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    Weimar Republic 1

    Weimar Republic

    The Weimar Republic (Weimarer Republik, IPA: [vama epublik]) is the name given by historians to the

    parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government. It was named

    after Weimar, the city where the constitutional assembly took place. Its official name was Deutsches Reich

    (sometimes translated as German Empire, butReich can also mean realm or federal level of government), however,

    and it was usually known in English simply as Germany. Following World War I, the republic emerged from the

    German Revolution in November 1918. In 1919, a national assembly convened in Weimar, where a new constitution

    for the German Reich was written, then adopted on 11 August of that same year. Germany's period of liberal

    democracy lapsed in the early 1930s, leading to the ascent of the NSDAP and Adolf Hitler in 1933. Although the

    constitution of 1919 was never officially repealed, the legal measures taken by the Nazi government in February and

    March 1933, commonly known as Gleichschaltung ("coordination") meant that the government could legislate

    contrary to the constitution. The constitution became irrelevant; thus, 1933 is usually seen as the end of the Weimar

    Republic and the beginning of Hitler's Third Reich.

    In its 14 years, the Weimar Republic was faced with numerous problems, including hyperinflation, political

    extremists on the left and the right and their paramilitaries, and hostility from the victors of World War I. However,

    it overcame many discriminatory regulations of the Treaty of Versailles, reformed the currency, and unified tax

    politics and the railway system.

    Name

    Despite its political form, the new republic was still known as Deutsches Reich in German. This phrase was

    commonly translated into English as German Empire, although the German word Reich has a broader range of

    connotations than the English "empire", so the name is most often translated to the German Reich in English. The

    English word "realm" captures broadly the same meaning. The common short form remained Germany.

    November Revolution

    In October 1918, the constitution of the German Empirewas reformed to introduce a parliamentary system similar to

    the British, but this soonbecame obsolete. On 29 October, rebellion broke out in Kiel among sailors. There, sailors,

    soldiers and workers began electing worker and soldier councils (Arbeiter- und Soldatenrte) modeled after the

    soviets of the Russian Revolution of 1917. The revolution spread throughout Germany, and particip ants seized

    military and civil powers in individual cities. In contrast to Russia one year earlier, the councils were controlled by

    social democrats, not communists. Nevertheless, the rebellion caused great fear in the establishment and in the

    middle classes because of the Soviet Russia connotation of the councils. The country seemed to be on the verge of a

    communist revolution. On 7 November, the revolution had reached Munich, causing King Ludwig III of Bavaria toflee.

    At the time, thetraditional political representation of the working class, the Social Democratic Party was divided: a

    faction that called for immediate peace negotiations and leaned towards a socialist system had founded the

    Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD)in 1917. In order not to lose their influence, the remaining Majority

    Social Democrats (MSPD), who supported the war efforts and a parliamentary system, decided to put themselves at

    the front of the movement, and on 7 November, demanded that Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicate. When he refused, Prince

    Max of Baden simply announced that he had done so and frantically attempted to establish a regency under another

    member of the House of Hohenzollern. On 9 November 1918, the German Republic was proclaimed by MSPD

    member Philipp Scheidemann at the Reichstag building in Berlin, to the fury of Friedrich Ebert, the leader of the

    MSPD, who thought that the question of monarchy or republic should be answered by a national assembly. Twohours later a Free Socialist Republic was proclaimed, two kilometres away, at the Berliner Stadtschloss. The

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    Weimar Republic 2

    proclamation was issued by Karl Liebknecht, co-leader (with Rosa Luxemburg) of the communist Spartakusbund,

    which had allied itself with the USPD in 1917.

    Philipp Scheidemann talking from a

    window of the Reich Chancellery

    building to the people, November 9,

    1918

    On 9 November, in a legally questionable act, Reichskanzler Prince Max of

    Baden transferred his powers to Friedrich Ebert, who, shattered by the

    monarchy's fall, reluctantly accepted. It was apparent, however, that this act

    would not satisfy Liebknecht and his followers, so a day later, a coalitiongovernment called "Council of People's Commissioners" (Rat der

    Volksbeauftragten) was established, consisting of three MSPD and three USPD

    members. Led by Ebert for the MSPD and Hugo Haase for the USPD it sought to

    act as collective head of state. Although the new government was confirmed by

    the Berlin worker and soldier council, it was opposed by the Spartacist League.

    Ebert called for a National Congress of Councils, which took place from 16

    December to 20 December 1918, and in which the MSPD had the majority. Thus

    Ebert managed to enforce quick elections for a National Assembly to produce a

    constitution for a parliamentary system, marginalizing the movement that called

    for a socialist republic (see below).

    On 11 November, an armistice was signed at Compigne by German

    representatives. It effectively ended military operations between the Allies and

    Germany. It amounted to German demilitarization, without any concessions by the Allies; the naval blockade would

    continue until complete peace terms were agreed.

    From November 1918-January 1919, Germany was governed by the Council of People's Commissioners. It issued a

    large number of decrees which were confined to certain spheres: the eight-hour workday, domestic labour reform,

    agricultural labour reform, right of civil-service associations, local municipality social welfare relief (split between

    Reich and States) and important national health insurance, re-instatement of demobilised workers, protection from

    arbitrary dismissal with appeal as a right, regulated wage agreement, and universal suffrage from 20 years of age inall types of electionslocal and national.

    To ensure that his fledgling government was able to maintain control over the country, Ebert made an agreement

    with the OHL (supreme army command), now led by Ludendorff's successor General Wilhelm Groener. The

    'EbertGroener pact' stipulated that the government would not attempt to reform the army so long as the army swore

    to protect the state. On the one hand, this agreement symbolised the acceptance of the new government by the

    military, assuaging concern among the middle classes; on the other hand, it was thought contrary to working-class

    interests by left wing social democrats and communists, and was also opposed by the far right who believed

    democracy would make Germany weaker. The newReichswehr armed forces, limited by the Treaty of Versailles to

    100,000 army soldiers and 15,000 sailors, remained fully under the control of the German Officer Class despite its

    nominal re-organisation.

    As in other countries, it came to the permanent split in the social democratic movement, into the democratic SPD and

    the Communists. There was no revolution because the rightwing of the socialist movement, led by Ebert and

    Scheideman, supported the republic which they had brought into being. Combined action on the part of the socialists

    was not possible without action from the millions of workers who stood midway between the parliamentarians and

    the revolutionaries who supported the workers' councils. The likelihood of the conservative army and the extreme

    left fighting a civil war was made acute by widespread confusion.

