Fighting between some of the leading Nazi’s also meant that it would have been near impossible to put together an effective economy with all missions heading towards the same aim. It is fair to say that the strengths towards this statement highly outweigh the weaknesses, as the war economy was very poorly coordinated due to the many factors that contributed to German war production decreasing. In February of 1942, Albert Speer was appointed as Minister of Armaments, which at the time was a crucial role in the Nazi’s dominant mechanism. This was became the centralising ministry amongst all
As well as the Depression, the collapse of the Republic can be linked to a large number of factors, including the influence of the army, political instability and constitutional weaknesses. One of the most consequential outcomes of the Depression was the opportunity that it provided Hitler. A majority of the citizens lost faith and belief in the current Social Democratic government, turning instead to the confident and dynamic leader of Hitler. As Evans asserts, ‘citizens began to see in the youthful dynamism of the Nazi Party as a way out of the situation’. What Evans means by this is that the desperation of the people led them to polarising their votes and seeing radical leaders like Hitler as a solution to the mess that Germany had become.
Although the conditions of the agreement seemed extremely severe, the allied countries had no sympathy for the Germans. They were forced to pay excessive amounts of money as reparation fees to make up for all the damage and destruction that was caused during the war. 13% of German territory was given away and many important industrial areas were controlled by western allies. This caused a major impact on the economy and had many affects to not only the government, but German citizens as well. Many people became unemployed and were no longer able to support their families.
It is accurate to suggest that the Treaty of Versailles was mainly responsible for the political and economic instability in Germany in the years 1919-23. The treaty led to political and economic problems because of the terms included in it. The German government was seen by many to surrender to the dictation of Britain, France and America. Forcing the country to submit a lot of land, losing a huge percentage of their population and having their military force. All of these terms are what led Germany to economic and political instability in the years 1919-23.
Treaty of Versailles was the peace treaty which officially ended World War I. it was very burdensome on the German economy. Germany was just a devastated by the war as anyone else, but they were very hard pressed to rebuild with the massive reparation payments they were required to make. But the reason why they did soo debt on them is because of Germany made a great destruction on countries, especially on French. I think the reasons for WW2 were: Treaty of Versailles, Hitler’s rise to power and Militarism. Treaty
Therefore the beginnings of democracy in Germany came in times of civil and political unrest following Germany’s defeat in WWI. During the war Germany had essentially been a military dictatorship under Hindenburg and Ludendorff, this style of government being popular among the German people. Therefore when democracy was introduced it was viewed with contempt, primarily among the conservative elites. The defeat in the war also brought about changes in how political maters were handled in Germany. Richard Evans in “the Coming of the Third Reich” argues that WWI had sanctioned the use of violence for political gain, leading to the formation of paramilitary groups that further undermined the effectiveness of the democracy.
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. The ‘November Criminals’ including Matthias Erzberger, Phillipp Scheidemann and Friedrich Ebert were regarded as unnationalistic. The reaction of the German people was further intensified by the signing of the Versailles Treaty in June 1919. Historian Richard Hunt argues that ‘it was the shame of weakness that seized Germany’s national psychology and served as a solvent of the Weimar democracy’. Whether compliant with this view or not, the fact was that the German population was not backing the leaders of this new constitution, which was damaging to its effectiveness.
Several attempts from both the left and right sides of government tried to imbue the nationalistic beliefs that were embodied in Germany before they were destroyed by their humiliating defeat in WW1. These include the Spartacist uprising, the Kapp Putsch and the Munich Beer Hall Putsch. The disillusionment felt by the people and their need to restore pride in their nation influenced many factors that led to the failure of the democracy, and to the rise of the Nazi political party and its leader Adolf Hitler. In hindsight, a mixture of political, social and economic issues, combined with nationalistic goals give grounds to the reason that nationalism mainly brought about the fall of the democracy of the Weimar Republic in Germany. By the outbreak of WW1 in August 1914, Germany was well established as a major and prominent world power.
This meant they were arguing over welfare, the fall of Muller government and what they would do with the benefit system. This caused even more conflict between the two sides. At the time of the depression Muller was chancellor, he faced serious problems over the welfare system that was in place, he didn’t know what to do with it. Due to this Muller resigned and Brunning took his place. Brunning wanted to change things, but laws can’t be passed without the Reichstag.
The Weimar Republic was faced with such hardship when it came into power that it seemed as though it was almost destined to fail. It had inherited a political situation that seemed weak due to the abdication of the Kaiser, the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, the economy and the "Stab in the Back" theory affected by the old elites of German society. The new government faced violent opposition from both sides of the political spectrum, although with differing levels of success, and an economy that was spiraling out of control. However, it was the violence of the extreme right which of could been seen as the largest risk to the stability of the Weimar Republic due to its effectiveness and its closeness. Firstly, it is clear to see that the violence of the extreme right was certainly a clear threat to the Weimar republic as it in fact managed to succeed in briefly overthrowing the government.