Establishment & Early Years of Weimar

Question 1

Who is made the first Presiden of Germany?

Answer 1

Friedrich Ebert (President 1919 - 1925 when died in office)

Question 2

What year was the Weimar Republic established?

Answer 2

1918

Question 3

Why is it called the Weimar republic?

Answer 3

Because of the unstable political situation in the capital (Spartacist Uprising, Jan 1918 in Berlin), the meeting was held in the small town Weimar instead

Question 4

When did the Kaiser abdicate?

Answer 4

9th November 1918. He’s fine, fled

Question 5

Why did the Kaiser abdicate?

Answer 5

Revolution from above - Prince Max signed his abdication before the Kaiser agreed to it
Pressure from below - mutiny (Wilhelmshaven e.g.)
Initial problem was stab in the back myth, people thought they were doing fine in the war, then discovered peace negotiations happening behind their back

Question 6

What were Ebert’s initial problems?

Answer 6

Economic, social, left, right, military

Question 7

Talk about Ebert’s initial problem:

a) Right wing
b) Left wing

Answer 7

a) Hated the new democracy, wanted a strong man in charge like before - Kaiser/ dictator
b) Saw the SPD as a betrayal - wanted a full revolution & reform of everything - judges, law, government, army

Question 8

What is bolshevism?

Answer 8

Communism. Mainly supported by workers & lower classes

Question 9

Talk about Ebert’s initial problem:

Economic & Social

Answer 9

Allied blockade - 750,000 died of starvation
Flu going round
Inflation from reparations

Question 10

Talk about Ebert’s initial problem:

Army

Answer 10

Now the war as over, 5 million soldiers back in society
Treaty of Versailles limited it to 100,000 so felt weak
Freikorps (right wing) made of demilitarised soldiers, very anti-communist

Question 11

Who did Ebert need to keep Germany from chaos?

Answer 11

The armies support - done through Ebert-Groener pact

Question 12

What was the Ebert-Groener pact?

Answer 12

Between the Chancellor (Ebert) & General of the army
Compromise that as long as the army supported the government (which Ebert needed to prevent civil war), the previous leaders (mainly rich, right wing aristocrats) could stay in charge

Question 13

What problem was caused from the Ebert-Groener pact?

Answer 13

The Left wing hated the new Weimar republic for it, as the foundations of a supposedly more left wing society was based on old right wing people - same people in charge, not a full revolution.

Question 14

Who are these political parties?

a) SPD
b) KPD

Answer 14

a) Socialists, main ones in Weimar

b) Communists

Question 15

Who gained the largest share of the vote in January 1919?

Answer 15

The SPD. Also had the largest number of seats, but no overall majority so had to form coalitions.

Question 16

What did all the political parties agree on in the new constitution?

Answer 16

“It should represent a clear break with the autocratic constitution drawn up by Otto van Bismarck for the Empire in 1871” before, now:
“Political authority derives from the people” - designed to enshrine & guarantee the rights & powers of people

Question 17

Name a strength of the new Weimar constitution

Answer 17

1) Provided a wider right to vote than other countries (e.g. Britain & France). Anyone over 20 could vote, regardless of gender
2) Clear individual rights - “All Germans equal before the law… full religious freedom… censorship is forbidden”
3) Full democracy in local government & central government. Prussia (largest state) no longer in a position to dominate Germany
4) Referendums could be called by the president or the Reichsrat, if a tenth of the electorate applied for one
5) Proportional representation used, so smaller parties can win seats - fewer wasted votes

Question 18

Name a weakness of the new Weimar constituion

Answer 18

1) Army is free from political control, but far from neutral - very right. Will crush left wing revolts and do support/ do little against right wing revolts. Judges & civil servants from old order, so are undemocratic
2) Article 48 gives the President the power to rule by decree in emergencies. Ebert used this 136 times, often just to override opposition - democracy undermined by the overuse of it
3) Difficult to gain a consensus in he Reichstag & pass laws with the high number of parties with different agendas
4) Because lots of small parties, none of the large ones could gain an overall majority. This caused lots of coalition governments, most of them short lived
5) Proportional representation meant that small parties could gain seats in the Reichstag. So those often extreme parties could gain publicity & exploit the system

Question 19

How many times did Ebert use Article 48?

Answer 19

136 times, often just to override the opposition.

Overuse of it undermined democracy

Question 20

Why could you argue the Weimar constitution was always doomed to fail?

Answer 20

Because it was full of political instability & split between parties who couldn’t agree on much due to the small parties given seats through proportional representation. Could rarely reach a majority, so couldn’t act as much as they should. Also, the army and judicial system were still very biased against the left wing, so with right wing roots the Weimar constitution never would’ve lasted

Question 21

Why could you argue the Weimar constitution was not doomed to fail?

Answer 21

Their policies were very futuristic, with equality, banned censorship, religious freedom and anyone over 20 voting. The position they were put in at the end of the war meant that any government was going to fail in that situation