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.
The number of people unemployed rose by five million from the start of the great depression1929 to when Hitler became chancellor in 1933. Some people were still in works but they were paid low wages and worked short time works. The number of unemployment left many people hungry as they had no work so they couldn’t get the money to buy food. Also many people became homeless. The great depression gave huge boost to the extremist parties as the German people started to blame the government to the depression and therefore lost confidence in them.
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
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.
Why did the Weimar Republic face political challenges in the years 1919-1923? The title ‘The Weimar Republic’ was the name given to the Parliamentary Representative Democracy set up in Germany after WW1. Even though Frederick Ebert had good intentions, the Weimar Republic faced many political challenges between the years 1919 and 1923. There were 5 main reasons why the Weimar Republic struggled, including: The Treaty of Versailles; The Stab in the Back myth; hyperinflation with the collapse of economy; political violence from extremists on the right and left wing Parliament and the voting system of Proportional Representative. I will argue that although the Treaty of Versailles was the most important cause, it is the way these were connected which explains the crisis.
Account for the successes and failures of democracy in Germany in the period 1918–1933 The democracy in Germany from 1918 to 1933, the Weimer Republic, is considered as both successful and unsuccessful. The democracy system in Germany was chaotic when it first emerged, but it became relatively stable until it collapsed during the great depression in 1929 and was then taken over by Nazism. Democracy refers to a form of government that is controlled by people and was a condition under the Treaty of Versailles. The success of democracy can be seen through the establishment of the bills of rights and mainly through the Stresemann era. - It was a provisional government formed due to the abdication of the Kaiser.
3) Account for the successes and failures of democracy in Germany in the period 1918/1933 The Weimer Republic was doomed to failure from the outset. The quote from historian and journalist Sefton Delmar “Germany democracy was born with a hole in its heart”, has immense accuracy when post-war Germany is evaluated. The creation of a completely new and foreign form of government aggravated Germany’s post war position. Struggling with political, economic and social strife by the end of WWI, did not allow for a powerful government to be formed. The crucial weakness of the Weimer republic lay not in the strength of its enemies but in the striking absence of its friends.
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.
Another thing was there was the weakness of the Weimar government, which played its part. The Weimar government was failing miserably, what with a failed economy, no power, a great depression, unemployment, a weak president, and the rise of terrorism and extremism. The Social Democrats were losing their touch. During the Stresemann years of the 1920s the Nazis couldn’t even get into double figures when it came to seats in the Reichstag. Germany, it looked, was on the rise while Stresemann was Chancellor but the Nazis and their appealing polices were al too good for the people of Germany to refuse and so while the votes for the Social Democrats only increased ever so slightly the Nazi votes were plumiting and with every election they grew and grew.
Why is the Weimar republic sometimes described as doomed from the beginning? * They were thought of as the November criminals who signed the armistice that ended the war * The German economy was ruined after WW1 especially when they had to pay out reparations * Treaty of Versailles took away a lot of land and industry as well as people from Germany * The invasions of the Ruhr right at the beginning of the Republic was a big blow and led to hyperinflation * There were several challenges to the Weimar republic from the left and right wing- Kapp Putsch and Munich Putsch for example * Proportional representation damaged the Republic because there were too many weak coalition governments * Article 48 of the constitution said that if there was an emergency the President could over rule anyone What were the consequences of the Treaty of Versailles for Germany? * 13% of land taken away from them * 6 million people were not German anymore * 16% coal production was taken away * 15% agricultural production would no longer be Germany’s * 48% of iron production was taken away * They had to pay 6.6 billion pounds in reparations * The people blamed the government for signing the treaty of Versailles so they were hated * The government was accused of stabbing the German army in the back by signing the armistice Why was the Weimar Republic in danger of collapsing 1919-23? * The invasion of the Ruhr stopped the German’s gaining any income from that area for nearly two years since France and Belgium only withdrew in 1925 * Hyperinflation in 1923 ruined most of the working class German’s who had spent all their lives saving and made some rich people now very poor making them hate the government * The challenges to the Weimar republic from the likes of the Spartacists and the Kapp Pustch made the Republic’s life