...In 1918 when the Weimar republic was created, germans hoped they would pay off reparations and thrive once again as one of the world’s powers. Even though the Weimar republic might seem like the perfect democracy the Weimar republic had many weak points that could possibly make it collapse. Weaknesses were ample in the government as it was not structured nor was supported by the german people such as Proportional representation, Article 48, Unemployment, Weimar constitution, Hyperinflation. The importance is that the government was rushed as the germans were desperate to get out of a horrible time and, therefore, did not have enough time to set up the government in the right form nor have the structure that a long-term government should have...
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...Professor McBride ENG 090 05 April 2011 Democratization Processes in Post-War Germany Germany’s first attempt at democracy occurred under the government of the Weimar Republic. It was unsuccessful for several reasons; it was forced under uncertain defeat, and the population had little faith in democracy. Democratization after World War II was a completely different scenario, and it flourished due to international support and the willingness of the German people to assimilate to a democratic government. The Treaty of Versailles negotiated the terms of defeat for Germany after the First World War. The Weimar Republic, established in 1919, was a democratic government with parliamentary and federal systems. Frank Wilson indicates that the Weimar Republic looked great on paper and appeared to contain important features for democracy to succeed. For example, the constitution offered extensive rights and universal suffrage (128). “However, in practice the Weimar Republic was a failure. Reparation costs placed on Germany by the Versailles Treaty were astronomical” (Goldman 1). These demands were designed to punish them, and blame was placed entirely on Germany for causing the war. In additions to reparations, Germany had to concede much of its territory. Inflation further disabled the economy. Democracy was thus viewed as being detrimental to economic growth. The constitution also had its weaknesses. “First, it allowed for broad emergency...
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...regions and time and circumstance. Due to its nature, democracy is best fit in terms of incentives. Moreover, it is in a state’s vested interest in terms of democracy to adhere to gradual democratic change, in contrast to a political overhaul such as we see in Germany, France, and Italy. In these cases, democracy simply cannot thrive as democracy, by nature, requires gradual social change and must overcome bargaining costs and stabilizing change. The evidence that stands today, tested by the outcomes of history, maintains exactly this: democratic transition must be slow and concessional, thus mitigating the exit costs and cost of unilateral decisions or actions in terms of bargaining. Moreover, the difference between a stable and unstable democracy does not depend on education, economics, nor the middle class; rather, the success and stability of a democracy is formulated vis-à-vis it’s institutional factors. (Magagna 2/18). As actors, states are indeed rational and thus adhere to cost-benefit analyses in terms of bargaining power. In this analysis of political instability, it is evident that the sources are as follows: the potential benefits of transition exceed the costs of bargaining, fragmented party support creates a democratic deficit, linkage between democracy and redistribution, and the integration of violence unravels the social peace democracy needs to survive. These aspects of the degradation of democracy and consequential transition are most observable in post-war...
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...History 4,6,10 Questions Describe the problems facing Germany 1919-1921 After the war there were many problems facing Germany; the idea of a democracy, the threat from the left and the threat from the right. One left wing group was a communist party known as the sparticists. They were led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg. They argued strongly against the views the Weimar Republic leader Ebert policies. Early in 1919 the Sparticists launched their bid for power, joined by ex-soldiers and sailors they seized control of many towns. The Kaiser had been exiled and the allies made Germany have a democracy therefore the birth of the Weimar Republic. Many Germans though were against this as they were used to the old German ways; this caused much civil unrest and led to many acts of violence. The treaty of Versailles was created this was very outrageous for many Germans for example Germany had to accept responsibility for the war. The Germans thought that the Weimar Republic had stabbed Germany in the back. Finally the threat from the right these people liked the Kaisers way of rule and did not like the idea of democracy this caused even more unrest and caused riots in the future. These people were called the Freikorps. The leader Dr Wolfgang Kapp. Explain why the trench occupation of the ruhr causes problems for Germany in 1923 In January in 1923 French and Belgium troops entered the Ruhr to try and take resources for Germany to pay back their debt. The results of the...
