Weimar Republic

Assess The Extent That The Treaty Of Versailles And The Negative Influence Of The German Army Accounted For The Failures Of Democracy In The Weimar Period.

The Treaty of Versailles and the influence of the German Army proved to account for the failure of democracy in the Weimar period to a certain extent, however other events such as the Munich Putsch, Kapp Putsch, hyperinflation, the Stresemann era and the breakthrough of Hitler also contributed to the failure of democracy in the Weimar period.

The Treaty of Versailles signed, the 29th of June 1919, proved extremely damaging to Germany. The Treaty resulted in the loss of territory and raw material and the instatement of certain conditions; such as a limited German army and the abolishment of conscription. Forced the navy down to 15 000 with only 6 battleships, 6 light cruisers, no submarines. Germany was made to borrow money form America to pay huge reparation payments . Therefore the Treaty was a significant event that accounted for the failure of democracy in the Weimar republic due to the heavy financial burden placed on Germany that resulted in the democrats being blamed for signing the Treaty. This led to the overthrowing of the Weimar republic and loss of faith within the politicians.

The Treaty was harsh and humiliating, Germans felt bitter about the terms of the peace settlement. Furthermore the military conditions imposed on the Germans left them feeling weak and vulnerable to invasion by neighbouring states. Also the �War Guilt clause’- Article 231 of the Treaty stated that war was the German’s fault, however German sentiment was that the war was a defensive move on their behalf. Therefore the German people were angry at the Weimar government because they felt that the treaty, which was harsh and humiliating was the democrats fault, thus in the Germans hating them, thinking they had given in.

The signing of the Treaty was seen as an extreme negative extent form the view of the German army. The German army felt betrayed by their government, mainly due to the sentiment that they would have won the war if the treaty hadn’t been signed. Further, immediately following the war, Germany as a nation exhausted much of its resources, the Treaty made it impossible for Germany to pay reparations and continue to function properly with the areas of real prosperity such as the coalfields of the Saar, having been promised to other nations . Therefore the German army lost faith in its government, feeling betrayed by the signing of the treaty. Further, it caused major problems for the payments of reparations, and these two things compounded eventually led to the downfall of the Weimar republic.

The Kapp Putsch of March 1920 illustrated the German army’s direct and indirect attempts to undermine the Weimar government were proving to be effective. The Freikorps who pursued the Kapp Putsch were infuriated at the Weimar governments signing the Treaty and ordering of all Freikorps units to be disbanded. The commander General Von Seeket would not oppose the Putsch, declaring, “Reichswehr does not shoot Reichswehr!” .The Kapp Putsch lead by an extreme nationalist, Dr Kapp, who according to source E, form a British historian’s view point, stated that the Weimar government lacks the authority and is not overcoming the danger of rising prices, hardship and destruction by communist .The Kapp Putsch forced the Weimar government to flee from Berlin, because the Reichswehr refused to help. The Kapp Putsch resulted in workers going on strike in Berlin effectively grounding Berlin to a halt. This forced the abandonment of plans and the fleeing of the main organisers to Sweden, forcing the return of the Weimar government back to Berlin. Therefore the Kapp Putsch demonstrated that the Weimar Republic had won support from the workers of Berlin. But the refusal of the German army to follow orders given by the Weimar government and the massive strikes taken by workers in Germany exemplifies and accounts for both the failures and supporters of the Weimar government.

Hyperinflation also proved to be a contributing factor in the downfall of the Weimar government. Hyperinflation existed from1921, for Germany had to send large quantities of goods to France and Belgium as part of their reparations payments. This lack of goods and money caused more problems towards the Weimar government. To add extra pressure the German government printed more money to pay reparations and the workers of the Ruhr, worsening inflation. Hyperinflation was disastrous for most Germans, those who suffered included old people living on fixed pensions. People who lived on savings and many of the middle classes who saw their businesses and savings destroyed. However some benefited form hyperinflation, including people who had debts or had taken out loans. Many rich businessmen taking over small companies which were going bankrupt and foreigners who could afford things that ordinary Germans couldn’t afford. Despite hyperinflation benefiting some, the overall effect was that many Germans were again thrown into economic turmoil. Hyperinflation was seen to again be the governments fault, consequently people lost faith with their government and its ability to maintain the economy. Hyperinflation therefore proves to be a significant factor in the downfall of the Weimar republic.

The Munich Putsch, in 1923, by Hitler proved to be moderately extensive. The main reasons for the Munich Putsch were to destroy the Weimar Republic. Further, Hitler’s close relationship with Ludendorff meant that Hitler believed that if it came to a crisis Ludendorff would be willing and able to desert the government and side with the Nazis. On the 8th of November 1923, while Kahr, head of the Bavarian government was addressing his people, there was suddenly a Nazi demonstration. Hitler announced that he was taking over the government of Bavaria. Hitler tried to persuade the Kahr to support him but the Kahr refused. Hitler again tried the following day with about 3000 supporters , thus time his supporters were met by armed police called out by Kahr to break up the march, resulting in sixteen marchers being killed . The Putsch provided Hitler with propaganda, nationwide publicity and made Hitler change his tactics proving to be the breakthrough that the Nazis needed in overthrowing the Weimar Republic. Therefore the Putsch resulted in Hitler having nationwide publicity throughout his trial and would later prove useful as a propaganda tool and it also made Hitler rethink his tactics. Therefore the Putsch by Hitler was an important event in the lead up and eventual overthrowing of the Weimar Republic as it resulted in the gaining of supporters and new tactics that Hitler would later