    The split in the social democratic movement became final after Ebert called upon the OHL for troops to put down

    another Berlin army mutiny on 23 November 1918, in which soldiers had captured the city's garrison commander

    and closed off the Reichskanzlei where the Council of People's Commissioners was situated. The ensuing street

    fighting was brutal with several dead and injured on both sides. This caused the left wing to call for a split with the

    MSPD which, in their view, had joined with the anti-communist military to suppress the revolution. Thus, the USPD

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    left the Council of People's Commissioners after only seven weeks. In December, the split deepened when the

    Communist Party of Germany (KPD) was formed out of a number of radical left-wing groups, including the left

    wing of the USPD and the Spartacist League group.

    In January, the Spartacist League and others in the streets of Berlin made more armed attempts to establish

    communism, known as the Spartacist uprising. Those attempts were put down by paramilitary Freikorps units

    consisting of volunteer soldiers. Bloody street fights culminated in the beating and shooting deaths of RosaLuxemburg and Karl Liebknecht after their arrests on 15 January. With the affirmation of Ebert, those responsible

    were not tried before a court martial, leading to lenient sentences, which made Ebert unpopular among radical

    leftists.

    Official postcard of the National Assembly.

    The National Assembly elections took place on 19 January 1919. In

    this time, the radical left-wing parties, including the USPD and KPD,

    were barely able to get themselves organized, leading to a solid

    majority of seats for the MSPD moderate forces. To avoid the ongoing

    fights in Berlin, the National Assembly convened in the city of

    Weimar, giving the future Republic its unofficial name. The Weimar

    Constitution created a republic under a parliamentary republic system

    with the Reichstag elected by proportional representation. The

    democratic parties obtained a solid 80% of the vote.

    During the debates in Weimar, fighting continued. A Soviet republic

    was declared in Munich, but was quickly put down by Freikorps and remnants of the regular army. The fall of the

    Munich Soviet Republic to these units, many of which were situated on the extreme right, resulted in the growth of

    far-right movements and organizations in Bavaria, including Organisation Consul, the NSDAP, and societies of

    exiled Russian Monarchists. Sporadic fighting continued to flare up around the country. In eastern provinces, forces

    loyal to Germany's fallen Monarchy fought the republic, while militias of Polish nationalists fought for

    independence: Great Poland Uprising in Provinz Posen and three Silesian Uprisings in Upper Silesia.

    Treaty of Versailles

    Germany after Versailles Lost by Germany

    after World War I; Annexed by

    neighbouring countries Lost by Germany

    after World War I; Administered by the

    League of Nations Germany

    (19191935)

    The permanent economic crisis was a result of lost pre-war industrial

    exports, the loss of supplies in raw materials and foodstuffs from

    Alsace-Lorraine, Polish districts and the colonies, along with

    worsening debt balances and reparations payments. Military-industrial

    activity had almost ceased, although controlled demobilisation kept

    unemployment at around one million. The fact that the Allies

    continued to blockade Germany until after the Treaty of Versailles did

    not help matters, either.

    The allies permitted only low import levels of goods that most

    Germans could not afford. After four years of war and famine, many

    German workers were exhausted, physically impaired and discouraged.

    Millions were disenchanted with capitalism and hoping for a new era.

    Meanwhile the currency depreciated.

    The German peace delegation in France signed the Treaty of Versailles

    accepting mass reductions of the German military, substantial war

    reparations payments, and the controversial "War Guilt Clause". Adolf Hitler later blamed the republic and its

    democracy for the oppressive terms of this treaty. The Republic's firstReichsprsident ("Reich President"), Friedrich

    Ebert of the SPD, signed the new German constitution into law on 11 August 1919. It is important to note that Hitler

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    Weimar Republic 4

    used the shame that pervaded the German conscious regarding this treaty, and specifically the "War Guilt" clause, to

    catapult Germany into World War II.

    The new post-World War I Germany, stripped of all colonies, became 13.3% smaller in its European territory than

    its imperial predecessor.

    Years of crisis (1919

    1923)

    1923-issue 50 million mark banknote. Worth

    approximately $1 US when printed, this sum

    would have been worth approximately $12

    million, nine years earlier. The note was

    practically worthless a few weeks later because of

    continued inflation.

    The Republic was soon under attack from both left- and right-wing

    sources. The radical left accused the ruling Social Democrats of having

    betrayed the ideals of the workers' movement by preventing a

    communist revolution. Various right-wing sources opposed any

    democratic system, preferring an authoritarian state like the 1871

    Empire. To further undermine the Republic's credibility, some

    right-wingers (especially certain members of the former officer corps)

    also blamed an alleged conspiracy of Socialists and Jews for

    Germany's defeat in World War I.

    For the next five years, Germany's large cities suffered political

    violence between left-wing and right-wing groups, both of which

    committed violence and murder against innocent civilians and against

    each other, resulting in many deaths. The worst of the violence was

    between right-wing paramilitaries called the Freikorps and pro-Communist militias called the Red Guards, both of

    which admitted ex-soldiers into their ranks.

    The first challenge to the Weimar Republic came when a group of communists and anarchists took over the Bavarian

    government in Munich and declared the creation of the Bavarian Soviet Republic. The communist rebel state was put

    down one month later whenFreikorps units were brought in to fight the leftist rebels.

    The Kapp Putsch took place on 13 March 1920: a group of 5000 Freikorps troops gained control of Berlin and

    installed Wolfgang Kapp (a right-wing journalist) as chancellor. The national government fled to Stuttgart and called

    for a general strike. While Kapp's vacillating nature did not help matters, the strike crippled Germany's ravaged

    economy and the Kapp government collapsed after only four days on 17 March.

    Inspired by the general strikes, a communist uprising began in the Ruhr region when 50,000 people formed a "Red

    Army" and took control of the province. The regular army and the Freikorps ended the uprising on their own

    authority. Other communist rebellions were put down in March 1921 in Saxony and Hamburg.

    In 1922, Germany signed the secret Treaty of Rapallo with the Soviet Union, which allowed Germany to train

    military personnel in exchange for giving Russia military technology. This was against the Treaty of Versailles,

    which limited Germany to 100,000 soldiers and no conscription, naval forces of 15,000 men, twelve destroyers, six

    battleships, and six cruisers, no submarines or aircraft. But Russia had pulled out of World War I against the

    Germans as a result of the 1917 Russian Revolution, and was looked down upon by the League of Nations. Thus

    Germany seized the chance to make an ally. Walther Rathenau, the Jewish Foreign Minister who signed the treaty,

    was assassinated two months later by two ultra-nationalist army officers.

    By 1923, the Republic claimed it could no longer afford the reparations payments required by the Versailles Treaty,

    and the government defaulted on some payments. In response, French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr region,

    Germany's most productive industrial region at the time, taking control of most mining and manufacturing

    companies in January 1923. Strikes were called, and passive resistance was encouraged. These strikes lasted eight

    months, further damaging the economy and increasing the expense of imports. The strike prevented goods from

    being produced. This infuriated the French, who began to kill and exile protestors in the region.

