The Main Threat to the Stability of the Weimar Republic in the Period 1919-1923 Came from the Political Violence of the Extreme Right

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.

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

1) Germany before the Fuhrer. Germany’s defeat at the end of World War I left the nation socially, politically, and economically shattered. The reparation agreements inflicted upon Germany without its’ consent at the end of the war meant that the nation was in complete financial ruin. In the wake of Germany’s defeat, public decent climaxed on the 9th November 1918 during the revolution that took place on Berlin’s Postdamer Platz. This revolution transpired as a result of the public’s culminating discontent towards the imperial monarchy, and lasted up until August 1919, which saw the establishment of the Weimar Republic. In attempts to guide Germany out of economic

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

1925-1929 as the Time of Economic and Political Stability in the Weimar Republic The years 1925-1929 were described as the Golden Years for Germany. There were no attempts to over throw the government like the Sparticist uprising or the Kapp Putsch, therefore undoubtedly it was the best years compared to the problems before and after the Golden Years. The way the golden years were perceived would indicate to what extent were the years 1925 to1929 a time of economic and political stability for the Weimar Republic. There were developments in Germanyduring the Golden Years in the following essay we will learn where the developments took place and whether they disadvantaged Germany or helped her

The system of proportional representation was intended by the Weimar Republic to avoid the wasting of votes and to reduce political conflicts, causing many parties to gaining seats in the Reichstag. The quantity of political parties was multiplied and coalitions were made necessary. This resulted in unstable government and, consequently, frequent changes of government as each party had different aims. This was reflected in 376 political assassinations up to 1923. Similarly, despite being from the democratic left, during the early 1920s Friedrich Ebert relied heavily on the traditionally right-wing army and Freikorps in order to keep control of the country. Conservative attitudes tended to overemphasise the threat from the left, whilst the threat from the right was severely under estimated. The rise of a multitude of small trivial parties, many of which represented the extreme ends of the political

This is evident as on February 1st 1933 Hitler (through mediums such as the radio) broadcasted his “Appeal to the German People” and the SA began to attack the enemies of National Socialism. As a result of this terror and encouraging the use of violence, twenty one days later the police were reinforced with the SA. This was significantly important in the Nazi consolidation of power as it removed threats and made people support the Nazis and Hitler even if the support was drawn out of fear of them being targetted through means of violence and terror, thus increasing support for them. Hitler stressed the issue of the Communist threat which was more important as it meant that more people would oppose them and even go as far as supporting Hitler to effectively legalise violence which their voters believed was needed in order for them to consolidate power and put a stop to the supposed threat. An example of this is that the Reichstag Fire allowed the police to legally arrest suspects without reference to the courts. Another way that the Nazis consolidated their power through violence was at the appointment of 50,000 SA, SS and Stahlhelm members on 22nd February 1933 to create a wave of violence against communists and SPD supporters. There was a failure on the left which weakened the importance of the terror in violence in consolidating power. This is because, the communists and the SPD didn’t believe that the Nazi

Third, the false Golden Age of economic prosperity created by the Dawes (1924) and Young (1929) Plans and resulting loans from the US Government the during the 1920s had come to a close as the Great Depression hit, and unemployment rose to over 6 million in Germany. Yet, the Weimar Government has survived the hyperinflation of the early 1920s, and therefore it is easy to over-estimate to impact of the Great Depression on the failure of democracy. The economic situation did help to draw more voters towards the fringe parties, and create an atmosphere more willing to foster extremist views as the Weimar Government was seen as weak and unable to cope with Germany’s problems. Thus, the first major factor attributing to the downfall of democracy in Germany was the preceding failure of the Weimar Government politically, structurally, and economically to take a firm hold over Germany.

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.

There were various factors that contributed to the failure of the Weimar Republic of Germany and the ascent of Hitler’s National Socialist German Workers Party into power on January 30, 1933. Various conflicting problems were concurrent with the eventuation of the Republic that, from the outset, its first governing body the socialist party (SPD) was forced to contend with.

The instability of the newly formed Weimar Republic resulted in a weak government prone to problems, Hitler took advantage of this weakness and introduced a secure alternative. 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

Unemployment was on the rise and personal income on the fall. The government’s budget was in the negatives and industrialists were insisting on lower taxes for employers and capital, while also insisting on higher taxes on the working class. It was this new tax that led to the dissolve of the coalition of the parties of the Weimar Republic. The Reichstag was dissolved soon after. The new head of the Weimar Republic enacted more taxes to push the working class further into poverty. The election in 1930 show the correlation between economic crisis and political radicalism. The right-wing parties, with their traditional voter base of Protestants and the middle class, no longer had sufficient support and their voters went to Hitler’s party, the National Socialists. This sudden rise of support for National socialism was the result of the radicalization of the middle class (Frey, Bruno S. Effect of the Great Depression, 410). The unemployed, and the employed who felt their jobs were not secure, in a last-ditch effort to save their social status, took to supporting radical parties. There was also a large number of first-time voters without party affiliations who were easy targets for the