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Weimar Republic

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Recent History; World War
II

   Deutsches Reich
   Weimarer Republik
   Weimar Republic

   ←
      1919 –  1933 →

   Flag Coat of arms
   Flag Coat of arms
   Anthem
   Das Lied der Deutschen
   Location of Germany
   Germany during the Weimar Republic, with the Free State of Prussia
   (Freistaat Preußen) as the largest
   Capital Berlin
   52°31′N, 13°24′E
   Language(s) German
   Government Republic
   President
    - 1919-1925 Friedrich Ebert
    - 1925-1933 Paul von Hindenburg
   Chancellor
    - 1919 Philipp Scheidemann
   Historical era Interwar period
    - Established August 11, 1919
    - Hitler takes office 30 January 1933
    -  Reichstag fire 27 February, 1933
    -  Enabling Act March 23, 1933
   Area
    - 1919 468,787 km^2
   181,000 sq mi
   Population
    - 1925 est. 62,411,000
   Currency Papiermark (1919-1923)
   Reichsmark (1924-1933)

   The Weimar Republic ( Weimarer Republik , IPA: [ˈvaɪ̯marər repuˈbliːk])
   governed Germany from 1919 to 1933. This period of German history is
   often called the Weimar period. The republic was named after the city
   of Weimar, where a national assembly convened to produce a new
   constitution for the German Empire following the nation's defeat in
   World War I.

   Despite its political form, the new Republic still called itself
   "Deutsches Reich", the same name used by the German monarchy before
   1919. The phrase Weimar Republic is an invention of historians, and was
   not used officially during its existence. Deutsches Reich was usually
   translated to "The German Reich" in English-speaking countries during
   this era, with "Reich" no longer being translated as " Empire."

   This first attempt to establish a liberal democracy in Germany happened
   during a time of civil conflict, and failed with the ascent of Adolf
   Hitler and the Nazi Party in 1933. Although technically the 1919
   constitution was not invalidated until after World War II, the legal
   measures taken by the Nazi government in 1933 (commonly known as
   Gleichschaltung) destroyed the mechanisms of a typical democratic
   system, so 1933 is cited as the end of the Weimar Republic.

Controlled revolution: the establishment of the Republic (1918–1919)

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   States of Germany at the time of the Weimar Republic, with Prussia in
   blue
   States of Germany at the time of the Weimar Republic, with Prussia in
   blue

   From 1916 onwards, the 1871 German Empire had effectively been governed
   by the military headed by the Oberste Heeresleitung (OHL, Supreme Army
   Command) with the Chief of Staff Paul von Hindenburg. When it became
   apparent that World War I was lost, the OHL demanded that a civil
   government be installed in order to meet a key peace talk condition
   from United States President Woodrow Wilson. Any attempt to continue
   the war after Bulgaria had left the Central Powers would have only
   caused German territories to be militarily occupied by the victors. The
   new Reichskanzler Prince Max von Baden thus offered a cease-fire to
   U.S. President Wilson on October 3, 1918. On October 28, 1918, the 1871
   constitution was finally amended to make the Reich a parliamentary
   democracy, which the government had refused for half a century: the
   Chancellor was henceforth responsible to Parliament, the Reichstag, and
   no longer to the Kaiser.

   The plan to transform Germany into a constitutional monarchy similar to
   Britain quickly became obsolete as the country slid into a state of
   near-total chaos. Germany was flooded with soldiers returning from the
   front, many of whom were wounded physically and psychologically.
   Violence was rampant, as the forces of the political right and left
   fought not only each other, but among themselves.

   Rebellion broke out when on October 29, the military command, without
   consultation with the government, ordered the German High Seas Fleet to
   sortie. This was not only entirely hopeless from a military standpoint,
   but was also certain to bring the peace negotiations to a halt. The
   crews of two ships in Wilhelmshaven mutinied. When the military
   arrested about 1,000 seamen and had them transported to Kiel, the
   Wilhelmshaven mutiny turned into a general rebellion that quickly swept
   over most of Germany. Other seamen, soldiers and workers, in solidarity
   with the arrested, began electing worker and soldier councils modelled
   after the soviets of the Russian Revolution of 1917, and seized
   military and civil powers in many cities. On November 7, the revolution
   had reached Munich, causing King Ludwig III of Bavaria to flee.

   In contrast to Russia one year earlier, the councils were not
   controlled by a communist party. Still, with the emergence of the
   Soviet Union, the rebellion caused great fear in the establishment down
   to the middle classes. The country seemed to be on the verge of a
   communist revolution.

   At the time, the political representation of the working class was
   divided: a faction had separated from the Social Democratic Party, the
   traditional working-class party, calling themselves "Independent Social
   Democrats" (USPD) and leaning towards a socialist system. In order not
   to lose their influence, the remaining "Majority Social Democrats"
   (MSPD, who supported a parliamentary system) decided to put themselves
   at the front of the movement, and on November 7, demanded that Emperor
   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 November
   9, 1918, the Republic was proclaimed by Philipp Scheidemann at the
   Reichstag building in Berlin, to the fury of the Reichskanzler, who
   still hoped to preserve the monarchy. Two hours later a Soviet republic
   was proclaimed around the corner at the Berliner Stadtschloss by a
   left-wing radical named Karl Liebknecht.

