Many historians have said Alexander II was considering the formation of a parliament in Russia. Furthermore, the assassination caused Alexander III to rule in reactionary nature in which many counter-reforms were created to limit the impact of the Great Reforms done by his father. This supports the view that the People’s Will were highly unsuccessful, even in the taking out of Alexander II. It can be said that the only example in this period of effective political opposition was the October 1917 revolution, where, unquestionably, the Bolsheviks took power and let their political vision be known. They were extremely successful in both the short term and the long term.
The Weimar Republic had signed the Treaty of Versailles, 1919, which increased their unpopularity. The Germans hated the Treaty because they saw it as accepting the blame for causing the First World War and admitting defeat. Also, the Treaty came with very harsh including paying reparations of £660 million to Britain and France. The people of Germany did not understand why the government signed this questioned whether they wanted the best for Germany. The hatred for the Weimar Republic kept on growing and this led to the Kapp Putsch, 1920.
Political problems such as not everyone agreeing with the idea of the Weimar Constitution and the economical inflation caused by the reparations of the Treaty of Versailles, all resulted in the almost collapse of Germany in the 20th Century. This was just a few of the problems that faced the Weimar Republic, it can be debated whether the Treaty of Versailles is completely to blame for the problems that the Weimar faced between 1919 and 1923. The biggest political effect is the Weimar constitution as the Republic had problems with political extremism, and some people believed that democracy weakened Germany. The most extreme political groups were the communists on the left wing, and the fascists such as the Nazis were on the right wing. They believed in completely opposite beliefs, for example the left wing believed in change, whereas the right wing completely opposed change.
Ironically, one of the lasting actions by the Bolsheviks was the attempted indoctrination of German prisoners-of-war. Many of these troops were eventually transferred to the Western Front which was still raging in 1918, but some of them were virtually useless as soldiers. When the war ended, they returned to Germany, where many threw themselves into the post-war revolution then tearing at Germany's social fabric. The opposing fascists eventually gained control of the country and added further tragic chapters to the history of Russia and Eastern
They are many factors on why did Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in January 1933. World War one, treaty of Versailles, fear of communist and the great depression are the main reason on Hitler became Chancellor. The Germans sighted the treaty of Versailles 1919 after losing Great War, although they believed they treaty was harsh they had no choice either sign it or the country getting invaded. The Germans called the treaty Diktat as it was being forced on them and the Germans had no choice but to sign it. One thing the Germans were not happy in the treaty of Versailles is the War Guilt Clause, take blame for the war.
The elite undermined Weimar as a result of their traditional values and hatred of democracy. In addition, Hitler’s radical new approach to politics utilised the weaknesses in Weimar – he was charismatic and through propaganda convinced the public that he could be their saviour. During the years 1918-28 the Nazis had little impact on the political scene – apart from the failed Beer Hall Putsch, which did earn them admiration from some nationalists. However, during these years, some sections of the public were becoming increasingly disillusioned with Weimar. This was due to events like the devastating 1923 hyperinflation, and of course the Treaty of Versailles, which had tainted Weimar’s reputation from its inception.
Ludendorff’s ‘Black Day’ speech and the army’s refusal to sign the Armistice influenced the failure of the Weimar Republic as they wiped their hands clean of the defeat of war. During these events, the army dubbed the socialist government, among others, as the ‘November criminals’ and began the idea of the stab-in-the-back. Placing the blame of losing the war on the Republic caused the government to be formed on an already tainted image. Hence, the army tore away the foundations of government by blaming them for the loss of WWI. This left the Republic unable to form a stable government capable of reforming an incredibly fragile Germany.
However, with widespread political unrest and a crippling economic crisis, was the constitution simply lucky to have survived her infancy years? It is widely believed that the foundations of the Weimar Republic were perilous to the strength of the new government. When the armistice was signed in 1918, the Germany people were shocked and disgraced as they had been led to believe by propaganda that they were winning the war. Ebert had become a hated and disrespected political figure. Not only did the people of Germany feel betrayed by a man of their own country but consequently, had no faith in the new democratic system.
What in your view was the short term significance of Trotsky in the period 1917-1927? Trotsky played a key role in the Bolshevik party, encouraging revolution which saw the Bolsheviks gain power in 1917. He built up a strong Red Army during the civil war, which was used to ensure the survival of the Bolshevik government. He was seen by many as the second man to Lenin and the most likely candidate to take over as leader after Lenin’s death which portrays his significance. However, evidence suggests that after Lenin’s death he lost his power considerably, eventually being banned from the Communist party.
This boycott was met with limited support and was called off after only one day. This showed Hitler that the German people were not yet ready for anti-Jewish policy and needed to be slowly indoctrinated into believing the same ideology as him: Jews are evil. This is a factor that caused the change of policy to be gradual between these years. So, later in April 1933 Hitler banned Jews from civil service, however, there were exceptions as Hindenburg was still president and could still fire Hitler from his job as chancellor so Hitler needed to keep him happy. This did affect Hitler’s legislation by slowing it down until 1934 when Hindenburg died.