80 likes | 224 Views
The biggest t hreat t o t he W eimar Republic was t he political situation itself. Vincent Coon. Why the political situation in Weimar caused the republic to collapse. The Kaiser, William II abdicated and a republic was proclaimed with the SPD leader Frederich Ebert as Chancellor
E N D
The biggest threat to the Weimar Republic was the political situation itself Vincent Coon
Why the political situation in Weimar caused the republic to collapse • The Kaiser, William II abdicated and a republic was proclaimed with the SPD leader Frederich Ebert as Chancellor • The new government signed the armistice with the Allies. • German people saw this as an act of treason • The Treaty Of Versailles worsened the situation • Germany was convinced that the principle of self-determination had been ignored and strongly believed that the War Guilt Clause and the reparations payments were unjust
The Stresemann era • He had a completely new approach to the issues facing Germany • He introduced a new currency (Rentenmark), which was stable and ended hyperinflation • With Stresemann as foreign minister Germany saw a period of prosperity • The treaty of Locarno underlined this development
His death came to the worst possible time • Germany was about to experience another great crisis caused by the wall street crash • It was in this political chaos that the Nazis and Communists thrived • Attacks from the Left The SpartacistRising, The Bavarian Republic ( Independent Socialistshad much support in Bavaria but very little nationally. They set up a republic of their own in November 1918)
Attacks from the Right • The Kapp putsch • The Munich putsch • Right-wing extremists were nationalists. They wanted to see Germany great and powerful. Germany’s defeat and the peace treaty left them feeling angry and humiliated. • Right-wing extremists felt themselves to be Germany’s best defence against the menace of socialism and communism. • Right-wing extremists had no time for democracy. They felt that battles for power between political parties divided the nation and weakened it.
He cut the government spending in order to keep inflation under control and keep German exports competitive. • He increased taxes, reduced salaries and reduced unemployment assistance only worsened situation
Conclusion • Electoral system too democratic • There were twenty separate coalition governments in the period and this gave the impression of instability • It was a republic born out of defeat. • The severe economic problems that were faced reduced support especially the hyper-inflation of 1923 and the Great Depression of the 1930’s.