Political Weakness of the
Weimar Government
The Weimar
Republic had three serious weaknesses which contributed to its downfall
firstly, it was the system of proportional representation, the instability of Coalition Governments and
article 48 of the Weimar Constitution. With the proportional representation instead of voting for a Member of Parliament
(MP), Weimar Germans voted for a party.
Each party was then allocated seats in the Reichstag (president and parliament)
exactly reflecting to the number of people who had voted for it. This sounds fair, but in practice it
was a disaster it resulted in dozens of tiny parties, with no party strong
enough to get a majority, and, therefore, no government to get its laws passed
in the Reichstag. This was a major weakness
of the Republic. Secondly, the Weimar coalition never regained its majority.
Because no party ever gained as much as 50 percent of the vote, unstable
coalition governments became the rule in the 1920s, and by the end of the
decade more than a dozen governments had been formed, none capable of unified
action on major problems. Lastly, article 48 state that, during an emergency, the president did not
need the agreement of the Reichstag, but could issue decrees. The problem
with this was what constituted was as an emergency was not clearly defined, and
in the end, it turned out to be a back door that Hitler used to take
power legally.
Adapted from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/germany/weimarstrengthweakrev2.shtml
Source A:
Adapted
from: http://www.johndclare.net/Weimar2.htm
Description
for source A: Source A shows many people sitting in a hall. This suggest that
during the coalition government rules in 1920s there were many different
political parties as government which leads to them having no unified action on major problems.
Source B:
Adapted
from: http://www.slideshare.net/RCB78/weimar-constitution
Description
for Source B: Friedrich Ebert have misused article 48 multiple times which
suggest that implementation of article 48 has caused the Weimar Government to
be weak due to the president declaring a situation as dangerous falsely. Hitler
was recruited to join a military intelligence unit, and was assigned to keep
tabs on the German Worker’s Party. At the time, it was comprised of only a
handful of members. It was disorganized and had no program, but its members
expressed a right-wing doctrine consonant with Hitler’s. He saw this party as a
vehicle to reach his political ends.
Economic Weakness of the Weimar Government (Hyperinflation)
There
was poverty and high unemployment in Germany after WWI According to the Treaty
Of Versailles Germany had to pay £6.6 million in reparations to pay for the
death and destruction caused during Word War 1 in connection with the war guilt clause
the treaty also implied. Weimar Germany was
allowed to pay in kind (actual materials) as opposed to just cash. The
Government kept up with the reparations payments by printing more money. In
1922, Weimar Germany simply could not manage to pay another installments. The Allies did not believe especially France
where anger towards Germany still ran deep and the German government was
accused of trying to get out of her reparations responsibilities. In 1923,
French and Belgium troops invaded the Ruhr; Germany’s most valuable industrial
area. The French and Belgium troops took over the iron and steel factories,
coal mines and railways. The government continued to print more money to get
the workers to go on strike to oppose the French. Which affected the Germany
economy tremendously.
Source A:
Adapted from: http://www.newstatesman.com/europe/2013/09/german-trauma
Descriptions
for Source A: Picture showing children stacking up money in piles which
suggests that that the Germany currency was worthless during the period of
hyperinflation.
However, Under the Nazi party’s leadership, German economic recovered and became stable by introducing public work programs like the building of roads and highway and public buildings. The Nazis involved the Reich Labour Service an agency to help reduced unemployment while at the same time providing infrastructure and facilities to the public. Furthermore, Militarization through conscription and reduced unemployment drastically. By 1939 there were 1.4 million men serving as soldiers for Germany. This created a lot of jobs as men were needed to make war materials such as weapons equipment and uniforms. Hitler later decided that he needed modern air force as it helps boost the economy and also provides employment. Thirdly, big industries thrive and grew under the Nazi government especially important industries that contributed to the rebuilding of Germany like oil, steel, coal and weapons. These industries were favored by the Nazi government. In return these companies made compulsory donations to the Nazi party and Government. Massive amount spent on rearmament increases the income of companies involves in the productions of war materials. The Nazi party’s finances strengthened their power and influence. Hitler has no doubt been successful in building up the economy of Germany and also improved the life of the Germans. This led to Hitler becoming extremely popular with the German gaining the support of them leading to his rise to power.
