Why weimar republic failed
Answers
Answer:
Countless historians have sought to understand and explain the failure of the Weimar Republic. The only certainty is that the answer is complex and many factors were involved. Weimar Germany was at the mercy of many different ideas and forces – political and economic, internal and external, structural and short-term – that it is difficult to isolate one or two as being chiefly responsible for its demise. To the everyday observer, Adolf Hitler and Nazism appear the main architects of the downfall of Weimar democracy – but it required a ‘perfect storm’ of economic conditions before Hitler and the Nazis could emerge from the margins of German politics to become a national force. Some historians believe the Weimar Republic was brought undone by post-war conditions. Others argue that longer-term factors, such as Germany’s inexperience with democratic forms of government, were just as significant. This page summarises some of the main factors that contributed to the failure and fall of the Weimar state.
Responses to the Treaty of Versailles. The post-war peace settlement signed at Versailles, France in June 1919 imposed extremely harsh terms on Germany. The severity of these terms generated intense political debate and division within Germany. While the vast majority of Germans opposed the treaty, they were sharply divided about how to respond to it. Right-wing nationalist groups, like the NSDAP (Nazis), demanded the government repudiate the treaty and refuse to comply with its terms. The moderates and pragmatists of the Weimar republic rejected this approach, believing it would provoke retaliation, economic strangulation, even war or invasion. Later, under the ministership of Gustav Stresemann, the government’s approach was to restore foreign relations, to work for a re-negotiation of the Versailles treaty and a relaxation of its punitive terms. Among the German people, there was a consensus that Germany had been treated unfairly by the Treaty of Versailles – and that the Weimar government had meekly obeyed the will of foreign powers.
Germany’s reparations burden. Also stemming from Versailles was the problem of reparations: the financial payments imposed on Germany for its role in initiating World War I. Historians have formed different conclusions about reparations, whether the final reparations figure was justified and whether Germany was capable of meeting this obligation. Most agree that the reparations burden on Germany was excessive. These obligations hampered Germany’s post-war economic recovery and as a consequence undermined its political stability. By 1922 Germany was unable to fulfil its quarterly reparations instalments, triggering the occupation of the Ruhr region by French and Belgian troops, the hyperinflation crisis of 1923 and the collapse of two Weimar government coalitions. Reparations remained a divisive issue for the duration of the Weimar Republic.
why the weimar republic failed
A representation of the ‘stab in the back legend’, 1924
The impact of conspiracy theories. The fertile political environment in Weimar Germany allowed conspiracy theories to circulate and flourish. The most prolific and poisonous was the Dolchstosselegende or ‘stab in the back’ theory. According to this fallacious story, Germany’s November 1918 surrender was not the result of military defeat or exhaustion; instead, the surrender was engineered by socialists, liberals and Jews in Germany’s civilian government. The Dolchstosse myth had two significant effects. Firstly, it undermined public trust in the civilian government and particularly the Social Democratic Party (SPD), which was painted as treacherous and unpatriotic by right-wing nationalists. Secondly, the Dolchstosslegende protected the prestige and position of the German military and its commanders. Despite their failures in 1918, military commanders like Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff were able to retain their status and influence in the new republic. Evidence of this can be seen in the election of Hindenburg, who publicly supported the Dolchstosslegende, as president of the republic.
Reasons of failure of Weimer Republic
Explanation:
The Weimer Republic had faced a lot of problems from the very beginning. It was not very well accepted by the people of its own country. Because of the provisions of The Treaty of Versailles as it was forced to sign after the First World. The Germans held The Weimer Republic responsible for the humiliations .
When The Weimer Republic was established the economic condition of Germany was very bad. After the First World War Germany had to pay the war reparations. Germany was in heavy dept.
The Weimer Republic had introduced many reforms for economic recovery all of which failed.