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    Weimar Republic 5

    1 Million Mark notes, used as note paper,

    October 1923

    Since striking workers were paid benefits by the state, much additional

    currency was printed, fueling a period of hyperinflation. The 1920s

    German inflation started when Germany had no goods with which to

    trade. The government printed money to deal with the crisis; this

    allowed Germany to pay war loans and reparations with worthless

    marks, and helped formerly great industrialists to pay back their ownloans. This also led to pay raises for workers and for businessmen who

    wanted to profit from it. Circulation of money rocketed, and soon the

    Germans discovered their money was worthless. The value of the

    Papiermark had declined from 4.2 per US dollar at the outbreak of

    World War I to 1 million per dollar by August 1923. This led to further

    criticism of the Republic. On 15 November 1923, a new currency, the Rentenmark, was introduced at the rate of 1

    trillion (1,000,000,000,000) Papiermark for one Rentenmark, an action known as a monetary reset. At that time, one

    U.S. dollar was equal to 4.2 Rentenmark. Reparation payments resumed, and the Ruhr was returned to Germany

    under the Locarno Pact, which defined a border between Germany, France and Belgium.

    Further pressure from the right came in 1923 with the Beer Hall Putsch, also called the Munich Putsch, staged by

    Adolf Hitler in Munich. In 1920, the German Workers' Party had become the National Socialist German Workers'

    Party (NSDAP), nicknamed the Nazi Party, and would become a driving force in the collapse of Weimar. Hitler was

    named chairman of the party in July 1921. On 8 November 1923, the Kampfbund, in a pact with Erich Ludendorff,

    took over a meeting by Bavarian prime minister Gustav von Kahr at a beer hall in Munich. Ludendorff and Hitler

    declared a new government, planning to take control of Munich the following day. The 3,000 rebels were thwarted

    by 100 policemen. Hitler was arrested and sentenced to five years in prison for high treason, a minimum sentence for

    the charge. In the event, he served less than eight months in a comfortable cell before his release on the 20th of

    December 1924. While in jail, Hitler wrote Mein Kampf which laid out his ideas and future policies. Hitler now

    decided to focus on legal methods of gaining power.

    Golden Era (19231929)

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    Not everyone, however, was happy with the changes taking place in Weimar culture. Many of the older generations

    felt that Germany was losing her traditional values by adopting popular styles from abroad, particularly the USA.

    Hollywood popularised American film, while New York became the global capital of fashion. Germany was more

    susceptible to Americanisation, because of the close economic links brought about by the Dawes plan.

    In 1929, three years after receiving the 1926 Nobel Peace Prize, Stresemann died of a heart attack at the age of 51.

    This event marked the end of the "Golden Era" of the Weimar Republic.

    Decline (19301933)

    Loss of credibility

    Members of the Communist Roter

    Frontkmpferbund marching through

    Berlin-Wedding, 1927

    The last years of the Weimar Republic were stamped by even more

    political instability than in the previous years. The administrations of

    Chancellors Brning, Papen, Schleicher and Hitler (from 30

    January-23 March 1933) governed through presidential decree, rather

    than through consultation with theReichstag (the German parliament).

    The finance expert Heinrich Brning was appointed as successor of

    Chancellor Mller by Reichsprsident Paul von Hindenburg on 29

    March 1930, after months of political lobbying by General Kurt von

    Schleicher on behalf of the military. The new government was

    expected to lead a political shift towards conservatism, based on the

    emergency powers granted to the Reichsprsident by the constitution,

    since it had no majority support in theReichstag.

    After a bill to reform the Reich's finances was opposed by the Reichstag, Hindenburg established the bill as an

    emergency decree based on Article 48 of the constitution. On 18 July, the bill was again invalidated by a slim

    majority in the Reichstag with the support of the SPD, KPD, the (then small) NSDAP and DNVP. Immediately

    afterwards, Brning submitted to theReichstag the president's decree that it would be dissolved.

    The Reichstag general elections on 14 September resulted in an enormous political shift: 18.3% of the vote went to

    the Nazis, five times the percentage compared to 1928. It was no longer possible to form a pro-republican majority in

    theReichstag, not even a Grand Coalition of all major parties except the KPD, NSDAP and DNVP. This encouraged

    the supporters of the Nazis to force their claim to power by increasing organization of public demonstrations and

    paramilitary violence against rival paramilitary groups.

    From 1930-1932, Brning tried to reform the devastated state without a majority in Parliament, governing with the

    help of the President's emergency decrees. During that time, the Great Depression reached its low point. In line with

    conservative economic theory that less government spending would spur economic growth, Brning drastically cutstate expenditures, including in the social sector. He expected and accepted that the economic crisis would, for a

    while, deteriorate before things would improve. Among others, the Reich completely halted all public grants to the

    obligatory unemployment insurance (which had been introduced only in 1927), which resulted in higher

    contributions by the workers and fewer benefits for the unemployed.

    The bulk of German capitalists and land-owners originally supported the conservative experiment: not from any

    personal liking for Brning, but believing the conservatives would best serve their interests. But as the mass of the

    working class and middle classes turned against Brning, more of the great capitalists and landowners declared

    themselves in favour of his opponents Hitler and Hugenberg. By late 1931, conservatism as a movement was

    dead, and the time was coming when Hindenburg and the Reichswehr would drop Brning and come to terms with

    Hugenberg and Hitler. Although Hindenburg disliked Hugenberg and despised Hitler, he was no less a supporter ofthe sort of anti-democratic counter-revolution represented by the DNVP and NSDAP.

    [1]

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    Weimar Republic 8

    On 30 May 1932, Brning resigned after no longer having Hindenburg's support. Five weeks earlier, Hindenburg had

    been re-elected Reichsprsident with Brning's active support, running against Hitler (the president was directly

    elected by the people while theReichskanzler was not).

    The Von Papen deal

    Army feeds the poor, 1931 in Berlin

    Hindenburg then appointed Franz von Papen as new Reichskanzler.Von Papen lifted the ban on the NSDAP's SA paramilitary, imposed

    after the street riots, in an unsuccessful attempt to secure the backing of

    Hitler.

    Von Papen was closely associated with the industrialist and

    land-owning classes, and pursued an extreme Conservative policy

    along Hindenburg's lines. He appointed as Reichswehr Minister Kurt

    von Schleicher, and all the members of the new cabinet were of the

    same political opinion as Hindenburg. This government was to be

    expected to assure itself of the co-operation of Hitler. Since the

    Republicans were not yet ready to take action, the Communists did not want to support the republic, and the

    Conservatives had shot their political bolt, Hitler and Hugenberg were certain to achieve power.