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...allies (Britain, France and America) and the communist allies (Russia) formed two opposing democratic Germany’s; The Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the German Democratic Republic (GDR). This is significant, due to foreign powers controlling Germany’s political system, as well as the departure from Sonderweg, meaning Germany no longer followed a unique path of development and that nationalism and militarism were on the decline. The significance of the previous German eras, Kaiser Reich (Semi-Autocratic Empire), Weimar Republic (Federal Democracy) and the Third Reich (Dictatorship) are also significant, however in political terms they are not as significant as post 45. The significances of post 1945 can be seen by its success of creating a working democracy in Germany after 1945, the FRG. One reason why the FRG was successful revolves around the sudden decline in German militarism and nationalism. This is evident in the fact that the FRG’s constitution was based on the Weimar Republics concept of ‘Grundgesetz’, which means basic law. The implications of this is evident in that German nationalism after WW2 no longer believing in Sonderweg after the defeat of the Third Reich. This caused the abhorrence towards western democracy (being seen as weak and disorderly) to fade and in turn allowed the Germans to become more open towards the ideas of democracy and made them see themselves as an important part of the West. In the long term,...
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...To what extent was the Weimar Republic doomed to fail? To answer, one must recognize the demands of the question. Doomed, meaning ill-fated, is subjective and can be argued by analyzing historical evidence and historiographical interpretations. To fail means that it did not succeed in what it intended to do, which in this case, would be to transform Germany’s government into a peaceful democracy. Through two distinct historiographical lenses, one can determine whether the collapse of the Weimar Republic (1919 to 1933) was genuinely inevitable. Historical View #1 proposes that Hitler was a product of Germany’s authoritarian culture, and the Germans failed to develop a democratic tradition because they preferred a stronger state led by a powerful individual. Historical View #5 suggests that German support of Nazism was an emotional response to the crisis-state; Germans were disoriented with the economic crisis, and similar to View #1, sought firmer leadership. The Treaty of Versailles doomed the Weimar Republic because the German administration was unable to fulfill the treaty’s unrealistic demands for reparations, which ruined their domestic economy and fostered a strong authoritative leadership that would defend Germany against the terms and impoverishing effects of the ill-advised treaty. The Treaty of Versailles was intended to guarantee the Allies (and neighboring countries) peace and safety; however, the Allies neglected to recognize that the harsh demands of reparations...
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...The Basic Law or Grundgesetz for the Federal Republic of Germany was approved on 8 May 1949, and, with the signature of the western Allies of World War 2 on 12 May, came into effect on 23 May. The authors also ensured that human rights and human dignity was made the central and core part of the Basic Law. Key concepts in the basic law are principles of democracy, republicanism, federalism and social responsibility. These principles are constitutionally entrenched and they cannot be removed or repealed by the normal amendment process. Firstly this essay will look into what lead to the development of the new Basic Law and how the new parliamentary democracy was put into place with separation of powers into different branches of government. Secondly the essay will examine what were the specific changes from pre-1945 Germany and if which areas these changes were most visible. Here it will be important to look at the fundamentally differences from the Weimar Constitution, but also what the new Basic Law chose to keep from the Weimar Constitution. And why the authors of the Basic law felt that this was the safest way to construct a good state for all Germans where the sins of the past would never be repeated. In 1948 the three Western Allied military governors met in Frankfurt with the chief executive of the various states and “recommended” the calling of a constituent assembly by September 1, 1948, which was to draft a constitution for the three Western zones. None of the state...
