The first key issue I would like to discuss is the limited nature of the German revolution and how this damaged the prospects of German democracy. The way that Ebert used to take control lead damaged the prospects of democracy from the outset. Historians have criticised Ebert’s use of force to crush radical groups such as the Spartacists and his use of the Freikorps. Together with the crushing Spartacists in 1919 caused these left wing radicals to become divided and were therefore unwilling to compromise on reforms in the Reichstag. This made it far more difficult for coalitions to form and for democracy to function in the designed fashion.
It also severely restricted Germany’s military power. The treaty, to Germany, was something that was not only unfair, but also humiliating. This caused Germany to bear resentment against the winning powers and caused some to thirst for revenge. America’s policy of isolationism also played a major part in starting World War II. Their refusal to join the League of Nations severely weakened it, and effectively destroyed the League of Nation’s ability to follow through with its threats and stop wars.
Hitler even being allowed to come into power is a scary thought itself. The situations that facilitated Hitler's rise to power were the Germans' unhappiness with the Treaty of Versailles, the rise of Totalitarian leadership, and the inaction of the League of Nations. The Treaty of Versailles, which was a peace settlement in which the Germans had no choice and were forced to sign after WWI, was an important reason why the Nazis came to power. The German general public were so angry over the Treaty and found it hard to accept the terms of it because it became a symbol of Germany's humiliation and defeat. This made the new Weimar government, who signed the treaty, extremely unpopular and there was a lot of opposition to the government.
Historians disagree to an extent as to what the main reasons for Hitlers rise to power was. This essay will examine how important the weaknesses and divisions amongst his opponents were, as well as other factors, before coming to the conclusion that weaknesses and divisions amongst his opponents are very important in Hitlers rise to power by 1933. The main opposition for the Nazi party were the Communist and Socialist parties, despite being the main opponents, both of these parties were relatively weak; especially the communists. The communists hated the Weimmar Republic, and they wanted to create a fairer society, in their eyes, which excluded the class system and the government would control everything. As people began to turn from the Weimar Republic, getting fed up with their lack of process, they looked for more extremist parties such as the communists and Nazi’s.
During a depression, political trends become extremist and so the Nazis flourished; Hitler offered both a scapegoat and himself as a strong leader to look up to. The depression gave Hitler the edge he needed to gain ninety-five[1] seats in the Reichstag and ultimately progress from the leader of a minority party to the Dictator of the Third Reich. The Depression also drew attention to the weaknesses of the Weimar Constitution; as poverty and unemployment increased, respect for the democratic system drastically decreased. The German population did not want to be governed by a democracy as it was such a governing body that signed the Treaty of Versailles. Hatred for this document was still rife in Germany and so Hitler, who openly detested the Treaty, became the obvious choice.
The Republic was weak from the beginning. Treaty of Versailles The Weimar republic was associated with failure in WWI since it had signed the Treaty of Versailles that had ended the war. Many nationalists believed the republic had sold Germany out to its enemies by ending the war too early. The treaty took territory from Germany and left the country facing crippling compensation claims. The limitations it placed on Germany's armed forces, and especially the War Guilt Clause that blamed Germany and her allies for starting the war, left many Germans feeling humiliated.
The downward spiral began with the degeneration of the army that weaken the defenses and made them more vulnerable to Germanic invasions. These invasions led to economic disruptions which combined with other deteriorating conditions led the Roman’s to look increasingly to mystery cults and reject the rational thought of the Greeks. The presentation points out that as economic disruptions continued to deteriorate Rome’s fate was sealed. The date that is assigned to the final demise of the Roman Empire is A.D. 476 when a Germanic emperor was placed on the throne. The presentation reminds us that only the western part of the empire fell.
This alone shows how the Putch failed because obviosly if the putch was a success then they would not be in prison. The plan was to overthow the wiemar republic by force and so in 1923 Hitler and general ludenndorf believing the party was on the verge of collapse and that the police would join his rebellion marched on munich. This of course went horribly wong and hitler was imprisoned. Although the munic putch was a complete dissaster, hitler during his imprisonmet realised that maybe trying to take over by force was not a good idea and learnt that he should try to get the general publics votes instead. Imprision ment worked, in some ways ,in hitlers favour because during his trials he gave long speeches about his ideas and critizing the government.
The reparations imposed on the country under the Weimar Republic caused many political problems within the nation. The Weimar Republic was associated with failure in WW1 since it had signed the Treaty of Versailles that had ended the war, this in turn caused a strong sense of unpopularity towards the government from the people of Germany, as it was believed that the Republic had ended the war too early and that Germany could have fought on. This left the Germans feeling humiliated, along with the harsh limitations on the German armed forces and also the concept that Germany and it's allies was to blame for starting the war, known as the War Guilt Clause.In addition, when the German people discovered that the Weimar Republic failed in making the Treaty fair towards them, the government became even more unpopular. They people were outraged at the fact that the government had accepted these conditions, despite the fact that there was not a lot else the Republic could do. This added to the already high level of unpopularity of the government, after signing the armistice to the end the war, consequently resulting in the government being named the 'November Criminals'.
The Weimar republic was created in 1919 with the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm ll, it was created at a time of confusion and chaos after Germany had lost the First World War. Between 1919 and 1923 it had to deal with many problems such as extremists’ attacks, the treaty of Versailles and the reparations crisis. Firstly Germany had no tradition of democracy and had always had strong leaders; Germans weren't ready for democracy and did not agree to it. With Germany suffering very badly because of the war it added onto the hatred the democracy had made. The new government was the body that signed the treaty of Versailles, and to many it was a betrayal and most Germans referred to it as the ‘stab in the back theory’.