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- The short-lived Weimar Republic—which spanned the years after Germany’s defeat in World War I until 1933, when Hitler came to power—has become a paradigmatic example of democratic collapse. That has brought it renewed attention at this moment in America, when democracy is under threat from illiberal, would-be-authoritarian forces.
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Was the Weimar Republic a 'failed' democracy?
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What was the Weimar Republic?
Why was the Weimar government so fearful?
The Weimar Republic failed because it was at the mercy of many different ideas and forces – political and economic, internal and external, structural and short-term. It is difficult to isolate one or two of these forces or problems as being chiefly responsible for the demise of the Republic.
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- The Weimar constitution
The Weimar Republic was the German government from 1919 to 1933. It is so called because the assembly that adopted its constitution met at Weimar from February 6 to August 11, 1919. On February 11, the assembly elected Friedrich Ebert president of the Reich.
What did Heinrich Brüning do as chancellor in the Weimar Republic?
Chancellor Heinrich Brüning wanted to pass a budget, but after facing parliamentary deadlock, he resorted to the use of the president’s emergency powers under Article 48 to put his program into effect by decree (July 16, 1930). Unable to solve his country’s economic problems, he hastened the drift toward rightist dictatorship by ignoring the Reichstag and governing by presidential decree.
What was the Dawes Plan?
The Dawes Plan was a report on German reparations for World War I drafted by a committee of experts led by American financier Charles G. Dawes that was accepted by the Allies and by Germany on August 16, 1924. The plan provided for the reorganization of the Reichsbank and for an initial loan of 800 million marks to Germany. The Dawes Plan seemed to work so well that by 1929 it was believed that the stringent controls over Germany could be removed and total reparations fixed.
What was the currency introduced by Stresemann?
The abdication of Emperor William II on November 9, 1918, marked the end of the German Empire. That day Maximilian, prince of Baden, resigned as chancellor and appointed Social Democratic Party (SPD) leader Friedrich Ebert to succeed him. Ebert had advocated the establishment of a true constitutional monarchy, but Independent Socialists in Bavaria had already declared that state to be a socialist republic. With a communist uprising gaining strength by the hour, Ebert’s hand was forced by fellow Social Democrat Philipp Scheidemann, who, to Ebert’s dismay and with no higher authorization, proclaimed a German republic from the balcony of the Reichstag. Ebert, fearing that extremists would take charge, accepted the fait accompli.
To maintain order, Ebert allied himself with the army, under Chief Quartermaster Gen. Wilhelm Groener. On November 10 Ebert (with Hugo Haase) became cochairman of the Council of People’s Representatives, the new cabinet formed by the Social Democrats and the Independent Social Democrats (USPD). The following day, German officials met with Allied generals at Rethondes, France, and concluded the armistice agreement that ended World War I. Although German armies were in retreat and a fresh Allied offensive was poised to smash the entire German left flank, voices within the German military would claim that they were “undefeated in the field” (unbesiegt im Felde) and that the surrender represented a “stab in the back” (Dolchstoss im Rücken) by civilian politicians. These assertions ignored the hopelessness of Germany’s military situation, but they would find many adherents in far right-wing political parties of the postwar era.
The national assembly met in Weimar on February 6, 1919. Ebert’s opening speech underlined the breach with the past and urged the Allies not to cripple the young republic by the demands imposed on it. On February 11 the assembly elected Ebert president of the Reich, and on February 12 Scheidemann formed a ministry with the Centre Party and the German Democratic Party (DDP).
The principal task of the assembly was to provide a new constitution, which was promulgated on August 11, 1919. The government’s draft had been drawn up by Hugo Preuss, of the Democratic Party. Preuss, however, was not able to secure a unitary Reich in which Prussia would have been broken up and the old states (Länder) abolished in favour of a new division by provinces. The republic, like the empire that it replaced, was to have a federal basis. The powers of the Reich, however, were considerably strengthened, and it was now given overriding control of all taxation. National laws were to supersede the laws of the states, and the Reich government was given the power to supervise the enforcement of the national laws by the local authorities. Under the umbrella of the republic there were 17 Länder in all, ranging from Prussia, with a population (in 1925) of 38,000,000, and Bavaria, with 7,000,000, to Schaumburg-Lippe, with 48,000. The only new Land was Thuringia, formed in 1919 from the amalgamation of seven small principalities.
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The Länder continued to be represented in the Reichsrat, which replaced the imperial Bundesrat, but the new chamber became subordinate to the Reichstag, to which alone the government was made responsible. All men and women over the age of 20 were to have the right to vote for the Reichstag, and the elections were to be conducted on the basis of proportional representation. Provision was also made for popular initiatives in legislation and for referenda.
As a counterweight to the Reichstag, the president, as the chief executive, was endowed with strong powers. He was to be elected independently of the Reichstag by the nation itself, was to hold office for seven years, and was to be eligible for reelection. He was to make alliances and treaties, and he was the supreme commander of the armed forces, with the right to appoint and remove all officers. The president could dissolve the Reichstag and submit any law enacted by it to a referendum. Finally, under Article 48, the president had the right to suspend the civil liberties guaranteed by the constitution in case of emergency and to take any measures required to restore public safety and order. These provisions reflected the insecurity, bordering on civil war, that Germany faced at the time, and they were to prove of great importance in the final stages of the history of the Weimar Republic. Under the president, political responsibility was to rest with the chancellor. The government was made dependent upon the confidence of a majority of the Reichstag, and, with the withdrawal of this confidence, the government would be required to resign.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Dec 4, 2017 · The Weimar Republic was Germany’s unstable government from 1919 to 1933, an economically chaotic period after World War I until the rise of Nazi Germany.
Aug 2, 2016 · Historian Detlev Peukert has written that the fundamental problem of the Weimar Republic and the main reason for its eventual downfall was the failure of its government to achieve legitimacy, or the people’s trust and acceptance of the government’s authority. 2 What groups challenged the legitimacy of the Weimar Republic? What role did ...
According to Foreign Policy, the Weimar Republic is seen as "the best-known historical example of a 'failed' democracy that ceded to fascism". Constituent states
Key Facts. 1. The social and economic upheaval that followed World War I powerfully destabilized the Weimar Republic, Germany's fledgling democracy, and gave rise to many radical right wing parties in Weimar Germany. 2. Many Germans believed that Germany had not lost the war because of military failures but had been “stabbed in the back.”
The Social Democrats, however, alarmed at the threat to the republic from the rising power of the two extremist parties, rallied to the chancellor’s support, although they were critical of the deflationary policy he was pursuing.
