunity, but poor planning and misjudgement resulted in failure and the low security imprisonment of Adolf Hitler. After Germany’s failure in World War I, the Weimar Republic had been declared the new democratic government of Germany in February 1919. “The Weimar Republic was a genuine attempt to create a perfect democratic country [and] looked like the perfect democracy, but it had [several] weaknesses....”

Females of every age group, whether it was minimal or considerable, were treated differently during the Third Reich compared to during the Weimar Government. Throughout the Weimar Government, there had been movements to increase the rights of women. Under the constitution, women had complete equality with men. This incredible step was entirely erased once Hitler came to power. In Hitler’s mind, the natural role for women was domestic, they were best equipped to look after the home, care for the husbands and raise children so that’s what they should do. Life under the Nazi’s control had many changes, most impacting for the worse for women however, despite this, the support for Hitler from women increased and remained strong.

In the period 1900-1914, Germany’s political landscape witnessed extraordinary changes in which typical features associated with a parliamentary democracy- such as significant and influential pressure group activity and universal suffrage- were present. It can however be argued that this period also represented a time in which the German Reichstag did not truly represent the population due to old and corrupt voting system for Prussia which saw votes unfairly given and the role of all the chancellors- in particular Von Bulow- during this time, which saw unelected officials yielding greater influence than that of the Reichstag. Germany was a parliamentary

The Third Reich was a period of time from 1933-1945 where all of Germany and some of Europe were ruled by the Nazis. The Third Reich developed from an idea in the brain of leader Adolf Hitler, to a world power that no one thought could be stopped. The Reich was originally just a small group of people that wanted change in Germany. Eventually though, the Reich developed into the main power of Germany and most of Europe. This new government felt that Germany needed to expand its power. They did this by invading Poland in 1939. However, in doing so, they started a major war that would eventually lead to their defeat. The Third Reich was a devastating period of time in Germany, Europe, and the rest of the world. The ideas

One of the major debates regarded the treatment of these criminals. Many believed that these prisoners were not all equal, and that more effort should be done to help reestablish them into society. As we mentioned early, public opinion was beginning to lean towards these criminals as victims of society. The sate of the prison environment is highlighted in Nikolaus Wachsmann’s essay Between Reform and Repression: Imprisonment in Weimar Germany, where he says, “The German prison system emerged from the First World War in a dire state. Inmate mortality in the I,700 or so penal institutions had increased in the last years of the war and many prisoners were ravaged by disease.” Wachsmann also notes that many of these prisons were filling up with left-wing radicals. Perhaps this helped begin the reform process during this

On May 7th 1945, the world let out a sigh of relief as news of the unconditional surrender of the German army spread. After years of war and destruction, it was time to rebuild and rethink Germany. Immediately after the war the French, British, Russians and Americans were not sure how to break up or treat Germany. Each had their own ideas on how best to treat a post war Germany and how to rebuild it. The Allied powers end up splitting Germany into two sections, the east held by the Soviets and the West controlled by the Western powers. Nobody inside or outside of Germany wanted the atrocities of World War II to happen again so deep seeded pacifism and ideals were seared into German culture. Between the destruction of World War II, the division of post war rebuilding efforts and isolation of different factions holding Germany, the German Bundeswehr has fallen into dangerous disarray. They face extreme underfunding, and a lack of support from the common people. Dr. Ursula von der Leyen, the Federal Minister of Defense, is doing all she can to change that. With the drafting and implement of the German White Paper of 2016, she has outlined a path to revive the slowly dwindling effectiveness of the Bundeswehr.

The establishment of the new constitution drawn up on the 11th of August 1919 caused many internal issues within the democratic system as a result of continual economic disaster. Germany was to be a Federal State, with a parliament to be elected every four years following a system of proportional representation. This system faltered due to the amount of political parties (during the rule of the Weimar Republic, there were 21 separate coalitions) and a lack of political census. Economic conditions lead to a polarisation of extremists left and right support. In times of instability it was noted that poor standards of living meant the lower class leaned towards the left wing, while the higher class leaned towards the right due to lack of national pride. The extent of economic issues in Germany caused the middle class and aristocrats to consider political extremities. Consequently this caused huge political divisions in German society, which denied the republic of any political census, resulting in a large amounts of political parties and changes to government. This made it very difficult to establish stability in the republic, or even get laws passed, weakening the effect of the democratic system. The political chaos economic conditions brought about caused many Germans to lose faith in the new democratic system during its initial period of rule.

As it began, our century drew to a close, with Germany once again the economic powerhouse and political hub of Europe. What is remarkable is how quickly this happened, how unbidden and unanticipated: the toppling of the Berlin Wall in November 1989; the reunification a year later; the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War in late December 1991; a resurgent impetus to West European integration in 1992; and NATO enlargement, which was consecrated in April 1999. Unquestionably, this chain of events has profoundly affected Germany’s situation over the past decades. For the first time since the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in 1949 and the painstaking process of

The reasons for the rise of the Nazi Dictatorship of the 1930’s and 40’s have been a topic much debated upon by historians for decades. Arguably the most prominent theory is the idea of a “Sonderweg” or special path taken by Germany that “deviates from the normal path to modernity… the British way, the first and therefore classical model.” There is ample evidence of a “Sonderweg” throughout Wilhelmine/Bismarckian Germany, from the lack of a real democracy in 1871 to attempts to repress threats through policies such as Kulturkampf and the anti-Socialist laws. There is also evidence in Weimar Germany, such as the structural weaknesses of the constitution, for example proportional representation and Article 48. There is, however, evidence