Weimar Politics Flashcards
The New Constitution
- Revolution from above
- Political parties
- Military
- Revolution from below
The New Constitution
- Prince Max of Baden became chancellor and Germany became a constitutional monarchy to encourage sympathy from the entente
- Political parties wanted more say in the running of the country
- Military knew the left would be blamed for signing Versailles, and therefore the loss of WW1
- Soldiers and workers were mutinying demanding Kaisers abdication
Left Wing vs Right Wing
- Tradition/Progression
- Equality/Freedom
- Taxation
- State/Enterprise
- Welfare
- Government
- Classes
Left Wing vs Right Wing
- Progressive vs Tradition
- Equality vs Freedom
- High tax vs Low tax
- State vs Enterprise
- High welfare vs low welfare
- Big government vs Small government
- Working classes vs upper/middle classes
Support of the Republic
- SPD
- USPD
- KPD
- ZP
- DDP
- DVP
- DNVP
- NSDAP
Support of the Republic
- SPD strongly supports
- USPD opposes
- KPD Strongly opposes
- ZP supports
- DDP supports
- DVP partially supports
- DNVP strongly opposes
- NSDAP strongly opposes
Political Spectrum (Sort Left to right)
- ZP
- SDP
- DVP
- NSDAP
- DNVP
- KPD
- USPD
- DDP
Political Spectrum (Sort Left to right)
- KPD
- USPD
- SDP
- ZP
- DDP
- DVP
- DNVP
- NSDAP
Key Features of the Weimar Constitution
- Voting system
- Emergency powers
- Civil rights
- Federal
Key Features of the Weimar Constitution
- Proportional representation
- Article 48 + article 102
- Voting age + gender, plebiscites
- Reichstag overruled states (landtag)
Ways the constitution strengthened the republic
- More democratic
- Article 48
- Welfare
- Unions
- Civil rights
Ways the constitution strengthened the republic
- More democratic, universal suffrage & PR
- Article 48 when used correctly
- Welfare increased
- Unions supported
- Civil rights, freedom of speech
Ways the constitution weakened the republic
- Article 48
- PR
- Coalitions
- Army command
- Vote threshold
Ways the constitution weakened the republic
- Article 48 was abused by Hindenburg
- PR distanced ministers from the electorate
- Coalitions that were weak
- Army command given to President
- Vote threshold of 60,000
Failure of Weimar due to parties
- Divisions
- Weakness
- Support
- Extremism
Failure of Weimar due to parties
- Parties with similar ideas refused to work together
- Moderate parties were weak
- Parties refused to support the republic
- Political parties massively increased support
Failure of Weimar not due to parties
- Coalitions
- Voting proportions
- Compromise
Failure of Weimar not due to parties
- Coalitions were formed by centrists
- Voting proportions stayed similar for moderates throughout
- Compromise was commonplace by the central parties
How did extremist parties weaken Weimar
- Cooperation
- Appeal
- Paramilitary
How did extremist parties weaken Weimar
- Cooperation was outright refused
- Appeal was widespread
- Paramilitary wings used political violence
Presidents
- 1919 to 1925
- 1925 to 1934
Presidents
- Ebert (Socialist compromiser)
- Hindenburg (Military monarchist)
Chancellors
- 1923
- 1928 to 1930
- 1930 to 1932
- 1932
- 1932 to 1933
Chancellors
- Stresemann (Right diplomat)
- Muller (Stabilising moderate)
- Bruning (Unpopular officer)
- Von Papen (Unpopular martial)
- Schliecher (Militarist autocrat)
Institutions weakening Weimar
- Army
- Judiciary
- Civil service
Institutions weakening Weimar
- Army was independent and monarchist
- Judiciary was right wing and independent
- Civil service was right wing
Why did the Weimar Republic fail
- Constitution
- Parties
- Institutions
- Leadership
Why did the Weimar Republic fail
- Constitution had flaws (Article 48)
- Parties were plentiful and weak
- Institutions were independent and biased
- Leadership was poor at times
