Weimar’s Collapse Flashcards
Factors?
CIRCUMSTANCE MORE THAN ANYTHING - EXTERNAL EVENTS ALL FUNCTIONALIST NOTHING INTERNATIONALIST/INEVITABLE
Young Plan to Readjust Payments
Wall Street Crash - radicalised mass electorate (essay)
Burning’s decision to have an election
NOT ALL THE BLAME CAN BE PUT ON HOW GERMANY NEVER EXPERIENCE DEMOCRACY AND HAD AUTHORITARIAN ROOTS (SINCE 1871 - BISMARCK)
CHANCE EVENTS/INFLUENCE OF ELITES/MISCALCULATION OF ELITES (HE CAN BE TAMED)
Elections and Mass Support Hitler built up
Unhappiness with Weimar (abuse of presidential decree)
Schacht
Propaganada (Goebbels)
Fuhrerprinzip
Volkish
Lack of Legitimacy (essay)
Weimar Constituion itself
Extensive use of Article 48
SPD and KPD not working together to stop NSDP
Public Feeling about Weimar
They had long disliked Weimar’s association with the Treaty of Versailles - Hitler promising the exact opposite and the expansion of Germany ; they showed this dislike by electing Paul Von Hindenburg in 1925 because Hindenburg was the first to voice stab in the back myth (army had been betrayed by November Criminals). This contributed to unpopularity of Weimar and Hindenburg was separate although he was still part of the government - his lack of commitment to Weimar meant people did not believe in Weimar either ; he preferred an authoritarian ruling by decree method which the people thus preferred too
Economic Failures?
Government unable to deal with 1929 Wall Street Crash - skyrocketing poverty and unemployment ; US called in all its loans which sent Germany spiralling into a depression ; hyperinflation rose and wages fell - BECAUSE GOVERNMENT COULD NOT FIND SOLUTION IT CREATED AN EXTREMIST ATMOSPHERE WITH SUPPORT FOR NAZI/COMMUNISTS GROWING
Coalition failure?
Changing chancellors made everything so haphazard as no one could agree and SPD could not take part in coalitions - Hindenburg forced to govern using article 48 from July 1930 until 1932 with 109 laws created by the chancellor using presidential decree - UNDERMINED THE WHOLE PROCESS OF DEMOCRACY AND PEOPLE FED UP = THEY WANTED AN AUTHORITARIAN GOVERNMENT (Germans never experienced democracy)
Introduction to Failure of Weimar?
Circumstance more than anything - external events and responses to them, functionalist attitude (not internationalist) - Hitler’s readiness to exploit and willingness to become absolute head ; socio-economic factors, Inherent weakness of opposition, Weimar constitution failures (and parties within it)
Effect of Wall Street Crash
Bruning’s policies between 1930 and 1932 simply deepened recession with exports and prices falling by 50% ; once he was replaced by Von Papen, government was caught up in political problems and therefore because Weimar was increasingly ruled by decree and the fact that policies did not work made the government very unpopular - though Hindenburg was still popular ; this led to rise in popularity for extreme parties like Hitler
RADICALISED MASS ELECTORATE (CAN BE SEEN IN HITLER MASS SUPPORT CARD)
Economic turmoil + ineffectiveness of Weimar to deal with this ; economy was a catalyst
Hitler’s Mass Support and Elections
September 1930 - NSDAP and KPD made gains with Hitler 107 seats ; this was boosted by violence of Sturmabteilung (SA - and their attacks on Political Opponents)
Hitler had 13.4 million votes in 1932 presidential election (although he lost to Hindenburg) - had all this support by continually voicing what the people wanted to be heard ; magnetic and dynamic speaker (stab in back myth) - ARTICLE 118 (RIGHT TO EXPRESS OPINION BY CHLICE) EXPLOITED BY NSDAP - resulted in the anti-Weimar votes with SPD steady decline (133 compared to Nazis 230 in July 1932)
In 1929 when passing the Young Plan - “national Opposition” pressed for referendum to get it overturned which they lost BUT BECAUSE IT REAFFIRMED WAR GUILT CLAUSE (231 OF TOV) GIVES HIM A LOT OF PUBLICITY AND PLATFORM ESPECIALLY WITH HUGENBURG (A PRESS MAGNET)
1931 February - Goebbels is put in charge of Propaganda and is much more extensive through street paradise and poster campaigns - EMPHASISES NAZI PARTY HAS NOT SULLIED THEIR HANDS WITH WEIMAR AND THESE UNSTABLE COALITIONS (SURVIVING THROUGH TACIT SUPPORT AND NOT PUSHING OUT DEMOCRATIC LEGISLATION)
Inherent Weakness of Opposition
All Tacit Support between 1919 to 193x with minority governments unable to agree on changes - no support by the people undermining process of democracy (unstable coalition) - March 1930 fall of last working majority coalition with SPD and DVP arguing over how to deal with economic slump