    Elections of July 1932

    Harzburger Front of 1931, a coalition of

    nationalist conservatives and the extreme right

    Because most parties opposed the new government, von Papen had the

    Reichstag dissolved and called for new elections. The general elections

    on 31 July 1932 yielded major gains for the KPD and the NSDAP (the

    Nazis), who won 37.2% of the vote, supplanting the Social Democrats

    as the largest party in theReichstag.

    The new question was what part the now immense Nazi Party would

    play in the Government of the country. The Nazi party owed its huge

    increase to an influx of workers, unemployed, despairing peasants, and

    middle-class people. The millions of radical adherents at first forced

    the Party towards the Left. They wanted a renewed Germany and a

    new organisation of German society. The left of the Nazi party strove

    desperately against any drift into the train of such capitalist and feudal reactionaries. Therefore Hitler refused

    ministry under Papen, and demanded the chancellorship for himself, but was rejected by Hindenburg on 13 August

    1932. There was still no majority in theReichstag for any government; as a result, theReichstag was dissolved and

    elections took place once more in the hope that a stable majority would result.

    Cabinet Schleicher

    The 6 November 1932 elections yielded 33.1% for the Nazis,[2]

    two million voters less than in the previous election.

    Franz von Papen stepped down and was succeeded by General Kurt von Schleicher asReichskanzler on 3 December.

    Schleicher, a political army officer, had developed in an atmosphere of semi-obscurity and intrigue that encompassed

    the Republican military policy. He had for years been in the camp of those supporting the Conservative

    counter-revolution. Schleicher's bold and unsuccessful plan was to build a majority in the Reichstag by uniting the

    trade unionist left wings in the various parties, including that of the Nazis led by Gregor Strasser. This did not prove

    successful either.

    In this brief Presidential Dictatorship entr'acte, Schleicher took the role of 'Socialist General', and entered into

    relations with the Christian Trade Unions, the Left Nazis and even with the Social Democrats. Schleicher planned for

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    Weimar Republic 9

    a sort of labour government under his Generalship. But the Reichswehr officers were not prepared for this, the

    working class had a natural distrust of their future allies, and great capitalists and landowners did not like the plans.

    The SPD and KPD could have achieved success building on a Berlin transport strike.

    Poster for the nationalist "Black-White-Red" coalition

    of DNVP leader Alfred Hugenberg, Franz von Papen

    and Franz Seldte.

    Hitler learned from von Papen that the general had no authority to

    abolish the Reichstag parliament, whereas any majority of seats

    did. The cabinet (under a previous interpretation of Article 48)ruled without a sitting Reichstag, which could vote only for its

    own dissolution. Hitler also learned that all past crippling Nazi

    debts were to be relieved by German big business.

    On 22 January, Hitler's efforts to persuade Oskar von Hindenburg

    (the President's son) included threats to bring criminal charges

    over estate taxation irregularities at the President's Neudeck estate

    (although 5000 acres (20 km2) extra were soon allotted to

    Hindenburg's property). Out-maneuvered by von Papen and Hitler

    on plans for the new cabinet, and having lost Hindenburg's

    confidence, Schleicher asked for new elections. On 28 January,

    von Papen described Hitler to Paul von Hindenburg as only a

    minority part of an alternative, von Papen-arranged government.

    The four great political movements, the SPD, KPD, Centre, and

    the Nazis were in opposition.

    On 29 January, Hitler and von Papen thwarted a last-minute threat

    of an officially sanctioned Reichswehr takeover, and on 30

    January 1933 Hindenburg accepted the new

    Papen-Nationalist-Hitler coalition with the Nazis holding only three of 11 Cabinet seats. Later that day, the first

    cabinet meeting was attended by only two political parties, representing a minority in the Reichstag: The Nazis andthe DNVP led by Alfred Hugenberg (196 + 52 seats). Eyeing the Catholic Centre Party's 70 (+ 20 BVP) seats, Hitler

    refused their leader's demands for constitutional "concessions" (amounting to protection) and planned for dissolution

    of theReichstag.

    Hindenburg, despite his misgivings about the Nazis' goals and about Hitler as a person, reluctantly agreed to Papen's

    theory that, with Nazi popular support on the wane, Hitler could now be controlled as chancellor. This date, dubbed

    Machtergreifung (seizure of power) by Nazi propaganda, is commonly seen as the beginning of Nazi Germany.

    Hitler's chancellorship (1933)

    Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor on the morning of 30 January 1933 in what some observers later described as a

    brief and indifferent ceremony. By early February, a mere week after Hitler's assumption of the chancellorship, the

    government had begun to clamp down on the opposition. Meetings of the left-wing parties were banned and even

    some of the moderate parties found their members threatened and assaulted. Measures with an appearance of legality

    suppressed the Communist Party in mid-February and included the plainly illegal arrests ofReichstag deputies.

    The Reichstag Fire on 27 February was blamed by Hitler's government on the Communists. Hitler used the ensuing

    state of emergency to obtain the assent of President von Hindenburg to issue the Reichstag Fire Decree the following

    day. The decree invoked Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution and "indefinitely suspended" a number of

    constitutional protections of civil liberties, allowing the Nazi government to take swift action against political

    meetings, arresting and killing the Communists.

    Hitler and the Nazis exploited the German state's broadcasting and aviation facilities in a massive attempt to swaythe electorate, but this election yielded a scant majority of 16 seats for the coalition. At the Reichstag elections,

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    Weimar Republic 10

    which took place on 5 March, the NSDAP obtained 17 million votes. The Communist, Social Democrat and Catholic

    Centre votes stood firm. This was the last multi-party election until the end of the Third Reich 12 years later and the

    last all-German election for 57 years.

    Hitler addressed disparate interest groups, stressing the necessity for a definitive solution to the perpetual instability

    of the Weimar Republic. He now blamed Germany's problems on the Communists, even threatening their lives on 3

    March. Former Chancellor Heinrich Brning proclaimed that his Centre Party would resist any constitutional changeand appealed to the President for an investigation of the Reichstag fire. Hitler's successful plan was to induce what

    remained of the now Communist-depleted Reichstag to grant him, and the Government, the authority to issue

    decrees with the force of law. The hitherto Presidential Dictatorship hereby was to give itself a new legal form.

