In November 1918 there began a ‘3’ in Germany. This started with a widespread protest movement which as fed by war weariness and the demanding of extensive reforms. On the 9th of November, Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated and a National Assembly was to be elected to draw up a democratic constitution.
Some protestors had wanted to replace the army with a revolutionary milita, nationalize industry and remove key public servants and judges from their positions if their loyalty remained with the old conservative order.However, the revolution would be restricted to modest reform of the political system and would not become as radical as some had wanted. Subsequently they demonstrated their discontent on a number of occasions. A problem with this was that if the Republic was to survive then there had to be drastic reforms to the old institutions but the Weimar Republic failed to do this. Between March and May 1920 a 50,000 Red Army operated in the Ruhr industrial region but it was repressed and nothing was achieved.
Members were executed by the Freikorps, with the backing of the regular army and the approval of the Social Democrats.Ebert, the first president of the German Republic, passed a decree which authorized these murders. The government was seen as largely ignoring the illegal actions by the right wing extremists but suppressing any perceived threat from left wing groups. The existence of military bands and private armies, particularly the Freikorps, was a danger to peaceful political development. The failure of the Weimar Republic to take firm action to suppress these bands permitted the electorate to be intimidated and contributed to the destruction of democracy.
This created a precedent which proved detrimental to the fortunes of the new republic.Elections for the National Assembly were held on the 19th January 1919 and those political parties which supported a program of moderate reform received a majority of the votes and formed the Weimar Coalition. By the end of July the Assembly had drawn up and ratified a new constitution. It meant that a Reichstag would be elected at least every 4 years, elections would be conducted on the basis of proportional representation, a President would be elected every 7 years and in times of emergency the President would be empowered to ‘rule by decree’ and to dismiss the Reichstag and arrange new elections.
Already there were some problems with the new constitution – the use of the system of proportional representation multiplied the number of political parties which resulted in unstable government and frequent changes in government. Also, the people who wrote the Weimar Constitution were not confident in democracy and that is why they included Article 48. The new constitution was very democratic and its success depended on the willingness of elected politicians to work in harmony. The constitution had one of the most successful social welfare systems in the world.The constitution sought to safeguard the fundamental rights of citizens, all citizens were entitled to free welfare and the unemployed were proved for by unemployment benefits. Alex de Jonge argued that democracy would have had more of a chance of surviving if the new government had been a Constitutional Monarchy instead of a Republic.
Versailles Peace Settlement The peace terms were far tougher than had been expected. The Chancellor, Gustov Bauer, only agreed to accept the peace treaty because he didn’t want to ‘assume the responsibility of a new war’.By the terms of the treaty Germany lost many of its inhabitants, lost some of its territory – Alsace-Lorraine went to France, Germany’s army and navy were restricted, conscription was abolished, Germany had to accept sole guilt for the outbreak of the war, they had to pay reparations and the Rhineland was demilitarised. This produced a sense of aggrieved nationalism amongst Germans, a sense of injustice and resentment, a determination not to cooperate with the treaty, and the desire to undo its provisions.
For many Germans, this translated into a hatred of democracy and a desire to return to the type of authoritarian rule which had appeared to ensure their nation’s rise to power. The Weimar Coalition never again won a majority of the vote which was a severe blow to the democratic government. The character of the Social Democratic Party was important as its leaders came into power un-expectantly, they had never expected to govern and as such they never had any definite policy to put into action and were reluctant to carry out reforms.Many of the politicians who had signed the peace treaty were targeted by the Freikorps. 1919 – 1929: Political, Economic and Social Issues 1920: The Kapp Putsch In March 1920, Wolfgang Kapp, supported by the Freikorps attempted a right-wing takeover in Berlin. The takeover failed but it showed that democracy had limited support in Germany and there were a number of consequences that further undermined the Weimar Republic: The Freikorps entered Berlin on the 13th March intending to install W.
Kapp at the head of a new right wing government. Workers called a general strike in Berlin which brought Kapp’s plan to an end. The Berlin strike was followed by a workers rising in the Ruhr region. The army and Freikorps, supported by the government, combined to bring order back to the Ruhr. By supporting the army and Freikorps against the Ruhr workers, the Social Democrats alienated a large section of their working class supporters.
This was a significant issue for the only party that was most committed to democracy.Political violence continued, with over 350 assassinations in the first 4 years of the Weimar Republic. 1923: French occupation of the Ruhr On December 26th 1922, the Reparations Commission announced that Germany had failed to deliver the agreed reparations. In response, French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr industrial region.
