Kaiser

Weimar
Wilhelm II had
been just one of
the undemocratic
rulers of
Germany before
1918.

THE
PROBLEMS OF
THE REPUBLIC

Problem One: The Legacy Of The Past

Most countries with strong
democracies have a long
history of parliamentary
rule.
When the Weimar republic was
founded many Germans were completely
unfamiliar with the new system of
government where parties of the people
seemed to be in charge and a strong ruler
like the Kaiser no longer existed. Germany
was founded in 1871 and had been ruled by
powerful Kaisers and Chancellors
throughout that time, there had been a
parliament, the Reichstag, but it had far
fewer rights and powers to represent the
people than the parliament in Britain for
example.
During World War One the Kaiser
experienced a nervous breakdown and he
stopped being able to run the government
or direct the war, instead, two generals,
Hindenburg and Ludendorff ran the
country as an unofficial dictatorship up to
1918, arresting people who opposed the
war and who wanted a peace treaty. This
only reinforced the idea that it was
acceptable to run Germany in an
undemocratic way and made the arguments
of the Nazis when they later emerged seem
less extreme - they weren’t suggesting
anything about abolishing democracy that
hadn’t already been tried.
Other ideas seemed to have taken hold
in Germany before the war, ideas that
would make it hard for the Weimar Republic
to establish itself. On the left Communism
had developed during the war, the
communists were an offshoot of Germany’s
socialist party the SPD. They believed that
an undemocratic revolution, like the Russian
Revolution in 1917 should happen, followed
by a bloody terror against their opponents.
Anti Semitism had been growing as an
idea since the end of the 19th Century and it
was closely linked to German nationalism
and the desire of some Germans to
have a powerful empire. Many Germans on
the far right saw democracy as a barrier to
these goals and believed only one strong
leader was capable of bringing to Germany
the kind of victories against their enemies
that could make Germany great again.
Things to remember
* German democracy had never been
strong and had been weakened by the
war.
* *  Many Germans were drifting to more
extreme ideas even before the war.
* *  This made it less likely that there
would be enough people to support a
moderate government after 1918.

Three Quick Questions
Question One: What factors made it harder for Germany to establish a democracy after 1918?
(Knowledge)
Question Two: To what extent were Germany’s generals responsible for undermining democracy?
(Evaluation)
Question Three: How important are these long term factors in determining the fate of Weimar?
(Evaluation)