Weimar Flashcards
(8 cards)
Stab in the Back
November Criminals
Political Legitimacy
Germans thought they were winning, so the military needed to shift the blame onto somebody - immediately into the Weimar Republic
Left Wing politicians, Socialists, Jews, all of them sold the country with the treaty - damaged their reputation before they even started and fuelled extremist opposition
Weak foundation for the Weimar - public key institutions were actively hostile towards it
Caused a major weakness as it undermined trust in democracy from the outset - before this, it was a constitutional monarchy with the Kaiser
Powerful propaganda tool for right wing movements including the Nazis who later used it to gain popular support
Weimar Constitution - indiscriminate use of Article 48
Proportional representation - even small parties had a say - it was difficult for one singular party to achieve a majority
Led to unstable coalition governments as different parties had conflicting views
1919 to 1933, Weimar had 20 governments - little continuity or stability
Article 48 allowed the president to bypass the Reichstag and rule by decree in times of crisis
Weakened parliamentary democracy - used by Hitler to seize power in 1933 when Hindenburg used Article 48 to pass the Reichstag Fire Decree
Flawed constitution enabled authoritarian rule and instability - thereby making democracy extremely vulnerable
Treaty of Versailles
Territorial Loss
military restriction and the war guilt clause
reparations
The treaty became a key catalyst for anti-Weimar sentiment - many Germans blamed the republic for accepting these humiliating terms
Huge economic consequences due to reparation which led to hyperinflation in 1933 and later economic crisis
Great Depression
Hyperinflation and great depression
Recovered from hyperinflation in two years thanks to Stresseman’s policies
The depression was due to loans from America - Dawes Plan and Young Plan - when they withdrew loans, it led to business collapsing and unemployment skyrocketing - by 1932 6 million people were unemployed - people once again lost faith in the democratic system
economic instability severely weakened the Weimar Republic
Political Threat
Spartacist Uprising 1919, Kapp Putsch 1923, Munich Putsch 1923
Showed that the government was under constant threat - revealed its fragility
Right wing bias of the army and the judiciary meant that any threat from the right was tolerated
allowed figures like Hitler to thrive - he spent less than a year in prison
Lack of support from key institutions
Army, Judiciary, Civil service
Many members of the civil service were against the Weimar’s policies - push comes to shove, refused to defend democracy
Eval - the republic was unfortunately fighting against its own institutions - without their support, always vulnerable
Public disillusionment
Weimar governments being unstable and changing frequently made people lose trust in democracy
Many saw it as weak, and compared it to the old imperial system
compounded with economic and political crises, this allowed the radical to rise as appealing alternatives
Even with key figures like Stresseman, it was not for long since he died in 1928 - Weimar lacked strong leadership
Timeline of leaders
Hindenburg, Stresseman, Bruning, Von Papen, Von Schleicher, Von Papen
