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Failure of the Weimar Republic - Coggle Diagram
Failure of the Weimar Republic
Economic issues
Great depression
40% workforce unemployed
50 000 businesses went bankrupt
Income of avg German fell by 40% between 1929-1932
Reaction of the Govt
SPD wanted to increase welfare but other coalition members refused
Coalition collapsed
Parties so divided that Hindenburg had to rule by decree
Used decree to appoint new chancellor
Cut welfare expenditure
Deemed to be harsh so no Reichstag support
Parties so divided impossible to form coalition
Hyperinflation
Political issues
Weimar Constitution
Proportional representation
Made it difficult for one party to win resulting in coalitions
Multiple Weimar govts (6 from 1924-1929)
Coalition stick to their own principles rather than accept compromise
Chancellor not able to hold govt together for more than 2y
Made it easy for parties that opposed democracy like KPD to gain seats
Article 48
Allowed president to rule by decree during crisis
Could be used for preserving and protecting democracy
But also could be misused and exploited (proven in 1930s)
Opposition to govt
Left-wing
Spartacists
Actions
Fought for power in 1919 and joined by rebels
Freikorps and govt crushed rebellion
Remained a powerful political force into 1920s
Policies
Were commies
Wanted a Germany ruled by soviets
State would own all industry
Right-wing
Kapp Putsch
5000 freikorps tried to overthrow Weimar and return germany to authoritarian similar to Kaiser
Ordered arm to attack Freikorps
Civil servants supported Ebert
Trade union declared general strike causing Germany to lose transport, power or water
Kapp fled but caught and died awaiting trial
Continued with political violence bur were rarely punished by courts
Cultural changes
Changes
Free expression of ideas
Subordination of women challenged - modern women became more visible
had 140 theatres and challenged Paris as cultural centre
Nightclubs with naked dancing, subversive songs and open homosexuality
Reaction
Rural people saw city culture to represent a moral decline
Reinforced fears world was collapsing
Fears were politicised by the Right who blamed the Republic
Nazis campaigned against nudism, homosexuality and birth control
Conservatives blamed govt for allowing traditional German culture to be undermined and reinforced Weimar unpatriotic
Prominence of Jewish artists and American immigrants worsened their opposition
Foreign policy
Nationalists
Attacked Stresemann for joining League of Nations
Felt Stresemann achieved little because Germany still disarmed and occupied
Felt league of nations was just TOV enforcer and TOV was source of bitterness for Germans
Weimar did not restore Germany's pride or escape its association with TOV
Also against Lorcano traty as benefitted only France and was associated with League of Nations
Even young plan condemned - made Germany too dependent on America