Question

3. Mention two reasons for the collapse of Weimar Republic.​

Answer 1

Answer

• Impact of conspiracy theories : During that times, Germany was allowing many conspiracy theories to circulate and flourish. This was one of the reasons for the downfall of the Weimar republic.

• Responses to the Treaty of Versailles : The treaty of Versailles imposed extremely harsh terms on germany. This was also a great blow to the Weimar Republic as they were reluctant to work according to those terms and conditions.

• Responses to the Treaty of Versailles : The treaty of Versailles imposed extremely harsh terms on germany. This was also a great blow to the Weimar Republic as they were reluctant to work according to those terms and conditions.The Difficulties of Minority Government: For the duration of the Weimar Republic, no single political party ever held an absolute majority of Reichstag seats which meant that no party was able to form a government on its own. To form government and push through legislation, parties had to group together into coalitions to form a majority. But the political divisions of the 1920s meant that these coalitions were fragile and unstable. Some parties, especially those on the radical fringes, refused to participate in Reichstag coalitions, or they entered them reluctantly or insincerely. This was also a reason that prevented the Weimar republic
• Responses to the Treaty of Versailles : The treaty of Versailles imposed extremely harsh terms on germany. This was also a great blow to the Weimar Republic as they were reluctant to work according to those terms and conditions.The Difficulties of Minority Government: For the duration of the Weimar Republic, no single political party ever held an absolute majority of Reichstag seats which meant that no party was able to form a government on its own. To form government and push through legislation, parties had to group together into coalitions to form a majority. But the political divisions of the 1920s meant that these coalitions were fragile and unstable. Some parties, especially those on the radical fringes, refused to participate in Reichstag coalitions, or they entered them reluctantly or insincerely. This was also a reason that prevented the Weimar republicfrom being truly successful.

Answer 2

Once Hitler was legally appointed he sought to tear the democratic institutions apart bit by bit. He passed the Reichstag Fire Decree, the Enabling Law, banned Trade Unions , and passed the law against creation of parties. All of this was achieved in about a year and the Reichstag simply acquiesced due to the climate of fear that Hitler had created.

The constitution itself played a part. It was very democratic on the one hand but also gave the President far too much power. Lots of different parties were elected and they often quarreled with each other in the Reichstag. The results can be seen below. Both Ebert and Hindenburg overused the presidential powers in this case. The continued use of Article 48 resulted in some interesting developments. Some would argue that because of this democracy was already dead before the Nazi Party came to power.

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