THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC 1919-1933

The Weimar Republic was a democratic government that came to power in Germany after the 1^st World War.
Due to the chaos brought about by the war, there was general discontent in Germany. This led to the German revolution of 1918.
The aim of this revolution was to overthrow the Government of Kaiser William II. When this happened, Kaiser William II abdicated on 19^th November 1918.
This marked the end of the Monarch in Germany.
Many political parties emerged and elections were held in January 1919.
The majority Socialist Party went to a small German Town of Weimar (to avoid the noise and chaos of Berlin) to draw up a new constitution.
It was here that the new democratic government, the Weimar Republic was created. Fredrick Herbert became the President and Philip Scheidenman became the Chancellor.
By August 1919, the new democratic constitution was approved. The new constitution was an extremely democratic one.

TERMS OF THE WEIMAR CONSTITUTION

The Weimar Constitution was adopted on 31st July and became effective on 11^th August 1919
. The terms were;
The Head of the State, the president was to be elected by Universal suffrage, i.e. all the German people male and female.
The president could be elected for a 7-year term but could be re-elected for a second term.
The President was also the Commander-in-chief of the armed forces and could rule by decree if the need arose.
The president could also be forced to resign before the end of his term of office by a referendum.
The President was also responsible for the appointment of the Chancellor and ministers who formed a government that was answerable to the Reichstag (parliament).
The German Republic was now made up of the Lander or regions which formed local governments on proportional representation and were required to adopt democratic forms of Governance.
The central government was to have full control of taxation and was responsible for education, health, and defense.
Its bill of rights also guaranteed freedom of speech, legal equality and religious freedom, and a right to minimum provision of Social Services.
There was also a provision for a referendum on any issues which allowed the people to take a direct role in policymaking.

PROBLEMS AND WEAKNESSES OF THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC

There were many problems in Germany at the time.
The New government had the task of bringing law and order to the country.
However, the Weimar Republic came to an end in 1933 with the rise of Hitler and the NAZI Party to power.
The new Government was unpopular with the German people and it was not strong enough to cope with serious economic and political problems.
As a result, people lost confidence in the new Government.
The Weimar Republic had a lot of weaknesses and problems that led to its downfall in 1933. These were;
The Weimar Republic had a weak foundation. This was associated with the place where the government was formed, Weimar.
The status of the Government was affected by the inferior town of Weimar where it was created
. As such, many Germans perceived the Weimar Republic as being inferior.
The German people and the army also believed in the theory of the “Doctors” which meant “stab in the back”.
This was a belief that the cause of the loss of the war was not the failure of the army or the German revolution but the political betrayal by the leaders of the Weimar Republic.
This was because it was a politician, Erzeberger who signed the Versailles Peace Settlement with the war guilt clause and the humiliating terms.
The German public believed that Germany would have won the war if the government had not signed the treaty.
So the Weimar Republic was seen as a government of traitors. As such, the government lacked support from the public.
The Weimar Republic also lacked outstanding leadership.
The leaders of the Weimar Republic were theorists who could not inspire or organize the people.
This made the government very weak.
The Weimar Republic was unable to deal with opposition parties effectively.
This opposition was;

The Spartacist Revolution;

This was a Marxist Revolutionary body led by Rosa Luxembourg with the support of General Von Luttiwitz. Rosa Luxembourg was murdered by some army officer with the collaboration of the Weimar Republic.
This angered the German people.

The Kapp Putsch of March, 1920;

This was an attempt by Dr. Kappa and General Von Luttiwitz to overthrow the Weimar Republic.
The Situation was so bad that the president and his had to leave Berlin. For only 4 hours only, Dr. Kappa became the Chancellor.
However, this rebellion failed.
The Beer Hall/Munich Putsch of 1924;
This was started by Hitler and his NAZI Party. This one also failed and Hitler was imprisoned for 3 months.
Besides these revolts, the government could not deal with a group of assassins who were targeting some of the Government leaders especially those who were responsible for the signing of the Versailles Treaty.
Chancellor Scheidenman was almost assassinated in 1921.
Erzeberger, the Chairman of the committee that signed the treaty was shot dead in 1922.
Another government official, Walter Rutherman the Foreign affairs Minster was murdered.
These acts of terrorism and the inability of the Government to deal with the culprits effectively weakened the Weimar republic.
The Economic problems were the worst of the Republic’s problems and the inability to deal with them further weakened the Republic.
To begin with, the Republic inherited economic problems such as inflation, unemployment, and food shortages.
To this was added the burdens of the reparations to the allied powers.
This was worsened by the loss of the Saar region, Alsace, and Lorraine to France
. However, between 1923 and 1929, Germany’s economy improved because of the efforts of Gustav Stresemann.
In 1923, Stresemann became the Chancellor and Foreign Minister.
The government was also faced with the Problem of incompetent and corrupt civil service that could not implement its policies effectively.

ACHIEVEMENTS OF GUSTAV STRESSMAN

(Successes of the Weimar Republic)

Stresemann’s immediate concern was to end the French occupation of the Ruhr region which was an income generator for Germany.
The French had occupied the Ruhr region after Germany had failed to pay reparations.
He achieved this through a policy of reconciliation with France.
This led to the signing of the Locarno Pact of 1925 which ended the French occupation of the Ruhr region.
Stresemann’s other achievement was that he was able to stabilize the fluctuating mark by the issuance of a new currency called the Rentenmark which ended inflation.
Stresemann also embarked on rapid industrial development and the rebuilding of the economy by asking for Loans from the USA.
Stresemann first set up a Reparation Commission to study the economic conditions in Germany and estimate her ability to pay war reparations.
The committee drew up the so-called Dawes Plan.
This was set up to ensure the effective payment of reparations.
The Dawes Plan was followed by the Young Plan.
The aim of this plan was the same as that of the Dawes Plan.
Among the most important recommendations of the Young Plan was that Germany would have to pay her war debts in installments of £100 million over a period of 37 years.
By 1929, the economic situation in Germany had improved greatly.
Employment levels increased and the standards of living for most Germans had improved. Opposition to the Weimar Republic also lessened.

THE COLLAPSE OF THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC

The death of Gustav Stresemann in 1929 coincided with the Great Economic Depression. This spelled disaster for the German economy.
The Economic depression started in the USA as a result of the collapse of the Stock exchange Market.
By 1931, the effects of the Depression were been felt in Europe. Germany especially was negatively affected because it depended on US loans for economic development.
The loans from the US were discontinued. This led to the collapse of German industries.
Many industries closed down.
The rate of unemployment increased rapidly. Germany faced food shortages which resulted in food riots.
The Weimar Republic could not deal with these economic problems and the German public became discontent with the Government.
It was during this chaotic situation that Hitler and his NAZI Party rose to power.
Hitler took advantage of the situation to campaign against the government. He promised the German people that if he came to power, he would improve the situation in Germany.
Hitler came to power in January 1933.
Therefore, the Great Depression and its effects is what led to the final collapse of the Weimar Republic.

QUESTIONS.

Explain the problems and weaknesses of the Weimar Republic in Germany. How did Hitler take advantage of these to rise to power? {14, 6}.
Discuss the successes of the Weimar Republic between 1923 and 1929. What led to its final collapse? {14, 6}.

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