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MODERN HISTORY

PART II NATIONAL STUDIES:

GERMANY
1918 -1939

1. WEIMAR REPUBLIC

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SIMPLE GUIDE TO WEIMAR GERMANY:

THE PARTIES
The LEFT
Social Democratic Party aka SDP;
majority socialists

Independent Socialists aka USPD,

Independents

Spartacists- then became

Communist Party aka KPD

Formed 1875, largest party in

the Reichstag in the 1920s
Leader Ebert, deputy:
Sheidemann
Supported by workers, lower
middle class
Strong supporter of Weimar
Republic
Used to be part of the
Majority Socialists split April
1917 Independents did not
want to support the war any
longer
Leader Kurt Eisner
Radical wanted to change
the structure of German
society.
Leaders Karl Liebknecht and
Rosa Luxemburg
Formed Dec 1918
Committed to revolutionary
seizure of government
opposed to democracy and
the republic

The CENTRE
Centre party aka Zentrum

German Democratic Party aka

Democrats, DDP

Formed 1870 supporter of

Catholic interests
No ties with monarchy
always defended rights of
parliament
Support from all social classes
Formed 1918 in support of a
democratic republic
Supported by intellectuals,

backed by business
Helped draft Weimar
Constitution

The RIGHT
German Peoples Party aka DVP

German National Peoples Party

aka DNVP

Formed 1918 by Stresemann

Moderate right wing: anticommunist/socialist
Accepted parliamentary
government favoured
constitutional monarch
Party of the right; support
from academic and business
Increasingly radical after
1920, blaming Jews for all
national misfortunes

Nationalist socialist German

workers party aka NSDAP or Nazi

Formed 1920
Extreme right-wing: antirepublic, anti-democratic, anti
socialist, anti communist

1a) Emergence of the Democratic Republic and the impact of the Treaty
of Versailles
i- Emergence of the Democratic Republic
SUMMARY: The Emergence of Democracy

Began with a revolution widespread protests fuelled by war

weariness eg. Kiel
Kaiser Wilhelm forced to abdicate
Some called for more drastic measures eg. The communist
sympathisers, who demonstrated in Berlin
Elections for National Assembly 19/1/19 Social Democrats, Centre
Party & German Democrats win majority
Constitution: Feb 1919 in Weimar universal suffrage, proportional
representation, emergency decree. Extremely democratic when
compared with previous system, but depended on the willingness of
politicians to work in harmony. Also very forward looking: eg provided

for advanced social welfare system eg Unemployment Insurance

Law. Also, state arbitration of employer-employee disputes
compulsory.

SUMMARY CONT.
- On the 9th of November 19198 Chancellor Max von Braden handed
over his office to Friedrich Ebert. Ebert continued to serve as Head
of Government during the three months between the end of the
German Empire in November 1918 but did not use the title of
Chancellor.
- The new government of Ebert called for free democratic elections
for a new German parliament.
- Parliament was to be respobsible to the people and draw up a new
constitution that would preserve German democracy.
- 1919 Women given the vote sign of new mood of democratic
reform.
IN SOME MORE DEPTH:
1919 Elections
v Despite political unrest/ Spartacist Uprising, elections for new National
Assembly held on January 19 1999. -> Results presented clear vote of
support of both democracy and a republic.
v Vote marked a rejection of old order of right wing parties seeking to
restore authoritarian rule and new order parties of extreme left trying
to impose.
v Of the 423 seats in the National Assembly (new parliament)
Conservative forces received 44 seats and Radical USDP only 22.
The parties of moderation were the winners w/ SDP securing 165
seats, Centre Party 91 and German Democratic Party 75.
National Assembly
v First meeting of German National Assembly held in Weimar as a sign of
new direction for the fledgling republic
v Ebert was elected (after handing power back to National Assembly) as
president of the German Republic, he then appointed a coalition which
consisted of the SDP, Centre Party and German Democratic Party.
v Phillip Schleidemann appointed chancellor.

THE CONSTITUTION
Basic rights

v Constitution was one of the most democratic of its

time, having been a state with little democratic
freedom in 1918 Germany 1919 became one of the
most democratic states in the world.
v Series of clauses guaranteed basic rights all
Germans were equal before the law, personal liberty,
freedom of association and freedom of religion all
written into constitution. Private property guaranteed.

Article 48

v Under constitution Germany would have a president

elected by all Germans every seven years.
v Under constitution the president was not just a
figurehead but had the power to appoint and dismiss
the chancellor and the right to dissolve the Reichstag
and call new elections (FUNDAMENTAL FLAW).
v Emergency powers- the right to intervene with the
use of armed forces to restore order if stability was
threatened power to suspend basic liberties and
rights of the German people.

The Reichstag

The voting
system

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