However Germany’s weak economic and political position between 1919 and 1923 cannot purely be put down to the Treaty of Versailles. Other factors such as the nature of the Weimar constitution and the threat from the right and the left of the political spectrum also played a role in the inevitable collapse of the Weimar republic and rise of the Nazi party in 1933. Nevertheless I feel that the Treaty of Versailles was the main blow to the Weimar Republic’s legitimacy as well as the most significant cause of Germany’s hyperinflation during the 4 year period. The Treaty of Versailles was signed in November 1919 by officials from the Weimar government. These men went on to be known as the November criminals, a clear sign of the resentment the German people had for the men that had effectively gave in to the allies as they saw it.
A famous historian, George Dangerfield, thought that the liberal party had been declining in popularity due to how they were not efficient nor equipped enough to handle the agitation of the trade unions, suffragettes and the problems within Ireland. The House of Lords had played a major role in the demise of the Liberal party. The Liberal party had numerous amounts of bills and acts that they had wanted to pass, however due to the house of lords, which predominately consisted of conservative and liberal unionist MP’s, they were able to block them which prevented them being passed. For Example, the lords had blocked Gladstone’s second home rule bill in 1893. The Lords had also blocked a major reform of the Liberals known as the 1909 Budget by 350 votes to 75 for.
This in turn caused his support to wither and his opponents to build up in number. By being in control of the Army, Nicholas II left the running of the government to his German wife Alexandra. The Tsarina Alexander was unpopular for two main reasons: she was German, causing many to accuse her of being to sympathetic with the enemy of the war but also, she was under the influence of the much despised Rasputin. Rasputin was acting as Tsarina Alexandra’s confidant whilst Tsar Nicholas II was fighting in the war. Rasputin had a bad reputation for living a rather unorthodox lifestyle and was well known for his sexual promiscuity.
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’.
The Roman Republic was facing internal problems that would cause it to ultimately collapse into the Roman Empire. Including social unrest between the classes and military entering into politics, among other reasons, the Roman Republic crumbled under itself and gave way to the beginning of new government. A second triumvirate ended with civil war and the Republic was over; however, Octavian created the Roman Empire in its place. Because of the stabilizing government, strong legal system and increasing trade, the Pax Romana was able to remain tied together for about 210 years. The Roman Republic was struggling to remain in power but the social unrest was a not a helping factor in helping the Republic to last for a while longer.
This continued cycle of unjust behaviour towards the serfs led to the beginning of distrust and a lack of faith in the monarchy from the public. The people of Russia continued to lose their faith in the monarchy when Tsar Nicholas came to the throne – one of the turning points for the reputation of the Tsar was the Russo-Japanese war in 1904/1905. This war was particularly significant because of the humiliation Russia suffered in this time: They had expected to win the war easily, as Russia was considered a huge and powerful country compared to Japan. However, when they were defeated easily by the Japanese, it was seen as an embarrassment, as well as an example of how the Russian army was not as powerful as it seemed. This, although not
Labour gained mix success when dealing with the fact that they came into power with a majority of only four seats; something which made it difficult for them to form a strong government. Callaghan, in 1977 tried to combat this problem by forming a Lib-lab pact and signs of success can be shown from this as he now had a majority of 30 seats. However, this came at a cost since the Liberals began to pursue the devolution of Scotland and Wales, which in turn resulted in the Scottish Nationalist MPs withdrawing their support for the Labour Party. The pact can further be seen as an unsuccessful move since it collapsed only a year later in 1978, suggesting that it was a futile attempt by Callaghan which only distanced other groups and led to Labour losing the vote of “no confidence” in 1979. Ultimately, although Labour did try and tackle the problem of a small majority and did achieve some benefits by doing so, the downsides of the pact were more damaging and suggest the party was unsuccessful in forming a stronger government.
How far is it accurate to say that Nicholas 2nd was personally responsible for his own downfall in February 1917? It can be argued that as a leader, Tsar Nicholas the 2nd was responsible for his own downfall due to his involvement in worldwide affairs like ww1 and his own personal mistakes throughout his reign over Russia. Things such as his family orientated approach to ruling effecting his stature as the “little father” or his failure to combat the German problem. However it can also be suggested that Nicholas did in fact have a mostly successful rule and prior problems such as land, the peasants and a poor economy presented problems which would be there long after his reign. Nicholas’s decisions in things such as the war and internal affairs were at the best poor.
Furthermore, German politics suffered polarisation as the left and right became more extreme, divisions were caused by differing views over war aims and developing concern over the establishment of the ‘Silent Dictatorship’. The first world war definitely narrowed political divisions initially which can be shown through Burgfriede which was introduced on 4th August to symbolise the political truce between all parties, even the supposedly ’unpatriotic’ Social Democrat Party gave their support for what was presented as a defensive war. However this political unity did not last as the military was unable to deliver on the quick victory that they had promised, and as the Schlieffen Plan failed and the heavy losses in battles such as Verdunn, the unity of the parties began to fracture. Subsequently Falkenhayn failed to find alternative strategies to break the stalemate and as a result Falkenhayn was replaced with military hero Hindenburg. For this reason, one can argue how the First World War increased political divisions.
To what extent did Edward IV restore royal authority in the years 1471-83? Edward IV defeated Henry VI at the Battle of Tewkesbury making him the new heir to the throne. Henry VI was a particularly under-mighty king and did a poor job throughout his reign. When Edward IV came to the throne (for the second time) he did not have much of an act to follow, however, Henry had left him in a lot of debt and he needed to restore authority to the kingdom. There are many factors showing how Edward did to try and regain control, although it is hard to tell how many of them were effective!