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...of the Weimar Republic Key Vocabulary: Weimer Republic: The name of the German government lasting from the end of WWI (1919) to Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor (1933). Spartacists: A left-wing revolutionary group that later became the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) Nationalist: One who puts their country above all else The Reichstag: The German congress President Hindenberg: Leader of Weimar Republic Surprisingly, given its vast industrial and military power when the war began, Germany emerged from World War I a battered and, in many respects, a bewildered country. In the final months of 1918, Germans had witnessed the reversal of their army’s spring offensive, the resignation of the chancellor and abdication of the Kaiser, and the signing of a hastily arranged armistice, all in the midst of massive civil unrest. Establishment of the Weimar Republic. Germany had also changed internally. When the Kaiser and chancellor left, members of different political parties vied for power, and the country limped along for several months without a firm government in power. Then, in elections in January 1919, 76 percent of Germans voted for the three parties that favored democracy: the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Catholic Center (plus its allies in the Catholic Bavarian People’s Party), and the smaller German Democratic Party (DDP). In February, the elected officials met in the city of Weimar to draw up a constitution and establish a coalition, and the Weimar Republic...
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...Germany, which had been able to become a democratic republic. As Kershaw stated, “the future of Weimar looked promising. And without the onset of the world economic crisis from 1929 it might have remained so”. Thesis: The rise to power of Hitler and the Third Reich was to a large extent the result of previous political and economic problems, such as Germany’s authoritarian origins, the minimum support the Weimar Republic had, WWI and the Great Depression. Body Paragraph 1 – Political and social structure of German authoritarian origins Germany had always favored nationalism, militarism, and anti-Semitism; all emotions in the German people that went back to Germany’s roots and history. Before the Third Reich and the Weimar Republic, Germany lived a prosperous period known as the Second Reich, during which they became a great empire due to the authoritarian traditions and the military success. This is a view extremely supported by the “structuralists”, who believe that Nazism and Hitler were simply products of German history and that they were forces that still dominated during Weimar Germany, thus making it hard for Germany to develop stable and real democratic institutions. Body Paragraph 2 – Poor commitment to Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic 1919 was established in a period of chaos, after the monarchy abdicated, with Friedrich Ebert as the first president. This republic even had a very liberal and democratic Constitution;...
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...Why was the Weimar Republic so unpopular with many Germans between 1919 and 1923? Why was the Weimar Republic so unpopular with many Germans between 1919 and 1923? After The War a new type of government was set up in Germany. This was the Weimar Republic. Between 1919 and 1923 it had to deal with many problems. 1919 saw the Spartacist Rebellion and the new government was forced to agree to the unpopular Treaty of Versailles. In 1920 the Kapp Putsch succeeded in taking over the government for a while. In 1921 Germany began to pay reparations and inflation began to get out of control. Two years later France and Belgium invaded the Ruhr and the hyperinflation was now out of control. The NSDAP, led by Adolf Hitler and General Ludendorff, tried to take over the government at this time. This bad start had three main causes. The First reason why the Weimar Republic started badly was that there were political problems. Some people were very upset that the Kaiser had been forced to leave. This was a politically a bad start because it showed that some people would have preferred to have had the previous political system. The communists disliked the new republic because not much would change. The workers would still be poor and the rich would still be rich. ...read more. Middle The President of the Weimar Republic had potential to become a military dictator. This was a political problem for the Weimar Republic because the President could ignore the Chancellor and the Reichstag. Another...
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...beings have had to learn to work in isolation and in groups in order to survive. Fascinatingly, research has shown that working in groups and interactions with others has a significant impact on an individual’s behavior. However, not all examples of humans working in groups are positive. Perhaps the most shameful and horrifying example of the power of human behavior in groups, would be from the influence of Nazism. Pre-Nazi Germany was called the Weimar Republic prior to Hitler’s rule, discrimination, and totalitarianism. It was created after World War I when the Kaiser at the time was removed from power and a semi-presidential...
