Weakness of the Weimar Government

Hilter's Germany: Weakness of Weimar Government

structure of proportional representation

1. The system of proportional representation 

Proportional representation is a system in which a political party receives the same percentage of seats in parliament as the percentage of votes it won in the election.

Germany had been controlled by authoritarian rule for a very long time. The democratic Weimar Government had a president who was chosen by the people. There were no specific candidates for the party and people voted for a party instead. Parties gained the seats based on the number of votes won and the parties who gained the most number of seats wins.

2. The Weimar government was unable to keep order in the country. They spent majority of their time trying to put riots and attempts to overthrow the government to an end. Members of the Weimar government became targets for attack. Many were shocked by the level of violence in the country and lost confidence in the government of maintaining law and order.

Spartacists carrying red flag through the streets of
Berlin in their call for revolution on 1 December 1918.

3. The Weimar Government was opposed by the left. The 'left' refers to the Communists. One of the communist group 'Spartacists' wanted to pull down the Weimar Government as they want to set up Communist government that is similar to the Soviet Union one. The communist workers soon took control over many parts of Germany such as public buildings and put up red flags which is the symbol of communism, along the streets. President Ebert subdue the Spartacist by deploying the Friekorps. The Spartacists rebellion took place on 5 January 1919 and ended on 10 January 1919. There were occasionally fights between the Friekorps and the Spartacists in Berlin. Many of the Spartacists were killed including the Spartacists leaders, Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht. 

4. The Weimar government was opposed by the right. The 'right' comprises mainly the German Army who objected to signing of the Treaty of Versailles. There were disagreement with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles where Germany were expected to pay 269 billion gold Reichsmarks for reparation. Germany was not allowed to have any submarines, tanks and air force and this greatly affected the country. Germany's colonies were taken away, losing 10% of the population and 13.5% of land. The German Army also wanted a dictatorial government that has the power over the country and decline Germany's defeat in the war, blaming the politicians for not having the courage to continue the war.  

Weimar Republic Issues after WW1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rsfBg4SFy4

 

Sources

Source A: Dr Kapp explains the situation in Germany in 1919.
Prices are rising. Hardship is growing. Starvation threatens. The government lacks authority and is incapable of overcoming  the danger. From the east we are threatened with destruction by communism.

Study Source A. Do you think this source was published by a supporter or opponent of the Weimar government? Use the source and your knowledge to explain your answer.

 The source was published by a opponent of the Weimar government. As seen from the source, 'Dr Kapp was always against the Weimar government in its early years.'  Source A shows the problem faced by the country such as social, economic and political issues and stating that Weimar government is incapable to overcome the problems. As seen from the source, 'The government lacks authority.' Dr Kapp was a right-wing politician during the early 1920s who was always critical of the Weimar government and this is made clear by the source that the government is incapable of overcoming internal and external threats of Germany.

Source B: A French soldier guarding a train full of German coal from the Ruhr in 1923.

Study Source D. Explain why the German people were angered by events in the Ruhr in 1923. Use the source and your knowledge to explain your answer.

In 1923, the French took coal from the Ruhr because the Germans could not pay their reparations. This angered the Germans as their coal were taken away to pay the reparations. French and Belgians invaded the Ruhr.This badly affected them as the coal they took were goods and raw materials owned  by Germany and caused their industrial production to collapsed.

Source C: From a book by an historian written in 1993 

The government had not only given its approval to the forming of the Freikorps, but had 

actively participated in forming them.  Those troops who were available for the purpose were 

for the most part men who had no homes and no jobs to go to, or who were reluctant to return 

to civilian life. 

Explain why the Weimar government was able to survive the attempts to overthrow it 

between 1919 and 1923.      

Use source C and your own knowledge to explain your answer.  

The source is about the Freikorps which was a paramilitary group of ex‐soldiers from the First World War. These men were battle‐hardened veterans of the war and hated Communists. The government used them to crush Communist uprisings in 1919 and 1920 such as the Spartacist Rising in Berlin. The Freikorps brutally killed the leaders of the Spartacists – Karl Liebknecht 

and Rosa Luxemburg.

The Weimar government was also able to overcome the Kapp Putsch in 1920 by 

calling on the workers to hold a general strike.  The workers stopped the transport 

and communications systems in Berlin and this prevented Wolfgang Kapp from 

having any real power so his uprising collapsed.  The government was also able to 

survive the Munich Putsch in 1923 because the Army in Bavaria stayed loyal rather 

than joining the Nazis as Hitler had hoped.  The Army shot at the marching 

Brownshirts who were forced back and later Hitler was arrested.

Citation: Source A&B 
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:W781DCJ0wgsJ:www.schoolhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php%3Fapp%3Dcore%26module%3Dattach%26section%3Dattach%26attach_id%3D3219+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=sg
source C
http://clc2.uniservity.com/GroupDownloadFile.asp?GroupId=58332&ResourceID=35554Source

D