Weaknesses of the Weimar Government

Weakness of the Weimar Government
Constitution and proportional representation

• Proportional representation

It is a system whereby a political party receives the same percentage of seats in a parliament as the percentage of votes it won in the election. For example, if a party won 10% of the vote in an election, its candidates would receive 10%of seats in parliament.

It gives preference to bigger parties. There is a need for election so as to represent the minority opinion. However, it does not allow voters to vote for candidate. Instead, they could only vote for party. As a result, there were too many small competing parties without any party gaining a majority.

• Coalition government

It is a goverment whereby two or more political parties cooperate to form a cabinet.

All parties came together to form a coalition government. The parties had quite a number of ideas but they were not willing to compromise, resulting in break ups.With breakups, it lead to frequent changes in the government. There were 20 different coalition governments from 1919-1933. The longest coalition lasted only two years. It was difficult to pass laws, thus, seen as weak by the German people.

• Article 48 of Weimar Constitution

It allowed the president to make decree for six months in 'times of emergency'. Civil liberties could be suspended.

Weak support

German Freikorps soldiers during the Kapp Putsh.

Weimar government lacked strong support from the people, politicians and soldiers. Kapp Putsch in 1920 occurred when Wolfgang Kapp and General Walther von Luettwitz led soldiers to overthrow the Weimar republic. Wolfgang Kapp was a right wing politician who opposed Friedrich Ebert and the Weimar Government as they got humiliated for signing the Treaty Of Versailles.(TOV) General Walther von Luettwitz led a group of Freikorps soldiers to take over control of Berlin and overthrow the Weimar Government. On 13 March 1920, soldiers took over Berlin and announced that Kapp was the Prime Minister, or Chancellor.

[Video on Kapp Putsh.]

Opposition from the Right and the Left

Right wing: a group that favours the existence of traditional social classes and hierarchy.

Left wing: a group that supports social change to create a more equal society. They favour equal advantages and opportunities as well as the collective good over individualism.

The political spectrum of German political parties.

Left wing opposition:

• Wanted more equality in the society
• Influenced by the Russian Bolsheviks
• Spartacist rebellion in Berlin occurred in January 1919
• Communist Workers' Council took control in many parts of Germany
• An agreement was made with the Freikorps to stop the rebellion

Right wing opposition:

• Felt that Germany should not be totally blamed for World War I
• Disagreed with the terms of Treaty of Versailles, where Germany had to pay unreasonable amount for the damaged caused
• Wanted a government who has complete power over a country
• Wanted territorial expansion, as well as Germany's army and industry to be strong again
• Many were extreme nationalists

Citation for copyright acknowledgements:

http://www.theholocaustexplained.org/ks4/the-nazi-rise-to-power/what-was-the-weimar-republic/political-

http://alphahistory.com/weimarrepublic/why-the-weimar-republic-failed/knesses-of-the-weimar-republic/#.VX0bWvmqqko

https://prezi.com/clflwlm-jkf8/flaws-of-proportional-representation-in-the-weimar-and-elsewhere/