Account for the failure/collapse of democracy in Germany in the period of 1918-1933

Account for the failure/collapse of democracy in Germany in the period of 1918-1933

The collapse of the Weimar democracy in 1933 cannot be attributed to one event, but more a multiplicity of factors that were involved in upsetting of the Republic’s equilibrium which made it vulnerable to sudden shock. It can be partially blamed on the shaky foundations and inherent flaws within the constitution, making the Republic susceptible to future problems and the Nazi takeover. Opposition and violence made the Republic reliant on the army to restore order – this has a severe impact on the future political forces within the government. The economic situation swamped the Republic and can also be partially blamed as a trigger in the disintegration of the social and political systems. Stressmann brought fragile yet prosperous stability but it was also susceptible to shock due to the weaknesses that remained. “There were also more immediate, short-term factors, like the impact of the Depression, which provided the setting for the Republic’s failure” . This also aided in the appeal of Hitler; another contributing factor but not the direct cause. Conservative elites and political intrigues brought about the final collapse of democracy and Hitler’s success was owed much to the bad judgement of his opponents during this period.

After a failed attempt at a Revolution, a new government emerged run by democracy; a shock from the previous republican traditions. These attempts to overrule the new democracy highlighted the intense opposition from the extreme right and extreme left. Peter Gay’s belief was that the republic was “born in defeat, lived in turmoil and died in disaster.” The severe social, economic and political damage that was created by WW1 combined with existing issues prevalent during the war, acted as shaky and unstable grounds, susceptible to sudden shock. This new government would later be forced to sign the Armistice to deflect the blame of WW1 from the previous, highly valued, army. These November Criminals were also responsible for signing the Treaty of Versailles, which was imposed upon the democratic republic by her enemies, was bound to arouse wide spread resentment towards the new regime. This manoeuvre of the right paved the way for the Dolschtosslegende (Stab in the Back Legend) to renew the belief in the military. The legend acted as a tool for militarists and nationalists on the right to undermine republican rule. Due to the weak foundations that the republic was built on, and the actions of the army to undermine the new governing system, faith in Weimar was lost before it had even been established. This lead to lack of public support; support that was crucial for the long term success of the republic.

The failure in the democracy can be partly attributed to the flawed constitution, as its abuse in early years allowed Hitler to do the same in years to come. Condon puts forward his belief that “the Weimar constitution had one fatal flaw. It provided for proportional representation.” This meant that there was a fragmented political system which lead to 19 failed governments between 1918 and 1924. This demonstrated to the public just how unstable the constitution was, and cemented in the minds of the people that they were not capable of running the country. Article 48 or the “suicide clause” was a dangerous instrument implemented with the best intentions. Ebert’s political inexperience and inability to rule the government without the intervention of an authoritarian force saw the “Article widened in its application to the point where it became a potential threat to democratic institutions.” Ebert had used Article 48 a total of 135 times between 1919 and 1924. These constitutional weaknesses and others were constantly attacked by the enemies of the democratic system, creating a path for others to do the same in later years which would contribute to the eventual collapse of democracy.

The Weimar governments made little attempt to deal with powerful opponents within a country that were openly opposed to the Republic and this meant they were reliant on the old army to restore peace, allowing it to once again establish status within the community. As a direct result of the Ebert Groener Pact the government was not threatened by the right wing, rather the left. It was able to focus on the attempts at revolution taken by the Sparticists that was bloodily suppressed by the Freikorps. Although the Kapp Putch failed in 1920 it revealed serious weaknesses in the new government. Political assassinations were frequent in the early years of the Republic and this tarnished the reputation of the government in the public’s eyes. “These activities of the conservative groups consistently worked against the survival of Germany as a liberal democracy” and this contributed the ultimate failure and collapse of democracy.

Political unrest in the Reichstag was reflective of the economic crisis at the time and hyperinflation caused serious damage to the already faltering reputation of the democratic Republic. After not keeping up with reparation payments, the French invaded the Rhur and imposed harsh controls on the German population. Due to the ‘passive resistance’ the government agreed to pay wages to the now non-working population which later lead to a serious inflation problem. Wealthy industrialists and business thrived in the testing times. This resulted in the unemployed and working class turning towards the more radical parties such as the Nazis’ and the Communists. There was a period of relative stability between 1923 and 1929 and this was due to Gustav Stressmann. Economic instability played one of the key roles in destabilising democracy but it cannot be seen as the only cause to bring about its collapse.

