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The Third Reich: The Weaknesses Of The Weimar Republic

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Imagine living in Nazi Germany, let’s say you’re ten years old. Fear is consuming your body as you try to hide from the soldiers breaking down your door. Before you know it, you’re on a train without a clue as to where your friends and family might be. This was what it was like for everyone, not just the kids, but parents, grandparents, etc. The only question we can really ask is: How did we let this happen? The answer is simple, Hitler rose to power by focusing on the weaknesses of the Weimar Republic and gained support for exposing them. Such weaknesses were the unstable Reich (German legislative branch), abused presidential power and last but not least, the lack of trust from the military. All of these things helped Hitler rise from a citizen, to chancellor, and eventually a dictator. If it wasn’t for the Weimar Republic’s weaknesses, World War II and the Holocaust possibly could have been completely avoided. The instability of the Reich in the new government (called the Weimar Republic) had severely weakened the overall effectiveness of Germany. After all, without the legislative branch you can’t change too much. According to The Rise and Fall …show more content…

Yes, you read correctly, a dictator. While the Reich was weak the president had decided it would be the perfect opportunity to take all of the power for himself. According to “The Power of the Third Reich” the president had attempted to “cancel all elections”. If he had succeeded in his attempt, it basically could have resulted in either a more powerful or an earlier rise of Hitler’s beliefs. Of course, the Reich had managed to stop him from actually cancelling the elections. As a consequence of the decisions made, Communists began to protest the Weimar Republic, which the German volunteer military had to deal with. This foolish attempt at dictatorship is what cost Germany the support of its own people and the faith from their

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The major cause of Hitler’s political success was due to the tremendous amount of fear that people associated with him. The fear of Hitler is what forced the government to grant him the enabling act, which then lead to the rise of Natsism. President Paul Von Hindenburg thought of Hitler as a threat to their power, so as a tactic to suppress his authority, they thought by electing him into office and appointing him chancellor was enough for him to feel some sort of power and settle down. It gave Hitler a voice in the government and a say what goes on in decision making,so they assumed this would satisfied Hitler and keep him contained. They were wrong.

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On November 11, 1918 at 11am Germany signed an armistice with the Allied forces effectively ending the bloodiest war in human history. What followed would be the rise and fall of the Weimar Republic which would ultimately establish the Third German Reich. This is the backdrop for Eric Weitz’s Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy, where he describes the achievements and the devastating failures which spurred on the rise and fall of a republic and the eventual creation of a dictator. The first chapter of Weitz’s book titled “A Troubled Beginning” describes the social and political landscapes of Germany following the war. All of which coalesces into the primary theme of the chapter, that the Weimer Republic was built on a foundation that was doomed

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However, the notion that the treaty of Versailles was the foremost factor which hindered the creditability of the emerging Weimar Republic from the onset fails to hold legitimacy in its claims. As asserted by Mary Fulbrook, the conditions in which Weimar democracy were born were ‘certainly not such as to help it flourish; and as it unfolded, it was clearly saddled with a burden of problems, in a range of areas. ’ The failure of democracy in Germany from 1919 to 1934 was a product of its time; multifaceted and perhaps unavoidable given its calamitous circumstances. Whilst treaty of Versailles was not the consequence of the eventual collapse of the fledgling democracy; it was however the economic conditions in which Germany failed to effectively handle from 1914 onwards, coupled with the continuation of the structures of imperial and inherent flaws in the constitution that all played pivotal roles in impacting the legitimacy of the emerging Weimar

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The Nazi used the Great Depression as the boost to gain support from the Germans. Due to America’s depression, Germany was put into a dire state as unemployment increased, thus resulted in the Nazi gaining votes during the 1933 election. The depression caused desperation within the people that made them feel that the Weimar Republic could not look after them or the country’s financial problems. Hitler made promises to get rid of the unemployment rate, thus gaining the support of the public. Although the Great Depression was a key factor to Hitler’s rise to power but there were other causes: the German’s were looking for a saviour and Hitler happened to be that person; Hitler also played on the German’s fear factor of Communism and Communist which led him to get votes from the middle to higher class citizens by the burning of the Reichstag.

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During the time period of 1923 to 1929, Gustav Stresemann had a very big influence over Weimar Republic. He was the chancellor of Weimar Republic for a year and then he took up other important jobs such as Germany’s Foreign Minister. Before Gustav Stresemann came into office Weimar Republic was in a very dire situation consisting of many complicating factors. The Weimar Republic faced many problems from the moment it was setup mainly due to being associated with the Treaty of Versailles.

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On November 11th 1918(the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month), the First World War officially ended. So this day Allies (France, Britain and USA) had a great joy. However not all the nations had fall in gladness. On this day nations of Germany had to feel anger and frustration. Also they had agreed (Armistice) to stop fighting during the terms of peace were consulted.

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He could now pass any laws without consulting the Reichstag and the only person in his way was the President. When the president died, he was able to combine the post of chancellor and president. His totalitarian regime was not far. In the end, article 48 was significant because it weakened a system already put under numerous tensions and which lacked people 's confidence in it.

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Hitler needed Weimar and its radical social reforms to frighten the German people. He needed the instability and chaos, because he derived his power from fear. The culture of the Weimar

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However, without the socio-economic problems that Germany encountered and the weakness of their political situation, Hitler would not have had the opportunity to come into power and destory democracy in 1933. In 1918, a republic was announced with the socialist Frederich Ebert as chancellor. Ebert wanted to sign the armistice

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