- Weimar Germany was born into a tumultuous period. It is safe to say that the massive economic reparations and arge loss of land incurred by the treaty of Versailles, left Germany as a nation humiliated. On top of this, Germany was forced to make a 180 degree spin with regards to its political system. Form a dictatorship under Kaiser Wilhelm the II, Germany was forced to adopt a completely democratic form of government. In the eyes of the idealistic woodrow wilson, this was a welcome turn of events. However, it is erroneous to assume that a political system has the ability to change overnight. A few of the problems encountered by Germany will be detailed below
- Ineffectiveness of the new government
Facts:
1.
There was an article known as article 48 in the constitution that offered the president plenary powers to override the decision of the Reichstag. However, since the reichstag was dependent on proportional representation and required a 2/3rds majority to make a decision, it was an extremely ineffective body. Thus, article 48 was abused and Germany was still a pseudo-dictatorship. In fact, Friedrich Ebert (president) had to exercise article 48, 136 times whilst in power.
2.
There were 26 coalition governments and 376 political assassinations in Germany between the years of 1919-1932.
3.
Articles 114-119 of the Constitution stipulated a. Habeas Corpus b. The house is an asylum c. privacy of communication d. freedom of speech.
Articles 121-125 of the constitution stipulated a. right to assemble unarmed without permission from the government. b. right to form organizations and clubs and for these clubs to achieve legal status.
- Political Polarization
1. Spartacist Uprising
- On the 4th of January 1919, 500,000 citizens stormed Berlin, taking the city by force. These were believers in the spartacists, a political group aligned left.
- Led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, the spartacists were successful until the classic dichotomy of revolution took place between the two leaders. Contrasting ideologies stalled progress of the revolution.
- The government took advantage of this and hired the Freikorps - a right wing paramilitary group - to dissolve the revolution and they did so successfully. 17 freikorps and 156 civilians lost their lives.
2. Kapp Putsch
- On the 13th of March 1920, Dr. Wolfgang Kapp led the Freikorps to storm Berlin, forcing the government to flee.
- The army refused to fire because many Freikorps were previously soldiers in the German army. Hence, the head of the army Oliver Seekct said, "soldiers don't shoot fellow soldiers".
- The government called for a strike and a 12 million man strike eventually ended the coup. Due to the strike, Berlin was without water, electricity or gas and the Freikorps finally surrendered.
3. Munich Putsch
- 8-9th of November 1923, Hitler tried to lead a putsch to seize power in Munich, Bavaria.
- 16 nazis died and 4 policemen lost their lives as a result of the clashes
- Hitler was arrested, however there were two factors here that would help his rise to power:
1. He was given a 24 day trial, upon which he preached his nationalist teachings
2. His sentence was to serve house arrest in Landsberg Prison, during which he produced Mein Kampf.
Hence, as idealistic as a democracy seemed at the time, perhaps Woodrow Wilson and the rest of the allies should have taken a little more caution when forcing democracy upon Germany. Coupled with the sustained and crippling damage done to the army and economy, it was foolish to give German citizens total and unbridled freedom to express their discontent.