    On 15 March, the first cabinet meeting was attended by the two coalition parties, representing a minority in the

    Reichstag: The Nazis and the DNVP led by Alfred Hugenberg (196 + 52 seats). According to the Nuremberg Trials,

    this cabinet meeting's first order of business was how at last to achieve the complete counter-revolution by means of

    the constitutionally allowed Enabling Act, requiring parliamentary majority. This Act would, and did, lead Hitler

    and the NSDAP toward his goal of unfettered dictatorial powers.[3]

    Hitler cabinet meeting in mid-March

    At the meeting of the new cabinet on 15 March, Hitler introduced the Enabling Act, which would have authorised

    the cabinet to enact legislation without the approval of the Reichstag. Meanwhile, the only remaining question for

    the Nazis was whether the Catholic Centre Party (Zentrum) would support the EnablingAct in theReichstag, thereby

    providing the majority required to ratify a law that amended the constitution. Hitler expressed his confidence to

    win over the Centre's votes. Hitler is recorded at the Nuremberg Trials as being sure of eventual Centre Party

    Germany capitulation and thus rejecting of the DNVP's suggestions to "balance" the majority through further arrests,

    this time of Social Democrats. Hitler however assured his coalition partners that arrests would resume after the

    elections and, in fact, some 26 SPD Social Democrats were physically removed. After meeting with Centre leader

    Monsignor Ludwig Kaas and other Centre Trade Union leaders daily and denying them a substantial participation in

    the government, negotiation succeeded in respect of guarantees towards Catholic civil-servants and education issues.

    At the last internal Centre meeting prior to the debate on the Enabling Act, Kaas expressed no preference or

    suggestion on the vote, but as a way of mollifying opposition by Centre members to the granting of further powers to

    Hitler, Kaas somehow arranged for a letter of constitutional guarantee from Hitler himself prior to his voting with the

    centre en bloc in favor of the Enabling Act. This guarantee was not ultimately given. Kaas, the party's chairman

    since 1928, had strong connections to the Vatican Secretary of State, later Pope Pius XII. In return for pledging his

    support for the act, Kaas would use his connections with the Vatican to set in train and draft the Holy See's long

    desiredReichskonkordat with Germany (only possible with the co-operation of the Nazis).

    Ludwig Kaas is considered along with von Papen as being one of the two most important political figures in the

    creation of a National Socialist dictatorship.[4]

    Enabling Act negotiations

    On 20 March, negotiation began between Hitler and Frick on one side and the Catholic Centre Party (Zentrum)

    leadersKaas, Stegerwald and Hackelsburger on the other. The aim was to settle on conditions under which Centre

    would vote in favor of theEnabling Act. Because of the Nazis' narrow majority in the Reichstag, Centre's support

    was necessary to receive the required two-thirds majority vote. On 22 March, the negotiations concluded; Hitler

    promised to continue the existence of the German states, agreed not to use the new grant of power to change the

    constitution, and promised to retainZentrum members in the civil service. Hitler also pledged to protect the Catholic

    confessional schools and to respect the concordats signed between the Holy See and Bavaria (1924), Prussia (1929)

    and Baden (1931). Hitler also agreed to mention these promises in his speech to the Reichstag before the vote on the

    Enabling Act.

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    Weimar Republic 11

    The ceremonial opening of the Reichstag on 21 March was held at the Garrison Church in Potsdam, a shrine of

    Prussianism, in the presence of many Junker landowners and representatives of the imperial military caste. This

    impressive and often emotional spectacle orchestratedby Joseph Goebbels aimed to linkHitler's government

    with Germany's imperial past and portray National Socialism as a guarantor of the nation's future. The ceremony

    helped convince the "old guard" Prussian military elite of Hitler's homage to their long tradition and, in turn,

    produced the relatively convincing view that Hitler's government had the support of Germany's traditional protector

    the Army. Such support would publicly signal a return to conservatism to curb the problems affecting the Weimar

    Republic, and that stability might be at hand. In a cynical and politically adroit move, Hitler bowed in apparently

    respectful humility before President and Field Marshal von Hindenburg.

    Passage of the Enabling Act

    The Reichstag convened on 23 March 1933, and in the midday opening, Hitler made a historic speech, appearing

    outwardly calm and conciliatory. Hitler presented an appealing prospect of respect towards Christianity by paying

    tribute to the Christian faiths as "essential elements for safeguarding the soul of the German people". He promised to

    respect their rights and declared his government's "ambition is a peaceful accord between Church and State" and that

    he hoped "to improve our friendly relations with the Holy See." This speech aimed especially at the futurerecognition by the named Holy See and therefore to the votes of the Centre Party addressing many concerns Kaas

    had voiced during the previous talks. Kaas is considered to have had a hand therefore in the drafting of the speech.[4]

    Kaas is also reported as voicing the Holy See's desire for Hitler as bulwark against atheistic Russian nihilism

    previously as early as May 1932.[5]

    Hitler promised that the Act did not threaten the existence of either the Reichstag or theReichsrat, that the authority

    of the President remained untouched and that the Lnder would not be abolished. Of course, all the promises would

    be broken soon enough, but they served their purpose. During an adjournment, the other parties (notably the Centre)

    met to discuss their intentions.[6]

    In the debate prior to the vote on the Enabling Act, Hitl er orchestrated the fullpolitical menace of his paramilitary

    forces like the storm troopers in the streets to intimidate reluctant Reichstag deputies into approving the Enabling

    Act. The Communists' 81 seats had been empty since the Reichstag Fire Decree and other lesser known procedural

    measures, thus excluding their anticipated "No" votes from the balloting. Otto Wels, the leader of the Social

    Democrats, whose seats were similarly depleted from 120 to below 100, was the only speaker to defend democracy

    and in a futile but brave effort to deny Hitler the majority, he made a speech critical of the abandonment of

    democracy to dictatorship. At this, Hitler could no longer restrain his wrath.[7]

    In his retort to Wels, Hitler abandoned earlier pretence at calm statesmanship and delivered a characteristic

    screaming diatribe, promising to exterminate all Communists in Germany and threatening Wels' Social Democrats as

    well. He did not even want their support for the bill. "Germany will become free, but not through you," he shouted.[8]

    Meanwhile Hitler's promised written guarantee to Monsignor Kaas was being typed up, it was asserted to Kaas, andthereby Kaas was persuaded to silently deliver the Centre bloc's votes for the Enabling Act anyway. The Act

    formally titled the "Act for the Removal of Distress from People and Reich" was passed by a vote of 441 to 94.

    Only the SPD had voted against the Act. Every other member of the Reichstag, whether from the largest or the

    smallest party, voted in favor of the Act. It went into effect the following day, March 24.

