Theme 1- Political and Governmental Change 1918-1933

Question 1

What was the Reichsrat?

Answer 1

An assembly of ambassadors from the 26 state governments and had veto on legislation passed by the Reichstag.

Question 2

What were some reasons why a new constitution was necessary?

Answer 2

Germany’s main political parties demanded a new constitution which gave them a greater say in the management of the country.
The military agreed to a new constitution as they hoped that the new government would be blamed for losing the war instead of them.

Question 3

What was significant about Germany’s political parties?

Answer 3

There were a large number of them with some very extreme anti-republican parties (KPD, NSDAP) as well as quite a few central parties (SPD, DPP) that supported the republic.

Question 4

When was the Weimar Constitution adopted?

Answer 4

31st July 1919

Question 5

Overall did the Weimar constitution change a lot or not?

Answer 5

It was quite a major change with the Reichstag gaining more power and the head of state being elected although most powers of the head of state remained the same.

Question 6

What was the voting system of the Weimar Republic?

Answer 6

Proportional representation.

Question 7

What did Article 48 allow the President to do?

Answer 7

In an emergency, the President could rule by decree and suspend the constitution (including civil rights).

Question 8

What civil rights were included in the Weimar Constitution?

Answer 8

Rights such as freedom of expression and assembly, universal suffrage, social rights like guaranteeing workers the right to vote or welfare if work is unavailable.

Question 9

What was the political system of the Weimar Republic?

Answer 9

A federal system where political power was divided between the national and state (Länder) governments. Democracy.

Question 10

What were the main strengths of the new Weimar constitution?

Answer 10

• Freedom of speech, protest and the press were all included and there was universal suffrage.
• Established in law that men and women were considered equal citizens.
• German state took responsibility for welfare.
• Central government was given greater powers.
• Germany had a national army for the first time since 1871.
• Proportional representation and the President was elected.

Question 11

What were the main weaknesses of the new Weimar constitution?

Answer 11

• Every government was made up of a coalition and these rarely lasted very long.
• Reichstag deputies were selected by their parties after it was apparent how many seats they had achieved so the Reichstag members had greater dependence on their party than on the German people.
• There was vast potential for any president to abuse Article 48 and undermine the democratic process of the Reichstag. Weimar President nicknamed the Ersatz Kaiser (replacement Kaiser) as their powers were so similar.

Question 12

What did Ebert’s use of Article 48 show about its existence in the Weimar Constitution?

Answer 12

He was able to suppress the uprisings by workers in Saxony, Thuringia and the Ruhr showing that in its early years, Article 48 was a stabilising factor for the Weimar Republic. He also used it during the economic crisis in 1923.

Question 13

What divisions were there between different left wing parties in Weimar Germany?

Answer 13

The KPD (Communists) wouldn’t work with other left wing parties and even though the SPD was really strong, it had to form coalitions with centrist and right wing parties. The KPD suggested a general strike to oppose Hitler in 1933 but the SPD opposed it.

Question 14

How were the coalitions in Weimar Germany weak?

Answer 14

They were unstable and frequently collapsed. There were 20 separate coalitions between 1919 and 1933 and the longest government only lasted 2 years. At vital times political parties couldn’t agree and emergency powers were used to bypass the Reichstag.

Question 15

Which parties didn’t support the Weimar republic?

Answer 15

The DNVP opposed the Weimar Republic until 1925, the DVP was hostile towards it until the mid 1920s, the more extreme parties, the KPD and NSDAP, never supported the republic or parliamentary democracy.

Question 16

How popular was the KPD?

Answer 16

It won 17% of the vote and had over 360,000 members in 1932. The Red Fighting League had over 130,000 members and there were numerous street fights with the Nazi SA.

Question 17

How popular was the NSDAP?

Answer 17

Hitler won 30% of the vote in the 1932 election and it appealed to the middle class, women and Protestants. It particularly became popular because of the government’s failure to deal with the economic crisis. The paramilitary wing (SA) won support from those fearful of communism.