However, Under the Nazi party’s leadership, German economic recovered and became stable by introducing public work programs like the building of roads and highway and public buildings. The Nazis involved the Reich Labour Service an agency to help reduced unemployment while at the same time providing infrastructure and facilities to the public. Furthermore, Militarization through conscription and reduced unemployment drastically. By 1939 there were 1.4 million men serving as soldiers for Germany. This created a lot of jobs as men were needed to make war materials such as weapons equipment and uniforms. Hitler later decided that he needed modern air force as it helps boost the economy and also provides employment. Thirdly, big industries thrive and grew under the Nazi government especially important industries that contributed to the rebuilding of Germany like oil, steel, coal and weapons. These industries were favored by the Nazi government. In return these companies made compulsory donations to the Nazi party and Government. Massive amount spent on rearmament increases the income of companies involves in the productions of war materials. The Nazi party’s finances strengthened their power and influence. Hitler has no doubt been successful in building up the economy of Germany and also improved the life of the Germans. This led to Hitler becoming extremely popular with the German gaining the support of them leading to his rise to power.
Source B:
Adapted from: https://www.emaze.com/@ALFFRTLI/History-Presentation
Description
for Source B: Picture showing the statistics of Germany unemployment rate
decreasing tremendously under Hitler’s leadership.
THE GREAT DEPRESSION
The Great
Depression (1929-39) was the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn in
the history of the Western industrialized world. In the United States, the
Great Depression began soon after the stock market crash of October 1929, which
sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors. Over the
next several years, consumer spending and investment dropped, causing steep
declines in industrial output and rising levels of unemployment as failing
companies laid off workers. By 1933, when the Great Depression reached its
nadir, some 13 to 15 million Americans were unemployed and nearly half of the
country’s banks had failed. Though the relief and reform measures put into
place by President Franklin D. Roosevelt helped lessen the worst effects of the
Great Depression in the 1930s, the economy would not fully turn around until
after 1939, when World War II kicked American industry into high gear.
Adapted from: http://www.history.com/topics/great-depression
“The German economy is doing well only on the surface. Germany is in
fact dancing on a volcano. If the short-term loans are called in by America,
most of our economy will collapse.”
Adapted from: a speech made by Gustav Stresemann shortly before his
death on 3 October 1929.
The impact of the Wall Street Crash:
1) 12 million people out of work
2) 12,000 people being made unemployed every day
3) 20,000 companies had gone bankrupt
4) 1616 banks had gone bankrupt
5) 1 farmer in 20 evicted
6) 23,000 people committed suicide in one year
Adapted from: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk...ssion_1929.htm
From the introduction of The Great Depression, I know that it lasted for
more than a decade. It affected almost every country in the world but mainly
Germany as she was heavily reliant on US loans. Companies throughout Germany
suffered an economic crisis (especially the industrialized Ruhr region) and
millions were gone. Banks collapsed and millions of people lost their life
savings. The government could no longer afford unemployment benefits and had to
make cuts to social services like homelessness, starvation… etc.
HITLER’S
CHARISMA AND ORATORICAL SKILLS
Back
in 1933, Hitler sought to garner support from the Germans as being a chancellor
was not enough for him to successfully rise to power. With that, Hitler was charismatic
and his excellent oratorical skills had aided him to achieve his aim. His
ideologies of having an ‘Aryan’ master race and the abolition of Treaty of
Versailles were very well received by the Germans. Also, he
delivers powerful and persuasive speeches portraying himself with sincere,
giving hope to the Germans or even as a possible saviour for Germany, thus able
to sway the German public. As he sought to establish a greater Germany and
reclaim its former glory, the speeches addressed and appealed to the Germans
who were leading a delusional life after World War 1. Hitler then took another
step to reorganize the Nazi party by increasing the party’s membership, making
it even credible and tenacious than before. As a result, this successfully won
the hearts of the Germans, winning him a significant number of votes for the
elections.
Source A:
Descriptions
for Source A: The picture shows Germans crowding around Hitler, extending their
hands. His high popularity is distinctive as it was to the extent that his
guards beside him had to stand out in order to block out the over supportive
Germans. Hitler’s charisma has been proven by the source suggesting that the
Germans were very supportive and he was well-liked by the public. It also
suggests that Hitler’s means of rising to power by taking advantages of his
charisma and oratorical skills has been efficient, without relying on the
favorable circumstances in Germany. Being a powerful and persuasive speaker,
Hitler delivers his speeches with excellent oratorical skills, successfully
addressed the people’s concerns.
