The inevitable collapse and contingent strengths of Weimar

Weimar Republic

It is often assumed that the eventual failure of the Weimar Republic, which governed Germany from 1919 until the Nazi takeover in 1933, was inevitable. This was not necessarily so as the republic had both its strengths and weaknesses, and could have taken root but for some crucial external and internal events that took place.

The aftermath of the First World War, which Germany lost, would have been difficult for any government as it was for the Weimar Republic. The government faced considerable economic and political problems in its early years. This was mainly due to the devastation suffered in the war and the harsh reparations imposed by the victors, as well as the result of violent opposition from the extreme leftists and the extreme rightists.

Apart from these problems which were not of its own making, the republic also suffered from two inherent weaknesses in its constitution that eventually led to its downfall. The first was the system of "proportional representation": a system in which people vote for a party instead of voting directly for a candidate. This proved disastrous as dozens of tiny parties emerged, with no party being strong enough to get a majority in the Reichstag. The second was Article 48 of the constitution, which stated that, in an emergency, the president could issue important decrees without approval of the Reichstag -- a backdoor that eventually brought Hitler to power.

Despite these difficulties, the Weimar republic also had its strengths. For the first time in its history, Germans under the republic enjoyed the freedom of democracy and a Bill of Rights guaranteed every German citizen freedom of speech, religion, and equality under the law and all men and women over 20 years of age could exercise their right of vote. Moreover, after a severe economic crisis brought about by hyperinflation in 1923, Gustav Stresemann, the German chancellor (1923) and foreign minister (1923-29) brought about a remarkable turn-around and until 1929 the German economy boomed and cultural life flourished like never before.