Weimar Republic is a term thrown around a lot in European History, especially in studies of the Holocaust. I thought it might be helpful to give a brief definition and history of this ill-fated government.
Weimar Republic is the unofficial name of the German government from 1918-1933. Because Berlin was in utter ruin following WWI, leaders met in the town of Weimar to set up a new democratic government, hence the name later used by historians.
The German people were still hoping for a victory as WWI came to an abysmal end in 1918. However, German leaders working behind closed doors knew that Germany’s defeat was inevitable. They scrambled for a way to save the government. German generals asked the Kaiser to abdicate, and he did so, fleeing to the Netherlands in exile. The generals believed that the victorious allies (the U.S., Great Britain, and France) would go easier on a democratic country than a monarchy. On November 11, 1918, three representatives of the new German government went to France and signed an armistice agreement, marking Germany’s surrender in the war. The German people were shocked. They had LOST? The people who signed the treaty must be traitors! The representatives became known as the “November Criminals” and were accused of stabbing Germany in the back. This marked the beginning of the Weimar Republic.
The biggest flaw with the Weimar Republic was its voting system. In electing the parliament (better known as Reichstag) people had to vote for an entire party, not just a candidate. If a party got one percent of the vote, than it received one member in parliament. Party officials, not voters, decided exactly who would fill those seats. If no single party held power, then two or more parties could band together to form a coalition. These coalitions were easy to break apart. The result was fourteen years of instability, including numerous political assassinations and twenty different governments coming and going.
Though the Weimar Republic did not last as a government, several new laws were enacted that helped break away from old traditions. Women were giving the right to vote, and many new laws protected the rights of the German people as never before. Minority groups, such as homosexuals and gypsies, still faced discrimination.
Hitler used the terms of the Treaty of Versailles as a campaign platform to denounce the Weimar Republic and its leaders. He was able to garner support for his own party, and succeeded in being elected chancellor in 1933, marking the end of the Weimar Republic.
Sources:
Facing History and Ourselves: Holocaust and the Human Behavior. Facing History and Ourselves, National Foundation, Inc. Brookline, MA. 1994.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weimar_Republic
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