Weakness of the weimar government
Weakness of the weimar governmentThere are three main reasons that caused the weakness of the Weimar government. Proportional Constitution, Weak Support and the opposition from the left and the right.
Proportional Constitution
Proportional Representation
The proportional representation caused many problems for the weimar government as people voted for a party rather than candidates. There were too many parties competing without any of the party being exceptionally popular.
The above shows a picture of the various parties vote count. It shows various parties participating instead of candidates.The votes above shows that there are no parties that are exceptionally popular.
Coalition Government
The coalition government is when all the parties came together to form a government. Parties had a lot of disagreement as they had different ideas and there are many times where they could not come up with a conclusion of whose idea to use.The coalition government kept breaking apart making it difficult for the government to establish laws .By the end of 1933 there were 20 different coalition government .Hence,the government was seen as weak to the germans.
Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution
This allowed the president to dissolve both houses of the parliament and rule by decree in time of emergencies.At that time what was counted as a emergency was not defined clearly.This was exploited by Hitler to remain in power.Article 48 was used by President Paul in 1930 to deal with the economice crisis of the time.
Article 48
In the event of a State not fulfilling the duties imposed upon it by the Reich Constitution or by the laws of the Reich, the President of the Reich may make use of the armed forces to compel it to do so.If public security and order are seriously disturbed or endangered within the German Reich, the President of the Reich may take measures necessary for their restoration, intervening if need be with the assistance of the armed forces. For this purpose he may suspend for a while, in whole or in part, the fundamental rights provided in Articles 114, 115, 117, 118, 123, 124 and 153.The President of the Reich must inform the Reichstag without delay of all measures taken in accordance with Paragraphs 1 or 2 of this Article. These measures are to be revoked on the demand of the Reichstag.If danger is imminent, a State government may, for its own territory, take temporary measures as provided in Paragraph 2. These measures are to be revoked on the demand of the President of the Reich or of the Reichstag.Details are to be determined by a law of the Reich.
The above text is an extract of Article 48 of how article 48 is being used and the rules.
Weak Support
The Weimar Government lacked support from the people, politicians and soldiers. The government lacked support as the people wished for Kaiser's return. Big businesses were mostly under the support of Kaiser hence it was difficult for the government to gain the germans support and loyalty. Without their support , the government struggled to hold on to power and authority and remained weak.The government was also weak from the start.
The above shows a picture of the military opposing the government. Image from......
Opposition from the left and right
Both left and right extremists tried to seize power by violent ways.
Left-wing opposition
The left wing opposition wanted more equality in the society and they opposed to democracy.Those
who believed in left wing politics were mainly communist. They believed that
money, land and power should be shared out equally amongst everybody, and that
there shouldn’t really be anyone in charge that people should all work together to
run the country.In January 1919,there was a Spartacist rebellion in Berlin.The President Erbert made an agreement with the army and the Freikorps to put down the rebellion.And in the 1920 the army, police and friekorps ruthlessly crushed the communist rebellion in the ruhr.
Right-wing opposition
The right wing opposition tend to believe in very
traditional customs and attitudes and were also of the opinion that their
country was superior to everyone else. These people were furious with the
Weimar Republic for having surrendered in the First World War, and wanted to
return to the days of a German Empire being run by a Kaiser. They felt they had
been stabbed in the back by weak ‘left’ supporters and communists.They felt that Germany should not be solely responsible for WW1 and disagreed with the Treaty of Versailles.
The above source shows a picture of the parts if its left or right opposition. Image from ......
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