The Weimar Republic Period: The German Communist Party

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.

The Treaty of Versailles could be described as a great step for peace by some, but in Germany the people were enraged. The Treaty of Versailles was seen by the German people as a way to take away Germany’s land and make Germany have to pay for the war. Extreme Nationalists like Adolf Hitler had a strong idea on who should be the blame for Germany’s loss of land and the failure at the Treaty of Versailles. Adolf Hitler and the Nazism party blamed the Weimar Republic. “Hitler and the Nazi Party gained power in Germany by exploiting the economic problems and constitutional weaknesses of the Weimar Republic.”

For now, I’m going to leave the Reichstag wrapped up, and move onto Libeskind’s Jewish museum. Over history it could be argued that the Jews have been the most persecuted religion. This is of course true in Germany. In German history the Jews have being accused of poisoning wells and causing the black death, despite the Jews suffering equally from the disease! The Jews were also accused for the loss of the First World War, despite the Jews having the largest proportional of any religious group to fight in the war. The German military high command even produced a censes to show how the Jews didn’t pull their weight, however the findings showed quite the opposite, so of course it was not published. Things however started to look up for the Jews under the Weimar republic. During the Weimar Republic, many Jews played influential roles in the government, and in stabilising Germany’s economy following the war. However, after the markets crashed, once again the German’s wanted someone to blame, and once again the Jews fell victim of persecution. With the rise of Hitler things only got worse. Hitler’s anti sematic death camps eradicated most of Europe’s Jewish population. After World War II, “only 8000 Jews remained in Berlin” (Gilman, L. 2007). Over the cold war period, the Jewish community was relatively stagnant in growth.

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

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.

Weimar Republic came from the German Revolution in 1918 to replace the German empire. The Weimar Republic existed between 1919 - 1933 and was faced with numerous crisis that led to its collapsed. Several factors accounted for the collapse of the Weimar Republic when Hitler captured power on January 30, 1933.

In 1932, Germany was in turmoil. Mass inflation had caused the prices of all commodities to rise, while the German people lived paycheck to paycheck. This type of socio-economic climate is notorious for breeding radical political ideologies. Ever since Germany lost the Great War (now called World War I) in 1918, the Germans had been required to pay reparations to the countries they had fought. While the US and UK prospered during the 1920s, Germany suffered. In order to pay off its debts, Germany raised taxes on the people and this caused businesses to increase their prices without raising employee salaries. The stock market crash of 1929 only made the situation worse for Germany, as the US and Britain stopped paying loans to Germany. All

Living in Germany during the Weimar Republic and then having to deal with the uprising of power of Hitler, was an experience that changed many lives of everyday German citizens. Thomas Kohut’s book, A German Generation, analyzes a group of interviewees that grew up and lived during this time period. After World War I, Germany was in a state of heartbreak, but for many of the children going through the war, they recall it as, “not as a time of anxiety and hardship but as an idyllic period in their lives” (Kohut 39). However, the Weimar Republic was certainly a time of disorder and chaos for Germany. The older groups recall memories they have of the defeat they faced and the revolution in Germany as, “vivid and

The Nazi party members were mainly young and came from the industrial working class. At this time, people in Germany had suffered from the global depression after the U.S. stock market crushed, from the Spanish Civil War and now they were suffering due to the World War II. Hitler’s fallowers were looking forward to being in war, “many thought of war as exciting, like the games they played as children during World War I. The desire of being in war that Hitler’s fallowers had, made it easier for the Nazi party to take over and proceed with their idea of building

It all started when the rise of the Nazi Party came. Under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, and founded in 1919, the National Socialist German Workers Party, or Nazi Party, grew into much more than a meeting on the streets. It grew into a mass movement. The movement itself was Anti-Semitism and had much turmoil with the Treaty of Versailles. It had helped put an end to the first World War. Once Hitler was given power over Germany, he swiftly persuaded the people against the Treaty. In 1929, Germany was in a state of economic depression, and unemployment. Once Nazi power hit, it swore in more of the party, leading them to get 230 out of the 608 seats, located in Reichstag. January 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor and quickly banned

The Wall Street crash of 1929 can be seen as a major tipping point within Weimar, providing a lifeline to the bankrupt Nazis of 1928. Weimar had enjoyed years of recovery and a somewhat satisfied public. The Dawes plan (1924) and young plan (1929) had been crucial in the rebuilding of a state on the verge of collapsing. During the ‘Golden years’ NSDAP support was minimal and SPD support was high, in particularly 1928 were unemployment was at a low of 650,000. This suggests the German public were satisfied with Weimar and were not interested in radicals. The 1930 Reichstag election saw the Nazis gain 143 seats, showing a significant improvement, KPD support also grew. By September of 1931 unemployment had risen to 4,350,000 as did support for the Nazis, gaining 230 seats in July 1932 election.  A senior Nazi official, Gregor Strasser, claimed that what was a disaster for Weimar was "good, very good for us."3

With so much political instability After WWI, Germany became a hub for political parties none was strong enough to take control and help the country There were three dominant groups. Communists, Social Democrats, and National Socialists (Nazi’s). The Communists government was run by a body of workers Industries owned by the government, Military Reduced Workers protected Supporters: factory and agricultural workers, some teachers and professors, pacifists. Social Democrats (Liberals) Government should be run by elected officials of all parties A few key industries should be run by the government Some terms of Versailles should be have been honored Rights for workers Freedom of religion and press Supporters: some workers and professionals,

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.

Unemployment was widespread and a whole generation of young Germans was left hopeless and without direction. For many Germans during these terrible times, mere survival was a challenge. This wretched condition is apparent in Heinrich Hauser’s description of Germany’s unemployed who lined the highways, homeless and destitute, with no place to go. As he describes it, “unskilled young people, for the most part… had been unable to find a place for themselves in any city or town in Germany, and… had never had a job and never expected to have one.” Germany had been forced to her knees.