Source B:
“Behind them all stands either the Jew or their own
moneybags. They are all nothing but money-grubbers, living on the profits of
this war.”
“I look to the
future with fanatical confidence. The whole nation has answered the call. I
know that when the command is given: Forward march! Germany will march.”- Adolf Hitler, a speech extract from 1932
Descriptions
for Source B: This source being an extract from Hitler’s speech, tells me that
to gather support from the German public ,he established his Nazi ideology and
made very well use of his oratorical skill .‘The Jew...they are all nothing but
money-grubbers’ mentioned Nazi ideology, glorifying the ‘Aryan’ race by making
the Jews as despicable people. ‘The whole nation has answered the
call...Forward march! Germany will march’ Hitler’s speeches act as a motivations,
influencing the Germans and creating an identity for them.
Exploitation of the fears of communism
Hitler
cleverly exploited the fears that individuals had about communism to propel his
own cause. As the Weimar Government turned out to be progressively unsteady,
Germans swung to either radical right-or left-wing parties. The Nazi Party and
the communists became popular during the difficult times after the Great
Depression, many Germans believed that the Weimar Government was a failure and
was open to trying out alternate forms of ruling or Government. Hitler
made use of propaganda to spread fears about the aims of communism, he also
managed to convince people that the Nazi party was the only party that is
capable of providing order and stopping the communists. Many Rich
Industrialists also supported the Nazi Party as they didn't want a Communist
Government but an Anti-Communist Government. After the Great Depression many
workers turned to communism, and this frightened wealthy businessmen, so they
financed Hitler's campaigns. With Strong finance support, Hitler
was able to build a sizable Private Army named Sturmabteilung (SA) or Strom
troopers, consisting of about 20,700,000 soldiers in total.
Adapted From: http://www.slideshare.net/carolinechua/chapter-4-7855312
Source A:
Picture
Adapted From: http://www.bytwerk.com/gpa/posters2.htm
Description for
Source A: A March 1933 poster. The Poster is trying to say
that "In the deepest need Hindenburg chose Adolf Hitler for Reich
Chancellor, therefore German Citizen should also vote for Adolf Hitler as he
will help Germany rebuilt and make it great again and also fight away the
communist as communism will destroy Germany." Hitler knew that Rich
Industrialists were afraid of communism, as communism would mean that they
would loss most of their wealth and assets, so Hitler proposed to the people
that if he were to get into power he would prevent communism from happening
thus the Rich Industrialist supported and donated large amount of money to the
Nazi Party. With the strong financial support, Hitler built a large private
army that were then used to scare away other opposing parties which eventually
led to his rise to power.
Summary
In
the early 1930s, the mood in Germany was grim. The worldwide economic
depression had hit the country especially hard, and unemployment rate rose to 6
million. Still fresh in the minds of many was Germany’s humiliating defect
fifteen years earlier during World War I, and Germans lacked confidence in
their weak government, known as the Weimar Republic. These conditions provided
the chance for the rise of a new leader, Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazi
Party. Hitler’s charismatic characteristic and his oratorical skills attracted
a wide following of Germans desperate for change. He promised the disenchanted
a better life and a new and glorious Germany. The Nazis appealed especially to
the unemployed, young people, and people from the lower middle class. The
party’s rise to power rapid. Before the economic depression struck, the Nazis
were practically unknown, winning only 12 seat in Reichstag (German parliament)
in elections in 1924. In the 1932 elections, the Nazis won 230 seats, more than
any other party. In January 1933 Hitler was appointed chancellor, the head of
the German government, and many Germans believed that they had found a saviour
for their nation. Due to all the problem faced in Germany after World War I,
Adolf Hitler used this factors to his advantages and rose to power in1933 and
became the chancellor.
https://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?Moduleid=10007671
Done by:Tan Jin Cai,Ng Yi Xun ,Hew Wei Lun ,Natalyn and Edison
Done by:Tan Jin Cai,Ng Yi Xun ,Hew Wei Lun ,Natalyn and Edison
