Chapter 4 Flashcards
The 1919 and 1920 Reichstag
elections. Seats in Jan 19 vs June 20
USPD= 22-83
SPD=163-103
DDP=75-39
Centre=91-64
DVP=19-65
DNVP=44-71
KPD=0-4
Why was political fragmentation a problem?
Before 1914 there were a wide array of political parties representing different religions, classes, regions and special interest groups. Since political parties in the Reichstag had no say in the choice of governments, this was not a major problem. In the Weimar Republic, however, the fragmentation of political parties was a matter of great importance since governments needed to command majority support in the Reichstag. With an electoral system based on proportional representation, no one party was ever in a position to form a government by itself and all governments, therefore, were coalitions.
How was politics becoming more divided?
The fragmentation of political parties became even more pronounced as
German society became more divided. Moreover, many parties, both large and small, were dedicated to the overthrow of the Republic.
Examples of coalition governments not being able to deal with tough circumstances and major decisions
In June 1919, for example, the Scheidemann cabinet resigned because it could not agree on signing the Treaty of Versailles. Similarly disagreements in the Fehrenbach cabinet, over whether to accept the Allied ultimatum on reparations, brought it down in May 1921.
Effects of increased division on government
This placed an even greater burden of responsibility on the moderate centre parties, such as the SPD, the Centre Party and the DDP, to work together to form stable coalitions.
Although the party leaders understood the need for compromise, the country faced unprecedented problems which called for tough and unpalatable decisions, which placed severe strains on coalition governments. In June 1919, for example, the Scheidemann cabinet resigned because it could not agree on signing the Treaty of Versailles. Similarly disagreements in the Fehrenbach cabinet, over whether to accept the Allied ultimatum on reparations, brought it down in May 1921.
Another reason why it was difficult to form stable coalitions was that, in times of social, economic and political crisis, society became more polarised and support for the moderate parties ebbed away. The more extreme parties on the left and the right gained support. Since these parties would not join coalition governments, the task of forming a government with a Reichstag majority became even harder. This was evident after the1920 Reichstag election.
General party story of first four years of republic
The story of the first four years of the Weimar Republic was one of unstable governments and shifting coalitions. It is also a story of the changing fortunes of the SPD. Whereas in 1918-19 it was the SPD that had taken the lead in establishing the Republic and trying to form stable governments, after June 1920 the SPD ceased to take a leading role in any coalition government due to internal divisions and sometimes did not participate in the ruling coalition at all. This is summarised in Table 2 below.
How many coalition govs between Feb 19 and Nov 23 and effect?
In the period between February 1919 and November 1923 there were no less than ten coalition governments. Although many of the changes in cabinets involved little more than a reshuffling of the political pack of cards, these frequent changes meant that continuity of policy was impossible to achieve and confidence in the whole democratic process was undermined. Overall, it was the extreme anti-democratic parties of the left and right which benefitted most from this undermining of confidence in the democratic system.
KEY CHRONOLOGY
Political extremism 1919-23
1919 January
Spartacist rising in Berlin
March
Second Spartacist rising in Berlin
April
Strikes in Halle and the Ruhr
October
Assassination of
Hugo Haase
1920 February
Kapp Putsch
April
Workers’ revolts in Saxony and
Thuringia
1921 March
Communist-led revolt in Saxony, spread to Hamburg and the Ruhr
August
Assassination of
Erzberger
1922 June
Assassination of
Rathenau
1923 October
Communist-led revolt in Saxony
November
Beer Hall Putsch in
Munich
What happened to extremism in these years?
There was continuing political violence as parties of the left and right set up armed and uniformed paramilitary squads to guard their meetings, march through the streets and beat up their opponents. Violence on the streets became the norm in many cities as political differences became more polarised.
Sparticist Uprising
On 5 January 1919, the Spartacus League, known as the Sparticists, led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, staged an armed uprising in Berlin to overthrow Ebert’s government and set up a revolutionary communist regime. Newspaper offices and some public buildings were occupied. The revolt was poorly prepared. It was also poorly supported, as the Spartacists had not secured the support of the majority of the working class in Berlin, in whose name they claimed to be acting. Ebert’s government relied upon the army to put down the revolt, but General Groener had few reliable military units at his command. He therefore had to use the irregular forces of the new Freikorps. By 13 January, the Spartacist rising had been crushed after brutal street fighting in which many prisoners, including Liebknecht and Luxemburg, were executed. The defeat of the uprising cleared the way for the
government to hold elections to the Constituent Assembly later in January, but the brutality with which the revolt had been suppressed, and Ebert’s
reliance on the army and the Freikorps, deepened the divisions on the Left for many years to come.
