‘The Weimar constitution was not democratic nor did it provide the basis for a stable
government’. Assess the validity of this view.
In December 1918, elections were held for a National Assembly tasked with creating
a new parliamentary constitution. On February 6, 1919, the National Assembly met in
the town of Weimar and formed the Weimar Coalition. They were tasked with
creating a new and stable government, in order to create peace amongst a country
with people that believed that they had lost the war due to the government of Prince
Max Baden and not the faults of soldiers and generals. Those involved with the
armistice were given the title ‘November Criminals’ and now the new weimar
government had to try and bring the country into stability via a new constitution that
would please all, amongst the discontent created by the signing of the Treaty Of
Versailles and the abdication of the Kaiser.
Firstly, the new constitution was a clear break from Germany’s autocratic past. It was
considered to be more democratic then Britain or France with Article 22 of the new
constitution which allowed for universal suffrage by all men and women above the
age of 20. Also, the new democracy used a system of proportional representation
which enabled smaller,niche parties to win seats in the Reichstag and influence the
decisions made by the government. Thus showing a very democratic government
which allowed for participation of parties from all sides of the political spectrum. This
differed from the previous governments which banned parties such as the SPD ban
under the command from Bismarck. As D.Peukert said ‘It brought different groups
into the new order,’ further showing that in terms of suffrage and constitutional
aspects the Weimar government was very democractic. However this didn’t provide
the basis for a stable government. The proportional representation had clear
consequences, one of which was the proliferation of small parties. This allowed
smaller parties with anti-republican sentiments to get large amounts of publicity. Also
these smaller parties meant that none of the larger parties could form a majority in
the Reichstag, thus leaving the parties dependent upon a coalition. These coalitions
were inevitable to fail as parties possessed different agendas and perhaps this is
why many coalition governments were short lived. As Hans Von Seekt said
‘Everything depends on making the government strong and keeping it strong.’ From
this perspective it is clear to see why the proliferation of smaller parties and
proportional representation made the Weimar government unstable in the eyes of a
soldier too.
Another prominent article is number 48 which gives the president power to pass laws
without needing to consent to the Reichstag. This is very useful as the president can
act quickly in order to correct a problem or issue effectively. However the president
can only do this in times of crisis. The problem this creates for democracy is that the
president can make a drastic change that is not wanted or representative of what the
people want. As a result of this democracy can be questioned under article 48 as
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