The Establishment Of The Weimar Republic, 1918-24 - Political Instability And Extremism Flashcards
What were the problems of a coalition government in the Weimar republic?
There was a great burden of responsibility on moderate centre parties such as the sdp and DDP to form stable coalitions in response to other parties wanting to overthrow the republic. In times of crisis, people became more polorised and support for moderate parties got weaker and it was hard to form coalitions with more extreme parties hence firming a government in the reichstag became more difficult. Between 1919 and 1923 there were no less than 10 coalition governments - frequent changes in policy made it impossible to achieve which undermined the democratic process
How did political extremism grow?
Extreme left and right parties set up armed and unformed parliamentary squads to guard their meetings, march through the streets and beat up opponents
What were the challenges from the left towards the Republic?
- 5th January 1919 - the sparticist league led by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl liebkneckt staged an uprising to overthrow eberts government and set up a revolutionary communist regime however it was crushed by the Friekorps
- march 1919 - another spartacist uprising in Bavaria where a communist government based on workers councils was made
- march 1921 - the KDP tried to force a revolution starting with a rising in saxony, however the risings were crushed and 145 people were killed
- 1920 - Berlin communists formed a ‘red army’ of 50000 workers and seized Ruhr. The friekorps sruggled to crush this and over 1000 workers and 250 soliders and police were killed
What were the challenges from the right?
Some groups such as in Bavaria fought for separation from the rest of Germany while others wanted a united Germany. Many wanted restoration of the monarchy whilst others wanted a dictatorship in one form.
What caused Kapp Putsch 1920?
The government was obliged to put into effect the terms of the treaty of Versailles in January 1920 and therefore needed to reduce the size of the army and disband some freikorps units
What was the Kapp putsch?
General Walter von Lüttwitz, the commanding general refused to disband a freikorps unit which disobeyed Gustav Noskes orders. The government therefore ordered his arrest. Luttwitz marched his troops into Berlin to protest and gained lots of support from the right wing
Who didn’t support the Putsch?
General hans von seeckt and Ludendorff remained non-committal despite showing sympathy
Why did the Putsch fail?
Trade unions, encouraged by the socialist members of eberts government called a general strike and Berlin was brought to a standstill and, within four days, the putsch collapsed
What was the impact of the putsch?
- Kapp and luttwitz were forced to flee
- eberts government returned somewhat
- it showed that the army could not be trusted and without the army’s support, the Weimar government was weak
Who was gustav noske?
The defence minister at the time of the Kapp putsch however was forced to resign due to pressure from trade unions. He used the army and freikorps to suppress the spartacist revolt and left wing revolts
Who was Wolfgang Kapp?
He was a right wing politician who supported luttwitz
Why did violence continue after the putsch?
Right wing nationalists organised themselves into leagues formed out of former freikorps units, committed to to elimination of those trying to ‘betray Germany’
Who was Hugo haase?
What were some prominent assassinations caused by right wing nationalists?
- in august 1921 the former finance minister Matthias Erzberger was assassinated by two members of the terrorist league ‘organisation consul’
- on 24th June 1922, Walther Rathenau was assassinated on his way to work by organisation consul shot him and threw a hand grenade at him
Why was erzberger assassinated?
He had led the German delegation for the signing of the armistice and had signed the treaty of Versailles. He was also a German representative in the reparations committee