The German government directed its officials and the workforce in the Ruhr region to follow the policy of ‘passive resistance’ by stopping work and refusing to cooperate with the occupation force.Previously inflation had been on the rise in Germany due to the Reich governments’ expenditure, for exceeding its income. In the post war period the Weimar governments were faced with massive expenses. However, they chose not to increase taxation significantly out of fear that the nationalists would claim that they were doing this so that they could raise funds for the reparations payments.
Consequently, the German mark continued to slide. To cover its expenses the government simply printed more and more money.Finally, in September the German government decided to end its ‘passive resistance’ and resumed reparations payments in return for French withdrawal from the Ruhr. However, by then hyper inflation had taken hold. The hyperinflation affected the middle class in many ways: the middle class saw the value of their savings and government bonds wiped out, the retirees saw their pensions wiped out and only those with mortgages benefited.
Political repercussions included: those who suffered tended to blame the moderate democratic parties who were in power during the period of hyperinflation, when the great depression occurred a few years after hyperinflation many people of the middle classes began to follow right wing political extremism, also the financial and political turmoil of 1923 provided an opportunity for Hitler and the Nazi Party to attempt a takeover. The Weimar Republic was associated with a lack of discipline, anarchy and revolution, economic distress, international humiliation, instability and it represented a government which had allowed the disastrous period of hyperinflation in 1923.There was no deep adherence to parliamentary government. Particularly in times of crisis the German peoples expected the government to take strong decisive action and to take decisions out of their hands.
However, the Weimar Republic failed to do this. 1923: Hitler’s ‘Beer Hall’ Putsch Adolf Hitler attempted a violent seizure of power in Munich on the 8th/9th November 1923. His aim was to lead a march on Berlin to overthrow the Republic. The takeover failed when the army refused to side with Hitler and he was arrested and charged with treason.
Hitler was treated like a hero.Typically, judges would deal extremely leniently with right wing nationalist opponents of the Republic. Despite his act of treason which resulted in many deaths, he was only sentenced to 5 years imprisonment. But was released on parole on 20th December 1924. He emerged from prison as the hero of the nationalists.
This experience taught Hitler that when the opportunity came, their attempt to overthrow the Republic would have to be planned more thoroughly. A New Currency: The Rentenmark Economic Security was restored following the introduction, in November 1923, of a new currency called the Rentenmark.However, with the currency revolution came deflation, followed by shortages of basic commodities which, in turn, produced a crime wave as the poor resorted to stealing. Heavily armed gunmen wandered the countryside punishing gangs of thieves. All this did was bring the legitimacy of the Weimar Republic into question and fostered a desire amongst many people for a more authoritarian system.
Currency stabilization was also accompanied by government cost cutting. This contributed significantly to the unemployment rate which would remain quite high for the rest of the 1920’s.The Republican democratic experiment seemed alien to the German tradition and so it was never fully accepted. The old right wing was never loyal to the republic, even when the conditions were relatively good. AJP Taylor says that the national classes saw in the republic “only the symbol of defeat”.
1924-1928: The Golden Period The Dawes Plan of 1924 resulted in a reduction of reparation payments while at the same time making loans available from the USA. By the Locarno Treaty signed with France in October 1925, Germany accepted the borders which had been imposed upon them.Membership of the League of Nations in 1926 confirmed Germany’s acceptance back into the international community. In 1927 The Provisional Working Hours Law and the Unemployment Insurance Act were made. These laws/acts were not welcomed by the business leaders as they were not happy with the way that these favoured the workers.
Despite relative political stability, achievements in social relations and an improvement in Germany’s international relations; there was much evidence of continuing underlying problems and the frailty of democracy.German politicians were less concerned with promoting the national interest than providing party supporters with benefits. As a result, the nation continued to be divided along class and religion. Proof of the lack of stability is shown through the need to replace 6 governments between 1924 and 1928.
Unemployment remained quite high. Industry was undergoing a period of modernization with the introduction of improved technology, resulting in the need to employ fewer workers.The German Communist Party had a strong appeal to the unemployed peoples and declared that they would aim to overthrow the Republic and to replace it with a dictatorship of the working class. The collapse of Muller’s government marked the beginning of the end for parliamentary democracy. After the period of stability during the ‘Golden Period’, the Weimar Republic suffered from a number of crises: In 1928 iron and steel employers in the Ruhr region refused to pay recently awarded wage increases and locked out their workforce for 4 weeks.
This was an indication that business leaders were not happy with the way they perceived that democracy favoured the workers. In 1927 German farmers were hit by a decline in the market price of their produce. Many of their properties were thus auctioned off by the banks. ‘Black Thursday’ on the 24th October 1929 was where panic selling of the shares occurred which set off the Great Depression. The US banks called in their loans which plunged Germany into a deep depression. Collapse of the Weimar Republic Hindenburg was elected president in 1925 and the Weimar constitution gave enormous powers to the President.
