The Weimarer Republik (Weimar Republic) was Germany’s genuine attempt at creating its first-ever democracy. Trying to make it the perfect democracy, its leaders tried to build it on the principal of political and social equality for all. But the Weimar Republic lasted only 14 years before it collapsed. What happened? Was it not democratic enough? Was it too democratic? Let’s take a look.
“Weimar Republic” – an unofficial Designation
Between 1919 and 1933 – after Emperor Wilhelm II had abdicated and before the Nazi regime assumed power – the German state is commonly referred to as the Weimar Republic. That is an unofficial designation, however, because officially, Germany continued to be called Deutsches Reich, (German Empire), Deutscher Volksstaat (German People’s State) or Deutsche Republik (German Republic). The term “Weimar Republic” is based solely on the fact that the German state’s constitution was adopted in the city of Weimar. It was not until the 1930s that the term became mainstream.
Conditions preceding the Weimar Republic
In its fourteen years of existence, the Weimar Republic faced copious problems. They included hyperinflation, political extremism with right- and left-wing paramilitaries, attempted revolutions, public discontent and antagonistic relationships with the victors of World War I. Hyperinflation was such that in 1919, one loaf of bread cost 1 Mark; by 1923, the same loaf of bread cost 100 billion Marks. The value of the paper Mark had declined from 4.2 Marks per U.S. dollar in 1914 to one million Marks per dollar by August 1923. The German people blamed the Weimar Republic rather than their wartime leaders for the country’s defeat and for the humiliating terms of the Treaty of Versailles.
Banknote from the hyperinflationary period of the Weimar Republic – a 1923 banknote in the amount of 20,000 Mark, worth barely the paper it was printed on. www.walled-in-berlin.com
Why did the Weimar Republic last only 14 years?
The constitution of the Weimar Republic contained many features that were to insure a perfect democracy, such as a Bill of Rights that guaranteed the freedom of speech, freedom of religion and equality under the law. But the constitution also had two great weaknesses. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/germany/weimarstrengthweakrev3.shtml One of those weaknesses was something called “proportional representation.” It meant that each party was allocated the number of seats in the Reichstag (Parliament) that was proportional to the number of people who had voted for the party. But no minimum number of votes was required to get into the Reichstag. As a result, dozens of tiny parties ended up sitting in the Reichstag. When none could garner enough seats to represent a majority, the government could not get any laws passed.
The other serious built-in weakness in the constitution of the Weimar Republic was Article 48. That article stated that in an emergency the president could issue decrees without the agreement of the Reichstag. But the article failed to define what would represent an “emergency.” It was under Article 48, the Enabling Act of 1933, that Adolf Hitler assumed power.
These two major flaws in the constitution, albeit democratic and well-intended, made it impossible for the Weimar Republic to survive.
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Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.
