Political developments and the working of democracy, 1924-28

Question 1

Who was elected as President in 1925?

Answer 1

Hindenburg, an opponent of the republic.

Question 2

What percentage of people voted for pro-republican parties in May 1924?

Answer 2

over 61%, and 67% in December 1924.

Question 3

What percentage of the vote did the Nazis win in the 1924 elections?

Answer 3

6.5% (May). 3% (December)

Question 4

Which party joined a Reich coalition govt in Jan 1925?

Answer 4

The DNVP.

Question 5

What did the political developments of 1924 show?

Answer 5

the democratic parties were struggling to provide stable governments that commanded widespread support.

Question 6

How many seats did the Nazis gain in 1928?

Answer 6

12, trailed behind obscure minor parties like the Bavarian People’s Party and the Party of the German Middle Class.

Question 7

How many coalition govts were there between November 1923 and March 1930?

Answer 7

7.

Question 8

What did historian Gordon Craig write about the government in the Weimar Republic?

Answer 8

it ‘resembled an endless cabinet crisis, with more time and energy expended on the task of filling ministerial chairs than in governing the country’.

Question 9

Why did the government of Luther collapse in 1926?

Answer 9

over a dispute of flags. President Hindenburg ordered that the old imperial flag, with its black, white and red colours should be flown alongside the new republican tricolour (black, red and gold) at all German consulates in other countries. resulting dispute led to collapse of govt.

Question 10

Who led the Grand Coalition of 1928?

Answer 10

Herman Muller of the SPD. it appeared to offer the potential for a more stable government. one of the longest-lived coalitions of the Weimar era, remained in office until March 1930.

Question 11

What were the subjects of the disputes in the Grand Coalition?

Answer 11

disputes over budget, foreign policy. government only survived because of the strong working relationship between Muller and Stresemann.

Question 12

SPD

Answer 12

left wing, remained the largest single party in the Reichstag during the years 1924-28. taken the leading role in the revolution of 1918 and establishment of Weimar republic. participated in only one of six coalitions that were established in these years. revolutionary Marxist rhetoric. inflexible on important issues and unwilling to make king of compromises that coalition govts required. close links with trade unions and appealed mainly to young people and women.

Question 13

Centre Party

Answer 13

established to defend the interests of the Roman Catholic Church in German Empire. religious affiliation. supported by workers and industrialists, farmers and their landlords as well as professional groups like teachers. more flexible and pragmatic, caused divisions over social and economic issues. vital to success of Weimar democracy. important leadership change in 1928, new leader = Heinrich Bruning.

Question 14

DDP

Answer 14

liberal. in decline by mid-20s. appeal mainly to academics and professional groups. impressions of being worthy intellectuals who had limited political experience. riven by internal disputes and difficulty in conveying clearly and unequivocally what it stood for. committed to the success of parliamentary democracy and participated in all of coalition govt.

Question 15

DVP

Answer 15

Conservative, committed to parliamentary democracy and participated in all coalition cabinets of the period. support mainly amongst academics. main support came from industrialists. Gustav Stresemann, 1924-1929, leading politician. party drifted to right and became a narrow pressure group promoting the interests of big business when Stresemann died.

Question 16

DNVP

Answer 16

Conservative and nationalist. traditional base amongst landowners in east of Germany. attracted support from industrialists, professional groups and even industrial workers by 1920s. anti-democratic and nationalist. main aim=restoration of monarchy and dismantling of ToV. refused to join coalition govts. increased divisions over policy and tactics. Luther cabinet 1926 and Marx cabinet in 1927. loss of support in 1928 election. Hugenberg party leader in 1928. led DNVP into alliance with Nazis and paramilitary groups in campaign against Young Plan in 1929.

Question 17

NSDAP

Answer 17

Period of decline after failure of Munich Putsch. Mein Kampf. Hitler wrote that the way to overthrow the public was not through power but democracy. not allowed to speak in public until 1927. Nazis had 75,000 members and seven deputies in Reichstag at end of 1927. Nazis concentrated their efforts in rural areas, Protestant north of Germany in 1928. lost 100,000 votes in 1928 election. membership grew to 150,000 in October 1929. clear signs of revival when party took control of its first town council.

Question 18

KPD

Answer 18

largest communist pary outside Russia, never became a mass party. support in important industrial and port areas like the Ruhr, Saxony, Hamburg and Berlin. dedicated to the overthrow of the Weimar Republic. member of Cominterm, policies and tactics of KPD were dictated by Communist Party of Soviet Union. 1923, KPD summoned to Moscow to be instructed to launch a communist revolution in Germany during hyperinflation crisis. communist uprisings in Saxony and Hamburg. after 1924, Soviet leadership instructed KPD that opportunity for revolution had receded and main priortiy was to attack SPD. labelled SPD as ‘social-fascists’.

Question 19

What did the terms of the constitution state when it came to the presidency?

Answer 19

1) full national election had to be held
2) unless a candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the first round of voting, there had to be a second ballet and it was possible to nominate alternative candidates in this second ballot.

Question 20

Who was in the first round of the national election in 1925?

Answer 20

Karl Jarres for the right, Otto Braun for SPD, Wilhelm Marx for the Centre, Ernst Thalmann for KPD and Erich Ludendorff, Nazi party candidate. Jarres won more votes, with SPD in second.

Question 21

What happened in the second round of the election in 1925?

Answer 21

Karl Jarres withdrew in favour of Hindenburg. Allegedly, Hindenburg consulted the ex-Kaiser before standing for President. The SPD thought Marx had a better chance of winning rather than Braun, so he withdrew and the party advised supporters to vote for Marx.

Question 22

What was the outcome of the 1925 election?

Answer 22

26th April = Hindenburg won (48.3%), Marx (45.3%) and Thalmann (6.4%).

Question 23

How did Hindenburg appeal to the public?

Answer 23

he was a war hero with authoritarian views. RW thought election as the restoration of the old order. He was seen as the ErsatzKaiser. appealed to parties in the Reichstag to work with him in restoring national unity when pledging his oath.

Question 24

By the 1930s, what was Hindenburg using?

Answer 24

the ruling by decree, he became increasingly impatient with party political manoeuvring. after 1925, presidential power was in the hands of a man who didn’t believe in the democracy.

Question 25

Who were part of the old elites who were hostile towards the parliamentary democracy?

Answer 25

the army, judiciary and civil service. they held to the view that the Republic was born out of betrayal.

Question 26

What were the opinions of the industrial workers?

Answer 26

they felt that the Republis hadn’t delivered on promises of equality and social justice.

Question 27

Why was the 1925 election important?

Answer 27

it was important in reconciling the elites to the existence of the Republic. felt that Hindenburg would steer Germany back towards a more authoritarian form of government.