Problems and Crises in the German Weimar Republic 1918-23

The emergence of a democratic republic in 1919 Germany was not without its problems, many crises would face the new Weimar government in the period 1919 to 1923, but after this turbulent period it would still survive.

Perhaps one of the key factors in disadvantaging the new government from the start was the signing of the armistice on 11th November 1918. This was essentially only a ceasefire, but to the German nation it was viewed as an outrage. This shock of such a defeat was due to the propaganda implemented throughout the war by ministers to reassure the Germans that they would be victorious in their cause and that their army was near to securing a win against the enemy. Therefore this complete reversal came as a horrendous surprise to the ordinary German who had no cause to doubt their ministers claims that all was going well, after all, there had been no fighting on German territory, but it was their troops occupying other countries territories, how could they have lost this war? In fact the situation was extremely bleak for the new civilian government put in power to save the old re

Despite all of these problems the Weimar Republic still survived, I believe it could have been under a real threat from the Right wing extremists and the Versailles treaty most of all. After all the right wing held the most broad support and was most influential, and the Versailles treaty was like a shadow hanging over the Weimar Republic, they were blamed for signing it, blamed for the crippling demands and could not escape it, many of their later problems in Germany were a result of this treaty (e.g. hyperinflation and economic crisis.)

Despite the left wing threat, there was a far more severe threat from the extreme right wing, the savage Freikorps were comprised of disbanded servicemen or people with a love of violence, they wanted to see the traditional monarchy back in power and were anti Versailles. They were known for there violence and were feared by many. This group and other right wing extremists carried out many political murders during the unsettled period of 1919-1923.

However the reason I feel it survived was that in all of its problems it faced there was no serious, united opposition for Germans to turn to, the Weimar republic was their only choice, no other parties could offer as strong leadership with such mass support, the country was in such turmoil that the republic were the only people seeming to provide a logical way forward for Germany.

The new Weimar constitution was established in 1919, democratic in nature, as well as benefits, it also provided some problems. The change to government was the introduction of proportional representation, whereby a number of seats in the Reichstag was allocated depending on the amount of votes a party received. However, this method had a drawback that the seats could comprise of many small parties, therefore producing a weak and inefficient government that would have been disastrous at the time. Again many social and welfare benefits for the German people were very generous but it upset the elite who would have to pay for these new provisions out of their own pocket. Some have suggested th

Some topics in this essay:
Essay Question, Ebert Gröner, KPD Spartacists, Weimar Republic, Needless German, Furthermore Germany, Munich Putsch’s, Diktat German, Germany Chancellor, President Wilson’s, left wing, weimar republic, democratic government, civilian government, extreme left, versailles treaty, ‘german revolution’, weimar government, government start, middle class,