SPD and KPD collectively had 37.3% of votes in November 1932 (more than 33% of NSDAP) but due to political differences including the brutal murder of KPD Leaders Rosa Luxembourg in 1919, they were not willing to constitutionally block the NSDAP (blunt refusal to collaborate - HUTLER HELPED INTO POWER)
Political cultural and social fragmentation amongst parties made it impossible to work together - they were all divided AND ON OTHER HAND HITLER PUSHED MESSAGE ACROSS AND WAS ENTHUSIASTICALLY RECEIVED BY INDUSTRIALISTS IN DÜSSELDORF 1932 - PROMISING TO WEAKEN TRADE UNIONS AND GUARANTEE PROPERTY RIGHTS
Bruning- March 1930-1932 ; HIS ACTIONS AS OPPOSED GO GERMANY LACKING A SUFFICIENT EXPERIENCE IN DEMOCRACY
Does not have electoral support it needs - came as a result of SPD breaking up
Burning immediately abused Article 48 by passing finance bill in July which had been condemned by the government but Hindenburg dissolved government and new elections September
NO NEED - ARISED AS A RESULT OF BRUNING’S OWN ARGUMENT ; BREAKTHROUGH ELECTION FOR NSDAP 107 VOTES - Foreigners withdrew 800 million marks in investment funds (flight of foreign capital)
Burning tried to deal with reparations instead of the people and the massive unemployment (4.3 million) - because known as the HUNGER CHANCELLOR ; did not tackle it through a Keynesian approach (spend and create jobs)
After his proposal go break up bankrupt Junker Prussian Estates - Hindenburg dismissed him (NO CONFIDENCE VOTE IN REICHSTAG - JUST SHOWS THAT IT WAS THE ELITES LIKE SCHLEICHER (WHO THOUGHT BRUNING MJST COOPERATE WITH HITLER) WERE IN CHARGE)
Bruning’s over reliance of ARTICLE 48 and brutal economic strategy meant the public were alienated and this further decayed democracy
Hitler’s control over his party unlike squabble of Government (CONTRAST)
Nazi Party membership 300000 by October 1930 (due to expansion of sectional organisations like Youth)
There is still dissent from those who oppose his policy of legality like Strasser - who rebelled under Walter Stennes in 1931 ; these SA dissidents were purged in Berlin
HARZBURG FRONT OCTOBER 1931 - JOIN WITH DNVP AND STAHLHELM IN ANTI DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE
Influence of Elites - how did they influence downfall of republic?
Bruning unable to convince Hindenburg after Junker Estate and was banned
Von Papen helped in the rise of the nazis by lifting ban on SA (strengthening assertion on Streets)
Von Papen deposed SPD in Prussia and instead imparted right wing influence in Governemnt (no democracy) ; called 1932 elections allowing Nazi sweeping gains (230)
His selfishness to plot with Adolf Hitler to oust Schleicher (December 1932) who was hostile to right wing of Von Papen and developed leftist links through trade unions etc to gain popular support
Schleicher and Von Papen’s underestimation of the Nazis and the fact they could be tamed - Schleicher intrinsically in command of German Politics between 1930 and 1933 ; he was able to persuade the senile Hindenburg on who to replace Bruning with and through Von Papen he invoked his own policies in order to woo Hitler - which failed
Hindenburg’s own son Oskar favoured. Hitler-Papen government
Elites were afraid of agrarian Bolshevism - pressuring Hindenburg to appoint Hitler
HJALMAR SCHACHT DESIRE TO SEE GERMANY TAKE ITS PLACE ON INTERNATIONAL STAGE - ORGANISED PETITION AFTER 1932 TO HINDENBURG TO GET HITLER CHANCELLOR
Hitler’s willingness to exploit and “will of fuhrer”
Spellbinding orator - Mein Kampf - pledge to reverse TOV - directing fear and anger and concentrating it to these scapegoats and openly criticising Marxists who were in charge
WILLINGNESS TO ONLY BECOME CHANCELLOR - refused to be vice chancellor in Papen’s Government ; persistence even though Hindenburg refused several times but this + persuasion of elites helped (Hitler had both mass support and elitist support)
Great political nerve
Constitutional defects
Proportional representation - further divided the parties and allowed entry for extreme groups such as Hitler’s in 1924 to get a say in Reichstag politics
Hindenburg himself would not have been elected in 1925 - preventing all his senility and influence by elitists ; no cap on presidential powers either (way in which he dismissed Bruning with no vote of confidence and appointed Papen or dissolved the Reichstag)
Article 48 meant Hindenburg was able to pass the financial bill and they were faced with a breakdown of parliamentary rule during economic crisis leading to Reichstag dissolved and Nazi Parliamentary breakthrough - because used as a substitute for parliamentary leadership instead of specific emergence ; CHANCELLORS NO LONGER RESPONSIBLE TO REICHSTAG MEANT LOSS OF PUBLIC CONFIDENCE IN CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY AND RISE IF EXTREMISM
