The Weimar Republic: Successes and Failures

Question 1

What happened at the end of WWI?

Answer 1

• The Kaiser was forced to abdicate and exiled to the Netherlands
• There was violent unrest
• A new government was set up in Weimar because there was unrest in Berlin in 1919
• Ebert of the Social Democratic Party was the president and Scheidemann the chancellor and it was democratic: people should have a say in how their country was run
• Wasn’t invited to Versailles talks
• At first Ebert refused to sign the treaty but then concluded he had to because Germany was too weak to restart conflict

Question 2

What reasons were there for discontent?

Answer 2

1) Thousands of Germans were poor and starving, and an influenza epidemic had killed thousands
2) Many Germans denied their defeat and blamed the November Criminals who signed the treaty
3) Others blamed the loss of the war on communists and Jews
4) The government was seen as weak and ineffective - The Treaty of Versailles had made living conditions worse

Question 3

What was the structure of the Constitution?

Answer 3

REICHSTAG - Parliament elected by proportional representation
REICHSRAT - Upper house. Could delay measures taken by the Reichstag
PRESIDENT - Elected every 7 years. Head of Army and could choose the chancellor

Question 4

What is proportional representation?

Answer 4

Where the amount of seats a party wins is determined by the proportion of the votes they get
If 60% of voters voted for a party, that party would get 60% of the seats

Question 5

What FOUR problems were there with the Weimar Consitution?

Answer 5

1) It was difficult to pass decisions because there were so many parties with differing ideas
2) It was hard to pick a chancellor who had support of the whole Reichstag
3) The new government had to accept the Versailles Treaty so they were hated by citizens because of the sanctions that were imposed on them
4) There were uprisings so Ebert agreed to have the help of right-wing ex-soldiers to help restore order

Question 6

What cultural achievements were there?

Answer 6

1) Advances in films, art, music and literature. Fritz Lang’s Metropolis was a success
2) Berlin became the German cultural capital
3) New ways of critical thinking were encouraged at places like Frankfurt University
P) The cabaret culture of Berlin was seen as immoral by some: the culture of Weimar Germany wouldn’t survive under the Nazis