“The depression created a situation in which the parliamentary system broke down, opening way to presidential government by decree” – W. H. Simon. ‘Article 48’ also known as the ‘Suicide Clause’ was a flaw in the constitution and a factor in the Weimar Republic’s collapse. It allowed the government, in times of crisis, to let the president rule by a state of emergence.
This helped to allow Hitler to abolish democracy and take control of Germany. Hindenburg abandoned the convention that the government needed the support of a majority in the Reichstag.The first chancellor was Bruning who reduced unemployment benefits and planned to introduce a more authoritarian system of government. He was replaced by Papen, and Papen was replaced by Schleicher but he was not able to gain a majority in the Reichstag. Mazower said that “Weimar in the 1920’s was clearly a democracy: Under Chancellor Bruning it was less of one; under von Papen and Schleicher – Hitler’s immediate predecessor – it was already very close to being an authoritarian state” During this time Hitler’s Nazi Party was the largest party in the Reichstag.The government planned to use Hitler and the popularity of the Nazi’s to get rid of democracy and to return to an authoritarian government.
So Hitler was named Chancellor. Everyone underestimated Hitler and people believed that they would be able to control Hitler and thus the Nazi Party. By the 1930’s the key players in Germany did not want parliamentary democracy to work. 2. The Rise of the Nazi Party The Rise of the Nazi Party Hitler’s Nazi Party was a nationalist political party which was very anti Semitist.
It was founded in Bavaria, 1919 as the German Worker’s Party by Anton Drexler. Hitler joined in 1919 and became the party’s star attraction because he was able to get people to attend the rallies due to his ability as a public speaker. This helped party finances. Although he was a good public speaker, people were more inclined to believe him because they wanted to, some believed that they could gain something from aligning themselves to this party and because they believed in this type of strong authoritarian rule.On the 19th July 1921 Hitler was proclaimed the leader of the party with ‘dictatorial powers’. The Beer Hall Putsch made Hitler and the Nazi’s well known and when he was released from prison he was the hero of the nationalists.
The Weimar had stabilized during this time and so Nazi support was very low. So, the party reorganized so that it would be ready when the instability returned. The Fuhrer Prinzip was introduced which gave full control to Hitler. The Hitler Youth were formed in 1926 and the Neuremburg rallies and other successful propaganda were developed.Support for the original Nazi Party regime was restored.
The Nazi’s targeted the rural areas of Protestant northern Germany and the middle class Protestants provided the bulk of the votes. Alfred Hugenburg, a wealthy industrialist and leader of the Nationalist Party, formed a united front with Hitler called the Harzburg Front, to oppose the Young Plan. The Nazi Party benefited financially and Hitler’s reputation was enhanced. Originally the Nazi’s had campaigned to attract the support of workers.
The Nazis became very popular, which was shown by the fact that 13. 7 million Germans voted for them in 1932- this was the largest number of votes ever won by a political party in the Weimar Republic. The Nazi’s gained 2. 8% of the vote in 1928 but by 1933 they had gained 37. 4% of the vote.
They gained so much support because of their racially based, ultra-nationalist ideology and their electioneering speeches which promised to do away with the class based strife that existed.When the Great Depression reached its worst the Nazi message was most attractive. When unemployment was high, they could be seen door-to-door collecting food and clothing for the poor and running soup kitchens. This was designed to project a caring image, to show the people that they were a social group which had a conscience and who achieved results.
Even though Hitler was committed to coming to power legally, violence continued to be used against his opponents. SA functions included protecting party meetings and the distribution of propaganda leaflets.The SA also engaged in violent street brawls with the members of rival party armies, especially the communist party. This added to the Nazi middle class support as they were seen as attacking the ‘dreaded communists’. Hitler’s Accession to Power Hitler was appointed Chancellor in 1933 and German’s were filled with a heightened sense of nationalism and the notion that under the Nazi’s Germany would be ‘reawakened’.
Nazi political opponents generally did nothing. Rather than encounter opposition, the Nazi’s were met by cooperation from the police and university academics.Catholic bishops also made known their support for the new regime. University students and Propaganda Minister, Goebbels, staged a demonstration against the ‘un-German spirit’ by burning ‘un-German’ books. Richard J.
Evans said that “The triumph of Nazism was far from a forgone conclusion…Yet it was no historical accident” Hitler’s rise of power “was made possible by a unique coincidence of individual and historical circumstances, by the mysterious way in which the age complimented the man and the man the age”.