How big was the left wing threat?
The defeat of the Spartacists did not end left-wing rebellion. The workers, who had played a key role in the overthrow of the Kaiser in November 1918, had been disillusioned by the revolution’ that followed and frustrated that the Weimar Republic seemed too ready to compromise with the Right. Economic conditions also bred disorder, while demobilised soldiers found it hard to adjust to civilian life. Although the new German Communist Party (KPD) had only minority support in Germany, it was nevertheless a committed, radical minority with strong support in the industrial centres in the Ruhr and Saxony.
Inspired by the example of the successful Russian Bolshevik revolution in 1917, and heavily influenced by the Comintern, the KPD was keen to lead a communist revolution in Germany. However, ultimately it did not have the support or the determination to do so. The government was never seriously threatened by these left-wing revolts, but continued working-class rebellions did damage the Republic as fear of a ‘red revolution’ frightened the law-abiding middle classes into supporting right-wing parties.
Who were the Freikorps?
Faced with the disintegration of much of the regular army in the chaos of defeat and revolution at the end of 1918, Field Marshal Hindenburg and General Groener encouraged former officers to recruit volunteer forces into new Freikorps units. The majority
of the recruits came from demobilised junior army officers
and NCOs (e.g. corporals and sergeants), but the Freikorps also attracted students, adventurers and drifters. Placed under the overall command of General Walter Luttwitz, the Freikorps were supplied with uniforms and weapons from army stores but were not officially part of the army. In action, therefore, the Freikorps were less disciplined and were able to give full expression to their rabid spirit of aggression and revenge (as historian Richard Evans says in The Coming of the Third Reich).
What was Comintern?
the Communist
International, set up in 1919 to oversee the actions of Marxist parties across the world; Socialist groups from other countries were invited to join and receive support, but leadership was in the hands of the Russian Communist Party
Further Left-wing risings
March 1919
There was another Spartacist rising in Berlin. In Bavaria, a communist government based on workers’ councils, was established. These were both suppressed.
April 1919
There was a wave of strikes in Germany’s industrial heartlands of Halle and the Ruhr valley. As well as asking for shorter hours, the strikers demanded more control over their own industries and a government based on workers
councils
1920
The troubles continued, and after the workers had shown their power in defeating the right-wing Kapp Putsch (see below] with a general strike in Berlin, communists formed a ‘Red Army’ of 50,000 workers and seized control of the Ruhr. A virtual civil war followed as the regular army and Freikorps struggled to crush the rising. Troubles also broke out in Halle and Dresden, and over 1000 workers and 250 soldiers and police were killed.
More disturbances in Saxony and Thuringia, where the workers organised self-defence units, were also put down in April.
March 1921
The KPD tried to force a revolution, beginning with a rising in Saxony. The strike disruption spread to Hamburg and the Ruhr, but the risings were crushed by the police and 145 people were killed.
1923
There was a further bout of strike activity at the time of Germany’s economic collapse. This was again centred in Saxony and Hamburg, but it too was suppressed.
How threatening was the challenge from the right?
The powerful right wing posed a major threat to the Weimar government. The Right had been hostile to the Republic from the outset since it did not believe in democracy and it accused the politicians who now led Germany of having betrayed the Fatherland. This, however, was the limit of what they agreed upon. There were many competing right-wing groups with different objectives. Some wished to see the restoration of the monarchy, whilst others advocated a dictatorship in one form or another. In areas such as Bavaria there were groups that fought for separation from the rest of Germany, whilst others wanted a united Germany so that it could become a great power again. These divisions weakened the ability of right-wing groups to overthrow the Republic. Nevertheless, right-wing ideas were strong amongst members of the Freikorps and in the army, whilst the large landowners, industrialists, civil servants, police and judges on whom the Republic relied were also traditional conservative anti-republicans.
