IMPACT OF GERMAN ARMY IN WEIMAR REPUBLIC The German army was one of the strongest nationalistic institutions in the country and became imperative in the Weimar Republic. The army provided essential defence against revolutionary communist forces in the early era of democracy in which aided the Weimar republic greatly. However, their strong nationalistic right wing tendencies prevented them from launching attacks on right wing assaults. The accession of Seeckt to Defence minister shifted to role of the army from mainly strategic to mainly political. Weimar militarism was instrumental in the establishment of political chaos in Germany and led to the eventual collapse of the Weimar democracy.
Kaiser, as "King of Prussia", dominated the Reichstag which protected the Conservatives, who were supported, and arguably, controlled by the elites (Junkers) who wanted to preserve their status and power. Some saw the Kaiser, and the elites, as claiming authority of Germany, but at no time was this challenged. Bethmann-Hollweg, 1910, suggested increasing the middle-class vote, but the Conservatives quickly rejected the idea, as there was
He was a German Chancellor and Prussian prime minister from October 17, 1900, to July 14, 1909. (BritannicaEncyclopædia, 2010). Marshal von der Goltz is German politician and a military writer, who also participated in the making of the appeal. During the early days of the war, Marshal was a supporter of Germany’s participation in the war. Just like Marshal, Matthias Erzerberger was also an initial supporter of the war who later changed his mind.
[2] The loss in the First World War left Germany’s confidence running low. This Coupled with the limiting and demeaning restrictions of the Versailles Treaty which included handing back of territorys and billions of dollars to pay back in war reparations. Germany seemed anxious to prove to themselves and their European counterparts that they were a nation of worth. With Bismarck’s forming the nation-state with “Blut und Eisen”–“blood and iron” which put emphasis on the military, and left them unchecked by parliament. This gave a militaristic approach to German government that lasted through the fall of the Weimar Republic and into the rise of National Socialism in Germany.
Assess the view that the most important element in maintaining Hitler’s regime in power between 1933 and 1945 was the consent of the German people. Interpretation D and to some extent A argue that the German people supported the regime while B and C suggest that other factors such as repression, propaganda and economic conditions played a vital role in Hitler’s maintenance of power. The German nation as pointed out in source A (“A”) had a “long tradition of obedience to authority” so we can assume that the circumstances that were created in the 1920-1930s led to the willing establishment of a new regime. This is supported by the argument that the people gave their vote to Hitler and his followers repeatedly, as argued by Flenly in “A.” Historical evidence has shown us that Hitler gained support even from Germans living outside Germany. His occupation of Austria was an outstanding achievement as Austria welcomed their German neighbors and 200,000 Austrians gathered to welcome Hitler and hear his speech.
The Weimar Republic had recently failed and they were still sore about The Treaty of Versailles. Hitler tapped into this desperation and gave the German population a vision of prosperity and a greater Germany. This made the majority of Germans were compliant with the Nazi party and those who liked Hitler but did not really agree with some of his policies turned a blind eye to them. The young population also took a liking to Hitler as his youth organisation, The Hitler Youth gave them a sense of purpose. There was also the equivalent for women, The League of German Maidens.
The political system in Germany at the time also favoured the Kaiser, as nothing could be passed without kaisers agreement, the upper house referred to as Bundesrat was a conservative body and the bills were first discuessed in the Reichstag before they were passed on to the Bundersrat. Reichstag could pass or reject governemnt legislation discuss or amend it however it could not make new laws. Essentially when the legislature was finally passed by the chancellor who had to approve of it, it would go to the Kaiser who would either accept it or decline it alltogether which again added on to his importance. However the Kaiser lacked power in certain areas, for example the Kaiser had to rely on the conservatives backing if he wanted a certain legislation to be passed, but in 1887 the conservative only won 48% of the vote and by 1912 it went down to just 26% which meant that the was no longer able gain help from the conservatives which also meant that he had less impact on politics. With the Social Democrat Party coming in The Kaiser was loosing Atocratic power and Germany was slowly becoming a more Democratic country, the SPD won 35% of the votes by 1912 meaning that they had more authority over the
The exact workings of the political structure of Germany also allowed the Kaiser to retain control but this structure could only remain because of the patriotism and nationalism that the Kaiser both exploited and enjoyed. It cannot be denied that a small amount of moderate reform also played a small role but its limited scope together with the failure to introduce some of the intended reform show once again that it was really the sense of nationalism and patriotism that kept the power where it was. It cannot be denied, however, that the lack of unity of the political parties meant that a real threat to power was never even attempted. In this sense the Kaiser was fortunate but because the threat did not materialise it was primarily the sense of nationalism and patriotism that allowed him to maintain his power. The support for nationalist foreign policies followed throughout this period highlight the strong sense of nationalism and patriotism that existed and ultimately explain the most important reason why power remained in the hands of the Kaiser.
Hitler became affiliated with the National Socialist German Workers Party. The party felt capitalism and democracy were failing and worked to secure a strong working middle class. In Mein Kampf, however, Hitler seemed less interested in the socialist aspect of the party. His focus aimed more at German nationalist expansionism and Anti-Semitism: “Hence, if we propound on the question of how the state which we Germans need should be constituted, we must first clearly understand what kind of people it is to contain and what purpose it is to serve” (207). According to Hitler, a blending of cultures changes the goal of the state.
When Germany asked Mexico to join the war against USA, this message was deciphered and led to the entry of USA in the war. In 1917 Russia withdrew from the war, which allowed Germany to send over the troops from the Eastern Front to the Western front. This allowed the Ludendorff Offensive take place. The strategy worked well in assumption, but in reality the casualties were extreme and the tactic exhausted the men. The strategy was to send German troops to push back the French and British lines, they were able to push back the lines, but they weren’t able to break the French lines.