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...The Stresemann years of 1924-29 have often been portrayed as the “golden years” of Weimar Germany; however this idea has been challenged my many historians. During this period there was an element of political calm but it was mainly typified by political inaction and a failure of coalition governments to agree on any important issues. Economic development did occur but was minimal, and the period was one of slow economic growth and “relative stagnation”. Similarly, there were several signs of social progress and cultural development, but the years were significantly characterised by cultural polarisation. Therefore the blanket statement: “Germany experienced a period of political calm, economic development and social progress in the mid 1920s” ignores the problems in Weimar Germany at this time and is therefore not entirely correct, each clause contains some validity. In politics, there was a clear reduction in extra-parliamentary attempts opposing the government and political system. This was particularly significant as the preceding 1919-23 period was characterised by such threats from the Left and Right of the political spectrum, for example the Spartacist uprising, the Kapp Putsch and the Beer Hall Putsch. However, the mid 1920s cannot be said to have been years of political stability. Despite the reduction in threats to the Weimar state, the parliamentary system failed to mature and develop - a political stagnation developed, not a political calm. Seven governments...
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...fall of the Weimar Republic After the First World War, Germany became a democracy with government officials voted in by the people. However, because of the different parties voted into different offices at the same time, the government could not run smoothly. Everyone had an idea of how Germany should be ran, from avoiding war and following the rules of the treaty of Versailles, to building a military to get back what was taken from them. The difference of opinions of what the government should be led to many coups and strikes. The main problem of the republic was the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, the opposition saw it as a cowardly move, and it made a strong Germany look weak. This is the reason that the former soldiers such as those in the Free Corps unit were against the republic, because it seemed like the sacrifices they and their comrades’ made was for nothing. The Weiner Republic accepted defeat while the opposition held on to the position of victory and the treaty cheated them out of the victory. The conditions of the Treaty had a grim effect on Germany and especially its economy, and the fact that people in the government were wealthy “bourgeoisie” while the rest of the nation was suffering led to dissatisfaction of the republic. The Communist party and the Nazi party were against the hierarchy of society with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. With these two parties pointing out to the public the flaws of the Weimar Republic, it fueled...
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...Notes * U.S. Diplomacy and Russia In 1923, President Calvin Coolidge addressed the issue of Russian war debts. The President noted that the United States was resuming diplomatic relations with nations that had been cut off during World War I. The Russians, however, presented a problem for Coolidge because their communist form of government opposed democracy. * Italy Italy was a democracy when World War I began in 1914. The country's army fought alongside Allied forces. Unfortunately, the war left the government and economy of Italy unstable and a fertile ground for revolutionaries. Decisions made at the Paris Peace Conference denied the large territorial gains the Italian government expected after the war. In 1921, Benito Mussolini founded the National Fascist Party and rose up as a revolutionary leader. * Fascism was based on a foundation of authoritarianism and nationalism. For Mussolini, the most important aspect of a nation or state was the unity and survival of that state. Mussolini rejected democracy because he thought different political views and political parties weakened the unity of the state. * Taking Fascism on the Road Fascists disagreed with the communist belief that private property and businesses should belong to the state. The Fascists also believed that the nationalism of a state must be aggressively exported to other countries. In other words, the Fascists maintained that a nation had a right to invade and conquer a weaker nation...
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...Article 190 states that the German Army “must not comprise more than seven divisions of infantry and three divisions of cavalry . . . the Army must be devoted exclusively to the maintenance of order within the territory” (8 A. 160); stipulations designed to keep it weak enough that it couldn’t attack other countries. And yet, despite this, Germany started World War II in a better state than it did World War I (“Failed Peace”). The territories removed had only served to drain its resources, and over the following years the population rose (“Failed Peace”). Had Germany chosen to actually comply with the military restrictions, it wouldn’t have been able to start World War II, but it never truly intended to go through with its promises. The Weimar Republic began violating them almost immediately: hiding the German General Staff under another name, secretly training troops and developing equipment, colluding “with German military leaders to avoid the Versailles treaty restrictions” (“Failed Peace”, and even declaring that they would no longer comply before Hitler came to power (“Failed Peace”). This would have happened anyway, but the true failing of the Versailles Treaty and Allies is that they refused to enforce the conditions of the treaty and essentially allowed it to happen. America, an ocean away, refused to become involved, and Britain lost interest and fell...
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