Question 18

How did extremist parties weaken the Weimar government?

Answer 18

• The violence between them (in June 1932 alone, 99 people died and 125 were wounded in these fights) showed the Weimar government’s failure to ensure law and order which undermined its legitimacy.
• They were both anti-republic and popular with significant power in the Reichstag.
• Drew support away from moderate parties.
• Polarised German politics.

Question 19

What were the 3 main political parties and did they support the republic?

Answer 19

The SPD, German Democrats and ZP. They formed many coalitions which were often based on trust and good relations between the leaders despite the extremist parties. The SPD was most popular until 1932 and was moderate.

Question 20

What positive things did the Weimar coalitions achieve?

Answer 20

Germany began a naval reconstruction program and negotiated the Young Plan which reduced reparations introduced at Versailles.

Question 21

Which leader strengthened the Weimar republic the most and why?

Answer 21

Probably Gustav Stresemann as his leadership persuaded many in the People’s Party to support the new constitution. He also oversaw major economic reform in 1923-24 which saved the German economy and he achieved major foreign policy concessions although they weren’t popular with the right wing at home.

Question 22

Which leaders weakened the Weimar republic most and why?

Answer 22

Brüning whose economic policies like deflationary policies worsened the economic crisis in 1930.
Von Papen who was never poplar and lifted the ban on the SA to gain Hitler’s support. He used emergency powers to take over the state government in Prussia and persuaded Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as Chancellor.
Von Schleicher who used the Nazis as a support base and wanted to end the power of the Reichstag and create a presidential government.

Question 23

What did Ebert do as President?

Answer 23

Worked with right wing politicians like Stresemann to keep the republic going through the crisis years of 1919-24. The Ebert-Groener Pact secured the future of the regime in the early years. However this Pact gave too much independence to the army in the long run and his acceptance of Versailles and reparations were unpopular.

Question 24

How did the army undermine the republic?

Answer 24

They were very popular and widely respected and they campaigned for undemocratic goals like the Navy League being active in the German League for the Prevention of the Emancipation of Women. Until 1918, men that had served in the military for several years had a right to a government job which meant the government was full of undemocratic hierarchical ex-soldiers. The stab in the back myth meant people blamed weak politicians for losing WW1 as people believed the army was invincible.

Question 25

How did the Freikorps undermine the republic?

Answer 25

Demobilised soldiers from WW1 formed the anti-communist Freikorps. While they fought to preserve the republic from communism and helped crush the Spartacist uprising, they helped legitimise the use of political violence, specifically against the political left.

Question 26

How did the civil service undermine the republic?

Answer 26

They were never considerably loyal to the government yet they were meant to lay the foundations of a stable government as they were experienced (Ebert and others relied on them).

Question 27

How did the judiciary undermine the republic?

Answer 27

Judges from the Kaiserreich still held their important positions even though they despised the Weimar Republic. They frequently interpreted the law to allow violent, right wing fanatics to go free or face little punishment. This meant that anti-republicans like the Nazis could get away with crimes that opposed the government. Punishments were also a lot harsher for the left than the right. Between 1919 and 1922, there were 376 political murders. Only 4 of 22 murders committed by the left were unpunished compared to 326 of 354 done by the right.

Question 28

What is an example of judiciary bias against the republic?

Answer 28

When the finance minister Rathenau was murdered in 1922, the law was strengthened to deal with conspiracy and the operation of extremist parties. However this law was by-passed completely in Bavaria and although a gang of conspirators were responsible, only one man was brought to justice for the murder.

Question 29

What did Hindenburg do as President?

Answer 29

He had the support of the right as he was a respected military general so this gave them a reason to support the regime. Appointed SPD leader Müller as Chancellor in 1928 which showed that divisions in politics could be overcome. However he was very reliant on Article 48, using it 60 times in 1932. This undermined the democratic process and meant that in a sense, democracy died before Hitler came to power.