    Aftermath

    The passage of the Enabling Act of 1933 is widely considered to mark the end of the Weimar Republic and the

    beginning of the Third Reich. It empowered the cabinet to legislate without the approval of Reichstag or the

    President, and to enact laws that were contrary to the constitution. Before the March 1933 elections Hitler had

    persuaded Hindenburg to promulgate the Reichstag Fire Decree using Article 48, which empowered the government

    to restrict 'the rights of habeas corpus [...] freedom of the press, the freedom to organize and assemble, the privacy of

    http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Third_Reichhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Third_Reichhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reichstag_Fire_Decreehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Article_48http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Third_Reichhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reichstag_Fire_Decreehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Article_48http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reichstag_Fire_Decreehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Article_48http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reichstag_Fire_Decreehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Article_48http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Article_48http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reichstag_Fire_Decreehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Third_Reichhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Enabling_Act_of_1933http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Otto_Welshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wrathhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dictatorshiphttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Democracyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Otto_Welshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sturmabteilunghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paramilitaryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=States_of_Germanyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Presidenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reichsrathttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reichstag_%28institution%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nihilismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Atheisthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Holy_Seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Holy_Seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Church_and_Statehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paul_von_Hindenburghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joseph_Goebbelshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Junkerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Prussiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Potsdamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Garrison_Church
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    Weimar Republic 12

    postal, telegraphic and telephonic communications' and legalised search warrants and confiscation 'beyond legal

    limits otherwise prescribed'. This was intended to forestall any action against the government by the Communists.

    Hitler used the provisions of the Enabling Act to pre-empt possible opposition to his dictatorship from other sources,

    in which he was mostly successful.

    The process of bringing all major organisations into line with Nazi principles and into the service of the state was

    called Gleichschaltung. Gleichschaltung is usually translated as "coordination", but sometimes as "forciblecoordination".

    [9]It is a compound word, consisting of gleich meaning 'alike' and schaltung which means 'switching'.

    The NSDAP meant to imply a particular mechanical meaning of the word: a certain means of wiring an electrical

    generator and electric motors, so that when the generator is made to turn at a given speed or turned to a certain angle,

    each motor connected to it will also turn at that speed, or to the same angle in other words, synchronization. The

    NSDAP was thought of as the generator, and other civil groups as the motors which were wired to it.

    Hitler's cabinet issued many decrees for the purpose of Gleichschaltung in the weeks following the passage of the

    Act. It removed Jews from the civil service (at Hindenburg's request, an exception was made for Jews who had

    served at the front during World War I). It banned all trade unions and eventually outlawed all other political parties.

    After the exiled SPD published its new weekly Neuer Vorwarts in Prague, Hitler banned the party, confiscating its

    assets and abolishing its parliamentary representation, by decree of 22 June.

    However, opposition was frequently not addressed by legislation at all. The process of Gleichschaltung was often

    voluntary, or in any event not mandated by a formal decree. Most other parties had dissolved before being officially

    banned: the NSDAP's coalition partner, the DNVP, dissolved on 27 June, one day after Hugenberg's resignation

    from the cabinet. The Staatspartei (formerly the DDP) dissolved itself on 28 June and the DVP on 29 June. On 4-5

    July, the Catholic parties (the BVP and the Centre) also wound up. By the time the formal decree banned the creation

    of new parties, there were none left except the NSDAP.[10]

    [11]

    ... many organizations showed themselves only too willing to anticipate the [Gleichschaltung] process

    and to "coordinate" themselves in accordance with the expectations of the new era. By the autumn, theNazi dictatorship ... had been enormously strengthened. What is striking is not how much, but how little,

    Hitler needed to do to bring this about ... Hitler took remarkably few initiatives.Kershaw p. 469.

    Willing Gleichschaltung was termed Selbstgleichschaltung or "self-coordination". There was a rush to join the

    NSDAP, overrunning the party's ability to process applications: on May 1, the party announced that it was

    suspending the admission of new members. The party's membership had increased to 2.5 million, from about

    900,000 at the end of January. Many prominent intellectuals allied themselves with the new government: the

    country's most famous philosopher, Martin Heidegger and its most prominent constitutional scholar, Carl Schmitt,

    spoke in favour of it, and Heidegger became the sponsor of a manifesto of German professors pledging allegiance to

    "Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist State." Lists were prepared of writers whose works were unacceptable in the

    'New Order', including Freud, Einstein and Brecht. On the evening of 10 May, under the leadership of the German

    Students' Association and without substantial protest by the university faculties, some 20,000 volumes were burned

    at Berlin's Opernplatz.[12]

    The Reichswehr had, however, remained mostly untouched by Gleichschaltung. It was not until Hindenburg's death

    in August 1934 that all military personnel swore an oath of loyalty directly to Hitler, instead of to the constitution.

    Thereafter, the military came under gradually increasing pressure to align itself with NSDAP ideology, but it never

    entirely capitulated. Likewise, the holdings of industrialists and aristocratic "Junker" landowners remained for the

    most part untouched, whilst the administrative and judicial machinery was only very slightly tampered with.[1]

    The

    Nazi efforts to "co-ordinate" the Christian churches (both Catholic and Protestant) were mostly unsuccessful, and

    were largely abandoned. However, the churches as a whole did not present any serious opposition to Hitler.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Catholichttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Protestanthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Protestanthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Catholichttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Junkerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Opernplatzhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Carl_Schmitthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Martin_Heideggerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gleichschaltung
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    Weimar Republic 13

    Legacy

    The constitution of 1919 was never formally repealed, but the Enabling Act meant that all its other provisions were a

    dead letter. The Enabling Act itself was breached by Hitler on three occasions in 1934: Article 2 of the act stated that

    'Laws enacted by the government of the Reich may deviate from the constitution as long as they do not

    affect the institutions of the Reichstag and the Reichsrat. The rights of the President remain undisturbed.'

    The powers of the Lnder (states) were transferred to the central government, rendering the Reichsrat obsolete. A

    month later, theReichsrat itself was dissolved. President von Hindenburg died in August, and Hitler appropriated the

    president's powers for himself. The Enabling Act did not specify any recourse that could be taken if the chancellor

    violated Article 2, and no judicial challenge ensued.

    After the death of Hindenburg in 1934, the constitution was largely forgotten, with some minor exceptions. In

    Hitler's 1945 political testament (written shortly before his suicide) he appointed Admiral Karl Doenitz to succeed

    him, but he named Doenitz as President rather than Fuehrer, thereby re-establishing a constitutional office which had

    lain dormant since Hindenburg's death twelve years earlier. On the 30th of April 1945 Doenitz formed what became

    known as the Flensburg government, which controlled only a tiny area of Germany near the Danish border, including

    the town of Flensburg. It was dissolved by the Allies on 23 May. On 5 June, the Allied Berlin Declaration stated inits preamble that the Allies assumed

    supreme authority with respect to Germany, including all the powers possessed by the German

    Government [...] and any state, municipal, or local government or authority.

    It also declared that there was

    no central Government or authority in Germany capable of accepting responsibility for the maintenance

    of order, the administration of the country and compliance with the requirements of the victorious

    Powers.

    Article 13 of the declaration read:

    [T]he four Allied Governments will take such steps, including the complete disarmament and demilitarizationof Germany, as they deem requisite for future peace and security.

