These revision notes provide an in depth summary of this specific chapter of AQA History in the Study of The quest for political stability: Germany, 1871–1991. They can be used directly as lecture notes or can be reduced further to more of a summary of the topic.
History revision – The Nazi Experiment 1929 – 49 (11)
From democracy to dictatorship 1929 – 34
- No single problem caused downfall of Weimar
- Also wasn’t inevitable that it would be replaced by a Nazi dictatorship
o Not a great deal of enthusiasm for NSDAP in 1932
In fact it was in deep trouble:
Votes had fallen in November 1932 election
It was in debt as contributions from the rich and powerful had fell
Party’s membership was falling
Party in-fighting threatened to split the remaining members
- The fall of the Weimar and the rise of the authoritarian Nazi state were two
overlapping, inter-related historical processed
The collapse of Weimar Democracy
Long-term causes:
- Too few Gr’s believed in the Republic – the political culture of the Republic was
shaped not by a belief in democracy but by the authoritarian heritage of Wilhelmine Gr
o Too many Gr’s didn’t regard it as a “legitimate regime”
- Weimar’s inheritance was incredibly damaging
o Founded in aftermath of catastrophic defeat
o Attacked by left and right wing insurgents
o Saddled with vindictive peace settlement
o Invaded again by French in 1922 with grave economic consequences
- Republic was unable to throw off myths and lies propagated by its powerful right-wing
enemies – notably ‘stab in the back’ and accusation that Kaiser and army had been
betrayed by ‘November criminals’
- Republic generated too few leaders of great authority and ability
o Its most effective statesman Stressemann was a luke-warm Republican, more
concerned with restoring Gr’s international reputation and lost territories
- The Weimar constitution itself, one of the most democratic in the world, contained
loopholes that its enemies could exploit
o Most obvious was Article 48 and another was the lack of restriction on minor
parties entering the Reichstag – meant the vote was very widespread
- Proportional representation – produced short-lived coalitions rather than a stable,
single party majority
o Could say problem with Weimar system lay with lack of safeguards built into
constitution to prevent election of extremist, anti-democratic parties unwilling to
support the ‘system’
- Deep-rooted economic difficulties undermined the republic
o Was unable to generate its own ‘economic miracle’ that sustained W Gr
democracy in the 1950’s
o Territorial losses, war debts and reparations constituted a mountain that the
Republic couldn’t overcome
Became commonplace to criticise Republic for not being able to return
Gr to its pre-war levels of prosperity
Leading to simplistic, but powerful, assertion among many Gr’s
that ‘under the Kaiser everything was better’
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