Was the Weimar Republic Doomed from the Start?

1980 Words8 Pages
With Germany in both political and economic turmoil, the introduction of a democracy could not have come at a worse time. In the years that the Weimar Republic was in power there was separation in between classes due to the humiliating Treaty of Versailles, political revolution, economic tragedy, consequences of rushed constitution, cultural expression, the great depression, and in between a frenzy of politics. The Weimar Republic was quite inevitably doomed from the start. When the Weimar Republic formed in the aftermath of World War 1, Germany was suffering with the burden of defeat, and now to add to their trouble a Treaty imposed by their enemies that the newly formed Weimar Republic accepts, would effectively strip the German people and nation of all dignity. One thing that the German people did not cope well with was the loss of the war. The right wing people at the time coupled with the Army thought of the idea that Germany was not defeated on the battlefield but where simply ‘stabbed in the back’ at home. This abrupt reason for the loss of the war was widely accepted among the German people, especially when the blame would be shifted onto Socialists, pacifists, Jews and democratic politicians. Reasons for this ‘stab in the back’ legend, is that the army made preserving their representation of paramount importance, so this notion served them well. Among the people who were to be blamed where scapegoats who were known as the ‘November Criminals’. This idea proved useful in the anti-democratic right wing propaganda. Not even one year into the life of the Republic and there was an unstable nation. In 1918-1919 there was political chaos. With both left and right extremist parties trying to overthrow the government. On the right were the Nationalists, and on the left were the communists. The extreme left were known at the Spartacists, and in 1919 they
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