    The Allied Representatives will impose on Germany additional political, administrative, economic, financial,

    military and other requirements arising from the complete defeat of Germany. [...] All German authorities and

    the German people shall carry out unconditionally the requirements of the Allied Representatives, and shall

    fully comply with all such proclamations, orders, ordinances and instructions.

    These provisions, not legally challenged by either of the subsequent German governments, meant that neither any

    NSDAP decree nor the 1919 constitution held any legal force over the Allies' administration of Germany.

    The 1949 Constitution of the German Democratic Republic contained many passages that were originally part of the

    1919 constitution.[13]

    It was intended to be the constitution of a united Germany, and was thus a compromise

    between liberal-democratic and Leninist ideologies. It was replaced by a new, explicitly Leninist constitution in

    1968, which was substantially amended in 1974. In 1990, the GDR dissolved altogether.

    The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, enacted in 1949, stated that

    'The provisions of Articles 136, 137, 138, 139 and 141 of the German Constitution of 11 August 1919

    shall be an integral part of this Basic Law.'[14]

    These articles of the Weimar constitution (which dealt with the state's relationship to various Christian churches)

    remain part of the German Basic Law.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Basic_Law_for_the_Federal_Republic_of_Germanyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=East_Germanyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Constitution_of_East_Germanyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Berlin_Declaration_%281945%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flensburghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flensburg_governmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Karl_Doenitzhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Last_will_and_testament_of_Adolf_Hitler%23Testament
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    Weimar Republic 14

    Reasons for failure

    The reasons for the Weimar Republic's collapse are the subject of continuing debate. It may have been doomed from

    the beginning since even moderates disliked it and extremists on both the left and right loathed it. Germany had

    limited democratic traditions and Weimar democracy was widely seen as chaotic. And since Weimar politicians had

    been blamed for the 'Dolchstosslegende (Stab in the back legend) a then widely believed theory that Germany's

    surrender in World War I had been the unnecessary act of traitors the popular legitimacy of the government wason shaky ground.

    No single reason can explain the failure of the Weimar Republic. The most commonly asserted causes can be

    grouped into three categories: economic problems, institutional problems and the roles of specific individuals.

    Economic problems

    The Weimar Republic had some of the most serious economic problems ever experienced by any Western

    democracy in history. Rampant hyperinflation, massive unemployment, and a large drop in living standards were

    primary factors. From 19231929, there was a short period of economic recovery, but the Great Depression of the

    1930s led to a worldwide recession. Germany was particularly affected because it depended heavily on American

    loans. In 1926, about 2 million Germans were unemployed this rose to around 6 million in 1932. Many blamed

    the Weimar Republic. This was made apparent when political parties on both right and left wanting to disband the

    Republic altogether made any democratic majority in Parliament impossible.

    The Weimar Republic was severely affected by the Great Depression. The economic stagnation led to increased

    demands on Germany to repay the debts owed to the United States. As the Weimar Republic was very fragile in all

    of its existence, the depression proved to be devastating, and played a major role in the NSDAP's takeover.

    The Treaty of Versailles was considered by most Germans to be a punishing and degrading document because it

    forced them to surrender resource-rich areas and pay massive amounts of compensation. These punitive reparations

    caused consternation and resentment, although the actual economic damage resulting from the Treaty of Versailles is

    difficult to determine. While the official reparations were considerable, Germany ended up paying only a fraction of

    them. However, the reparations did damage Germany's economy by discouraging market loans, which forced the

    Weimar government to finance its deficit by printing more money, causing rampant hyperinflation. In addition, the

    rapid disintegration of Germany in 1919, due to the return of a disillusioned army, the rapid change from possible

    victory in 1918 to defeat in 1919, and the political chaos may have caused a psychological imprint on Germans that

    could lead to extreme nationalism, later epitomized and exploited by Hitler.

    Most historians agree that many industrial leaders identified the Weimar Republic with labour unions and with the

    Social Democrats, who had established the Versailles concessions of 1918/1919. Although some did see Hitler as a

    means to abolish the latter, the Republic was already unstable before any industry leaders were supporting Hitler.

    Even those who supported Hitler's appointment often did not support Nazism in its entirety and considered Hitler a

    temporary solution in their efforts to abolish the Republic. Industry support alone cannot explain Hitler's enthusiastic

    support by large segments of the population, including many workers who had turned away from the left.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nationalismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Treaty_of_Versailleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=NSDAPhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Great_Depressionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Great_Depressionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hyperinflationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dolchstosslegende
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    Weimar Republic 15

    Institutional problems

    It is widely believed that the 1919 constitution had several weaknesses, making the eventual establishment of a

    dictatorship likely but it is unknown whether a different constitution could have prevented the Third Reich.

    However, the 1949 West German constitution (the Grundgesetz) is generally viewed as a strong response to these

    flaws.

    The institution of theReichsprsident was frequently considered as anErsatzkaiser ("substitute emperor"), an

    attempt to replace the Kaiser with a similarly strong institution meant to diminish party politics. Article 48 of the

    constitution gave the President power to "take all necessary steps" if "public order and security are seriously

    disturbed or endangered". Although this was intended as an emergency clause, it was often used before 1933 to

    issue decrees without the support of Parliament (see above) and also made Gleichschaltung easier.

    During the Weimar Republic, it was accepted that a law did not have to conform to the constitution as long as it

    had the support of two thirds of parliament, the same majority needed to change the constitution

    (verfassungsdurchbrechende Gesetze). This was a precedent for the Enabling Act of 1933. The Basic Law of

    1949 requires an explicit change of the wording, and it prohibits abolishing the basic rights or the federal structure

    of the republic.

    The use of proportional representation meant any party with a small amount of support could gain entry into the

    Reichstag. This led to many small parties, some extremist, building political bases within the system. Yet, it has

    to be noted that the Reichstag of the monarchy was fractioned to a similar degree although being elected by

    majority vote (under a two-round system). The republic did not fall due to the small parties, but to the strength of

    the communists, conservatives and national socialists.

    TheReichstag could remove theReichskanzler from office even if it was unable to agree on a successor. This

    "Motion of No Confidence" meant, since 1932, that a government could not be held in office when the parliament

    came together. As a result, the 1949 Grundgesetz stipulates that a chancellor may only be voted down by

    Parliament if a successor is elected at the same time (see Constructive Vote of No Confidence).

    The political parties started to have a role in creating a government only in October 1918. They had no time to getused to that, under the old system.

    Role of individuals

    Brning's economic policy from 19301932 has been the subject of much debate. It caused many Germans to

    identify the Republic with cuts in social spending and extremely liberal economics. Whether there were alternatives

    to this policy during the Great Depression is an open question.