The Stressmann years brought a period of relative economic, political and social stability, however it was only superficial and was still vulnerable to sudden shock. Prosperity during this time was based on US loans and that would prove to be fatal during the Depression. Under his Policy of Fulfilment, economic growth was encouraged by the Dawes and Young Plans which stabilised the reparation payments. He issued the Rentenmark which eliminated the previous hyperinflation and taxes were increased to support local trade. Government debpt was over 1300 million Rentenmark and was financed by UD foreign loans. Unemployment had reached two million and this saw them turn towards the communists as their preferred leader. The German government started to spend more than it received which added to the economic crisis. This Era brought about a period without political violence, supressed uprisings and there was a sustained coalition of three political parties. President Hindenburg’s election in 1925 legitimized the political system for some nationalists which brought about faith in the system once more. Even with all these positives the democratic system was unable to provide a stable government that cooperated to solve the economic and social problems facing the Republic. A succession of 6 coalition governments were in power between 1924-29 and the parties themselves constantly shifted power in their sectional class. Army leaders were still highly influential and this resulted in the Reichstag not being held in high esteem. The opposition to democracy was influenced by the right however popularity of the left and right wings decreased during this period. The Stressmann Era was as time for social experimentation where cultural innovation was encouraged. Cinemas developed on a large scale, radio made an appearance and newspapers and magazines thrived. Nudity and open sexuality became acceptable and developments in modern art expressed this through cubism, dada, expressionism and futurism that were all previously rejected. However there was still an “unbridgeable gap exist[ing] between the artistic avant- garde and the middle and working classes, far from increasing the prestige of the republican govt..the artistic explosion served to alienate large sections of the population” All of this new experimentation alienated traditionalists which provided another area of conflict. Germany entered a period of comparative prosperity and apparent stability and Stressmann worked to imrove Germany’s international position and revise the Treaty of Versailles however “even a few good years of the Weimar Republic, those of relative stabilization, there was no true stabilization of the political system, economic relations, or the social system.”

The Great Depression was the catalyst that accelerated the collapse of democracy in Weimar Germany. The US immediately withdrew loans to Germany once the crisis hit, leaving Germany broke and without a way to pay the reparations. Interest rates increased, businesses all over Germany closed and the country went into a state of national bankruptcy. The Nazi Party’s appeal increased greatly during this time, as they seemed to have all the answers to resolve the political and economic issues that the Republic couldn’t. Brüning resorted increasingly to Article 48 to attempt to control the economic situation which portrayed a lack of stability to the public. There was increased strength of anti-Republican forces and for the first time the Nazi’s became the largest party in the Reichstag with an increase from 7 to over 100 seats. Hitler was appointed as Chancellor and was seen as no threat to government by his opposition. They saw that they could use him to their advantage then discard him when he had served his purpose. The Enabling Act was passed which institutionalised the use of Article 48. This saw a new regime that banned all parties apart from the NSDAP, which resulted in an authoritarian dictatorship under Hitler. While the Depression may seem like a large contribution factor to the failure of democracy, it was not monocausal. Before 1930, Weimar was already “vulnerable to extreme pressures” and the Depression only added to the already fragile government.

Due to the miscalculation of others in appointing him chancellor, Adolph Hitler developed a nationalist appeal across all social classes which notably aided the failure of democracy even if it was not the direct cause. Hitler developed the “25 Point Program of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party” with statements centring round nationalism, socialism, anti-Semitism and foreign policy. These appealed to all classes of society as he “…had [a] strong appeal to those who were disillusioned by the decay of German society…” Hitler created an image that set him apart from the other party members – he was working for the national revival. He exploited the weaknesses of others to cover up his own which made him look like the man who was destined to lead. The Nazi Party grew rapidly after 1929 but suffered a loss in the November elections where the number of seats held fell from 230 to 196. Even though Hitler is a central figure in the explanation to the collapse of democracy, “the course of German history between the wars was not determined by Hitler alone but was shaped by economic, cultural, and social forces of which Nazism was an integral part.”

The initial aim of the conservative elites was to destroy democracy and restore authoritarian rule and this was opposition was enough to pose as a large enough threat to the stability of democracy. The democratic Republic failed to bring about fundamental socio-economic judicial change which meant they left people in positions of power and influence who were fundamentally opposed to the concept of democracy. Control and dominance of conservative elites remained unchanged and they would at best “tolerate” the democracy when times were good, and at worse actively “undermine” t when times were not. Hindenburg was highly influenced by the army and he lived up to his role as the leading elite in his increased use of the presidential rule by decree and the instillation of minority governments and handpicked Chancellors as the government as the government experienced difficulty after the Great Depression. Extremist parties had a platform on which to attack the already weakened government and this eventually allowed for the failure of democracy.

It is evident that the collapse of democracy of the Weimar Republic was a gradual process encompassing various factors. “Inherent weaknesses would inevitably cause the failure of democracy” and these included the complete lack of democratic tradition. Democracy was an experiment at the time and was based on aggressive nationalism. The constitution contained significant flaws, especially Article 22 and Article 48. These flaws destabilised Weimar democracy especially when faced with an external threat like the Great Depression. The Republic was also significantly impacted by elements within German society, the army and the conservative elites. These inherent flaws in the democratic system were never properly addressed by the government, who failed to adequately democratise society.