Formation Of The Weimar Republic 1918-19 Flashcards
from autocracy to democracy
From October 1918-May 1919 Germany transitioned from the Kaiser’s autocracy into a democracy called The Weimar Republic.
the revolution from above: september-october 1918
By September 1918 Germany was losing the war and in retreat on the Western Front.
General Ludendorff told the Kaiser that Germany was losing the war and should appeal to the USA for an armistice.
However much of the German public were unaware of this as the government controlled media was lying to them and saying they would still win.
When the public found out the truth, the Kaiser’s government would get the blame – A PROBLEM!
lundendorffs plan
General Erich Ludendorff advised the Kaiser (in September) to create a more democratic system. To give power to the Reichstag to make laws (legislative power).
This was not because Ludendorff was a nice liberal democratic person. He was not. He was on old right-wing general.
However by passing power to the politicians just before they lost a world war, he could shift the blame for losing the war to the politicians and away from the army and the Kaiser.
They could then say that the army were ‘stabbed in the back’ by cowardly left-wing politicians.
blame the politicians for the loss of the war
On 2nd October 1918 full legislative power was given to the Reichstag politicians.
The Army High Command gave up its political role
A new Chancellor Max von Baden was appointed.
Peace negotiations started with the USA.
a revolution from below & abdication of the kaiser: November 1918
The Revolution from Below began with the KIEL MUTINY on 28th October 1918.
Word had got out that the war was lost yet the High Seas Fleet had been ordered to sea to attack the British navy. So they mutinied.
There were riots in the town of Kiel which quickly spread to other cities such as Berlin and Munich.
The rioters were angry that the war was lost and yet this had been kept from the public by the media.
This is known as THE GERMAN REVOLUTION
why did the kaiser abdicate
1) Because he feared that if he didn’t then the revolution would continue, get worse and there would be chaos.
2) In Russia in 1917 COMMUNISTS had seized power in a revolution. German Communists were called Spartacists and were already trying to stir up the riots and strikes more and to push for the complete overthrow of the government. The Kaiser believed that he had to go in order to stop this.
3) The Americans told the German government that they would only negotiate with them if the Kaiser abdicated. They blamed him for starting the war.
the red republic
In November 1918, Spartacists seized control of Bavaria and declared it to be a separate country.
They called it the Bavarian Soviet Republic or The Red Republic.
It was led by Kurt Eisner and its capital was Munich.
This massively HYPED UP the fear of Communism felt by the Kaiser and the rich.
the writing of the Weimer constitution: spring 1919
The final stage of the forming of the Weimar Republic was the writing of its new Constitution in spring 1919.
A Constitution is set of rules by which a country is governed (who are the leaders, how do the elections work etc) They can also list the rights of the citizens.
This took place in the town of WEIMAR, which is why the republic is called THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC.
Chancellor Friedrich Ebert and other politicians from the Reichstag drew up the new Constitution
the main rules in the constitution
Power would be divided between a PRESIDENT and a CHANCELLOR.
The President would be elected every 7 years and would run foreign policy.
The Chancellor would be chosen by the President and would run domestic (internal) policy.
The Reichstag (Parliament) would be elected every 4 years and the Chancellor would need to win votes in the Reichstag in order to pass laws.
All adults could vote, including women.
A Bill of Rights guaranteed basic human rights for the people, including freedom of speech.
article 48 of the constitution
Article 48 of the Constitution gave the President EMERGENCY POWERS to rule by decree (without Parliament) in ‘an emergency’. But what an ‘emergency’ was wasn’t made clear.
If 2/3 of the Reichstag MPs voted for AN ENABLING ACT then full dictatorial powers could be given to the Chancellor in ‘an emergency’.
BOTH OF THE ABOVE HAVE BEEN HUGELY CRITICISED BY HISTORIANS BECAUSE OF WHAT HAPPENED LATER
Also the voting system was a type of proportional representation which meant that the governments were all COALITION GOVERNMENTS (several political parties in them).
THIS HAS ALSO BEEN CRITICISED AND IS ACCUSED OF CAUSING UNSTABLE GOVERNMENTS