    Paul von Hindenburg became Reichsprsident in 1925. He represented the old authoritarian 1871 Empire, and it is

    hard to label him as a democrat in support of the 1919 Republic, but he was never a Nazi. During his later years (at

    well over 80 years old), he was also senile. A president with solid democratic beliefs might not have allowed the

    Reichstag to be circumvented with the use of Article 48 decrees and might have avoided signing the Reichstag Fire

    Decree. Hindenburg waited one and a half days before he appointed Hitler as Reichskanzler on 30 January 1933,

    which indicates some hesitance. Some claim Nazism would have lost much public support if Hitler had not been

    named chancellor.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reichstag_Fire_Decreehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reichstag_Fire_Decreehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paul_von_Hindenburghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Great_Depressionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Constructive_Vote_of_No_Confidencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Motion_of_No_Confidencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Two-round_systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Majoritarian_systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reichstag_%28institution%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Proportional_representationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Enabling_Act_of_1933http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gleichschaltunghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Basic_Law_of_the_Federal_Republic_of_Germany
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    Weimar Republic 16

    Constituent states

    Prior to World War I, the constituent states of the German Empire were 22 smaller monarchies, three republican

    city-states and the Imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine. After the territorial losses of the Treaty of Versailles and the

    revolution of 1918, the remaining states continued as republics. The former Ernestine duchies continued briefly as

    republics before merging to form the state of Thuringia in 1920, except for Saxe-Coburg, which became part of

    Bavaria.

    States of Germany (1925)

    State Capital

    Anhalt Dessau

    Baden KarlsruheBavaria (Bayern) Munich

    Brunswick (Braunschweig) Braunschweig

    Hesse (Hessen / Hessen-Darmstadt) Darmstadt

    Lippe Detmold

    Mecklenburg-Schwerin Schwerin

    Mecklenburg-Strelitz Neustrelitz

    Oldenburg Oldenburg

    Prussia (Preuen) Berlin

    Saxe-Coburg (Sachsen-Coburg) - to Bavaria in 1920 Coburg

    Saxony (Sachsen) Dresden

    Schaumburg-Lippe Bckeburg

    Thuringia (Thringen) - from 1920 Weimar

    Waldeck-Pyrmont - to Prussia in 1921/1929 Arolsen

    Wrttemberg Stuttgart

    City-states

    Bremen

    Hamburg

    Lbeck

    http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Free_City_of_L%C3%BCbeckhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_the_Free_City_of_L%C3%BCbeck.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hamburghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_Hamburg.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bremen_%28state%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_Bremen.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stuttgarthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Free_People%27s_State_of_W%C3%BCrttemberghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flagge_K%C3%B6nigreich_W%C3%BCrttemberg.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arolsenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Free_State_of_Waldeck-Pyrmonthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_Germany_%283-2_aspect_ratio%29.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Weimarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thuringiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_Thuringia.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=B%C3%BCckeburghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Free_State_of_Schaumburg-Lippehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flagge_F%C3%BCrstentum_Schaumburg-Lippe.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dresdenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Saxonyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_Saxony.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Coburghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Saxe-Coburghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flagge_Herzogtum_Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha_%281911-1920%29.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Berlinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Free_State_of_Prussiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Freestate_of_prussia_flag_1920%E2%80%931947.pnghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oldenburghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Free_State_of_Oldenburghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Oldenburg_Flagge.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neustrelitzhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Free_State_of_Mecklenburg-Strelitzhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flagge_Gro%C3%9Fherzogt%C3%BCmer_Mecklenburg.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Schwerinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Free_State_of_Mecklenburg-Schwerinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flagge_Gro%C3%9Fherzogt%C3%BCmer_Mecklenburg.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Detmoldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Free_State_of_Lippehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flagge_F%C3%BCrstentum_Lippe.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Darmstadthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=People%27s_State_of_Hessehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flagge_Gro%C3%9Fherzogtum_Hessen_ohne_Wappen.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Braunschweighttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Free_State_of_Brunswickhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flagge_Herzogtum_Braunschweig.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Munichhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bavariahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_Bavaria_%28lozengy%29.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Karlsruhehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Republic_of_Badenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flagge_Gro%C3%9Fherzogtum_Baden_%281891-1918%29.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dessauhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Free_State_of_Anhalthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flagge_Herzogtum_Anhalt.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Deutsches_Reich_1925_b.pnghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bavariahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Saxe-Coburghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thuringiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ernestine_duchieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=German_revolutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Treaty_of_Versailleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alsace-Lorrainehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=States_of_the_German_Empire
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    Weimar Republic 17

    States merged to form Thuringia in 1920

    Reuss Gera

    Saxe-Altenburg (Sachsen-Altenburg) Altenburg

    Saxe-Gotha (Sachsen-Gotha) Gotha

    Saxe-Meiningen (Sachsen-Meiningen) Meiningen

    Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach) Weimar

    Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Rudolstadt

    Schwarzburg-Sondershausen Sondershausen

    These states were gradually de facto abolished under the Nazi regime via the Gleichschaltung process, as the states

    were largely re-organised into Gaue. However, the city-state of Lbeck was formally incorporated into Prussia in

    1937 following the Greater Hamburg Act apparently motivated by Hitler's personal dislike for the city. Most of

    the remaining states were formally dissolved by the Allies at the end of World War II and ultimately re-organised

    into the modern states of Germany.

    See also

    Weimar culture

    Inflation in the Weimar Republic

    Gleichschaltung

    Centre Party Germany

    Franz von Papen

    Weimar Constitution

    Wrttemberg Landtag elections in the Weimar Republic

    Timeline of the Weimar Republic

    Further reading

    Allen, William Sheridan (1984). The Nazi seizure of Power: the experience of a single German town, 19221945.

    New York, Toronto: F. Watts. ISBN 0-531-09935-0.

    Berghahn, V. R. (1982).Modern Germany. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-34748-3.

    Bookbinder, Paul (1996). Weimar Germany: the Republic of the Reasonable. Manchester, UK: Manchester

    University Press. ISBN 0-7190-4286-0.

    Bracher, Karl Dietrich (1971) (in German).Die Auflsung der Weimarer Republik; eine Studie zum Problem des

    Machtverfalls in der Demokratie. Villingen, Schwarzwald: Ring-Verlag.

    Broszat, Martin (1987).Hitler and the Collapse of Weimar Germany. Leamington Spa, New York: Berg.

    ISBN 0-85496-509-2.

    Childers, Thomas (1983). The Nazi Voter: The Social Foundations of Fascism in Germany, 19191933. Chapel

    Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-1570-5.

    Craig, Gordon A. (1980). Germany 18661945 (Oxford History of Modern Europe). Oxford: Oxford University

    Press. ISBN 0-19-502724-8.

    Dorpalen, Andreas (1964).Hindenburg and the Weimar Republic. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.

    Eschenburg, Theodor (1972) "The Role of the Personality in the Crisis of the Weimar Republic: Hindenburg,

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