Weimar Republic essay by Diego Gatchell

There were many threats posing Germany in 1919, the political system formed on the back of failure produced resentment towards Weimar from both the extreme left and the right. Other factors linked to economic issues caused by war, such as hyperinflation and the war guilt clause which `led to much suffering for the German people through loss of savings and jobs and The constitution further hindered the stability of the government as it was fundamentally flawed.However the main threat to the political system was from the right and influence of the elites, although the breakdown of extreme right putsches showed weakness in the right, the elite allowed the extreme right to become more of a powerful force by providing them with lenient sentence which for example, allowed Hitler to reassess his strategy and lead to the emergence of the Nazis. The extreme right, although not seen as much as a threat in context as the communist left, can be seen as a growing threat to the Weimar regime.

The nature of the friekorps demonstrates the real threat they posed to Weimar.Flourishing in the post war environment the friekorps demonstrate the more violent element of German militarism, although used by Weimar to put down left wing uprising the friekorp were anti republican and committed to the restoration of authoritarian rule. The kapp putsch of 1930 not only showed to weakness of the Egbert coalition, but also revealed the army’s reluctance to support the republic. The decision of the army to put its own interests before its obligation to defend the government forced the latter to flee the capital.

Furthermore, punishments towards those who participated in the kapp putsch were very lenient, making it clear that the judges were biased and their heart did not lie with the Weimar republic. For example, only 28 out of the 354 of the right wing assassins were found guilty. The former rings true for the Munich beer hall putsch, treatment by the judiciary was again very lenient thus allowing the right wing to challenge Weimar without the consequences that would have faced the left.Although the putsches were too weak and disorganized to seize power in the earlier years of Weimar it is significant that the putsches happened at all thus highlighting the looming threat of the extreme right.

The left wing, although a potential for disaster and threat, was not as great a threat as the right to Weimar. The KPD can be seen as a reasonable political force in the years of 1919-23 as it enjoyed support of 10-15% of the electorate a there were continuous revolutionary disturbances. However, the endless protests, strikes and uprisings by the extreme left gave the impression of a Bolshevik inspired threat to Germany.Whereas the opposition of the left, army, the police and friekorps easily crushed rebellions; removing the strong leadership of Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg. Thus due to propaganda as a result of right wing parties, Germans began to have exaggerated fears about the possibility of impending revolution. Revolution in Germany was a central element of Lenin’s foreign policy and the people were also aware that the soviet red army had caused revolution in Poland.

However, the perception of the threat of the extreme left never matched the reality. The revolutionary left was divided (USPD/KPD) and did not benefit from widespread worker support.In October 1920 many USPD members joined the KPD ad the KPD joined the comintern but this was also counterproductive as large sections of the working classes did not support the KPDs close alliance with the soviet union. Therefore the most important consequence of the false perceived threat of the revolutionary left was that it deflected attention from the most serious threat to democracy – the anti republicanism of the right wing as the perceived threat of left wing revolution made many believe in the views of the right, that the republic was based on a weak government and needed to be replaced.The lack of action during the Kapp putsch by the army demonstrates a further threat to the Weimar government; the fact that they ignored their obligation to protect the government in turn of their own interests suggests the discontent felt by the army towards Weimar.

The lack of connection to Weimar that the army held meant that they were more likely to protect their own interests rather that the government. Furthermore, seeckt, despite with dissatisfaction towards democracy and refusal to put down the putsch was given power to remodel the army after 1920.It could be argued that the army was responsible for right wing rebellions such as the Munich putsch as the army was an establishment that did not support the government thus the extreme right wing parties could have posed a big threat that was too big for Weimar had the army decided to act. A further threat to Weimar was its political system, which was often relying on those who did not support it.

This can be illustrated by the actions taken by the judiciary, the following examples suggest the bias in the legal system and also the threat the judiciary and the established right wing posed to the stability of Weimar.The aftermath of the Munich putsch raises concern to the judiciary’s power, Hitler, the key player of a treasonous attempt to take power, took control of a large rally and declared a ‘national revolution’. This further resulted in bank robbery and the death of 20 people. However, the leniency of his sentence, 5 years then reduced to 10 months, seemed like an act of encouragement on part of the judiciary. This is further shown by its success in punishing left wing activists very harshly.

In the years 1921-23, 376 354 political murders were carried out and not one received the death penalty.This shows that the juciary were condoning the actions of right wing activists thus suggesting the great threat posed by the judiciary. Whereas more than 22 murders were carried out by left wing and all were punished harshly. The economic conditions of Weimar provided an additional threat to its stability. The crisis had deep and lasting effects, not only affecting many politically but socially and psychologically.

Most of the population suffered, especially the old, as fixed incomes, pensions and savings were worthless.The middle class also suffered as savings and investments in war bonds were eliminated. These direct effects challenged the government’s stability as the Weimar government was already associated with betrayal and incompetence as a direct consequence of the treaty of Versailles in which further distrust and suspicious manifested against the government. Despite recovering well from the crisis, it weakened the respect many had for the system and although not the main threat to Weimar it undermined the system creating much hostility towards it.

The above factors suggest that the Weimar government was not short of its threats to stability. The greatest threat can be seen to have been from the extreme right due the connections held with the judiciary and army. This ensured that the right wing was not harshly convicted in its quests against the state. Therefore this maintenance of 2nd Reich power was eating away the state from within with a right wing core and undermining the real power of the Weimar government.However, had the army and judiciary found more support for violence presented by Kapp putsch 1920 and Hitler’s 1923 the threat to Weimar would have been greater as the weakness of early putsches did not present a unified threat to the system.

Hyperinflation devastated the economy and was certainly a threat, however this threat was not wholly apparent until 1923 suggesting that until this point Stresemann policies were effective. Although the left did not present a great threat to the system, Ebert’s belief in the threat resulted in ignorance of the extreme right, which provided a far more menacing threat.