   On November 9, in a legally questionable act, Reichskanzler Prince Max
   of Baden transferred his powers to Friedrich Ebert, the leader of the
   MSPD, who, shattered by the monarchy's fall, reluctantly accepted. It
   was apparent, however, that this act would not be sufficient to satisfy
   Liebknecht and his followers, so a day later, a coalition government
   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. Although the new
   government was confirmed by the Berlin worker and soldier council, it
   was opposed by the Spartacist League led by communists Rosa Luxemburg
   and Karl Liebknecht. Ebert called for a National Congress of Councils,
   which took place from December 16 to 20, 1918, and in which the MSPD
   had the majority. Ebert thus 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).

   From November 1918 through January 1919, Germany was governed
   dictatorially by the Council of People's Commissioners. In those three
   months, the government was extraordinarily active, and issued a large
   number of decrees. At the same time, its main activities 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
   in all classes of elections - local and national. Occasionally the name
   "Die Deutsche Sozialdemokratische Republik" (The German
   Social-Democratic Republic) appeared in leaflets and on posters from
   this era, although this was never the official name of the country.

The Reichswehr and the Revolution

   To ensure that his fledgling government was able to maintain control
   over the country, Ebert made an uneasy pact with the OHL, now led by
   Ludendorff's successor General Wilhelm Groener. This Ebert-Groener 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 considered a betrayal of worker interests by the radical
   left wing. The new model Reichswehr armed forces, limited by the Treaty
   of Versailles to 100,000 army soldiers and 15,000 seamen, remained
   fully under the control of the German officer class despite its nominal
   re-organisation. As an independent and conservative group in Weimar, it
   wielded a large amount of influence over the fate of the republic.

   This also marked one of several steps that caused the permanent split
   in the working class' political representation into the SPD and
   Communists. The eventual fate of the Weimar Republic derived
   significantly from the general political incapacity of the German
   labour movement. The several strands within the central mass of the
   socialist movement adhered more to sentimental loyalty to alliances
   arising from chance than to any recognition of political necessity.
   Combined action on the part of the socialists was impossible without
   action from the millions of workers who stood midway between the
   parliamentarians and the ultra-leftists who supported the workers
   councils. Confusion made acute the danger of extreme right and extreme
   left engaging in virulent conflict.

   The split became final after Ebert called upon the OHL for troops to
   put down another Berlin army mutiny on November 23, 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. The USPD thus left the Council of People's
   Commissioners after only seven weeks. In December, the split deepened
   when the Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (KPD) was formed out of a
   number of radical left-wing groups, including the radical left wing of
   the USPD and the Spartacist League group.

   In January, more armed attempts at establishing communism, known as the
   Spartacist uprising, by the Spartacist League and others in the streets
   of Berlin were put down by paramilitary Freikorps units consisting of
   volunteer soldiers. Bloody street fights culminated in the beating and
   shooting deaths of Rosa Luxemburg and Liebknecht after their arrests on
   January 15. With the affirmation of Ebert, the murderers were not tried
   before a court martial, leading to very lenient sentences, which did
   not exactly lead to more acceptance for Ebert from the radical left.
   Official postcard of the National Assembly.
   Official postcard of the National Assembly.

   The National Assembly elections took place January 19, 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 semi-presidential system with the Reichstag
   elected by proportional representation. The Socialist and
   (Non-Socialist) Democratic parties obtained a solid 80 per cent 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 the Nazis, Organisation Consul, 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.

The socialist roots of Weimar

   The carefully thought-out social and political legislation introduced
   during the revolution was generally unappreciated by the German
   working-class. The two goals sought by the government, democratisation
   and social protection of the working class, were never achieved. This
   has been attributed to a lack of pre-war political experience on the
   part of the Social Democrats. The government had little success in
   confronting the twin economic crises following the war.

   The permanent economic crisis was a result of lost pre-war industrial
   exports, the loss of supplies in raw materials and food stuffs 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 devalued.

   The German peace delegation in France signed the Treaty of Versailles
   accepting mass reductions of the German military, unrealistically heavy
   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 first Reichspräsident ("Reich President"), Friedrich
   Ebert of the SPD, signed the new German constitution into law on August
   11, 1919.

The early years: internal conflict (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 due
   to continued inflation.
   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 due
   to continued inflation.
   Inflation 1923–24: a woman feeds her tiled stove with money. At the
   time, burning money was less expensive than buying firewood.
   Inflation 1923–24: a woman feeds her tiled stove with money. At the
   time, burning money was less expensive than buying firewood.

   The Republic was under great pressure from both left and right-wing
   extremists. The radical left accused the ruling Social Democrats of
   having betrayed the ideals of the workers' movement by preventing a
   communist revolution. Right-wing extremists were opposed to any
   democratic system, preferring an authoritarian state like the 1871
   Empire. To further undermine the Republic's credibility the extremists
   of the right (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 (see Dolchstoßlegende).

   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 Kapp Putsch took place on March 13, 1920, involving a group of
   Freikorps troops who 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 March 17.

   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.

   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 of 1923. Strikes were called, and passive resistance was
   encouraged. These strikes lasted eight months, further damaging the
   economy and raising expensive imports. The strike meant no goods were
   being produced and this made the French so furious that they began to
   kill and exile protestors in the region.

   Since striking workers were paid benefits by the state, much additional
   currency was printed, fueling a period of hyperinflation.
   Hyperinflation started when Germany had no goods to trade with.
   Printing money was the solution sought at that time, though there are
   other better solutions to it, for example, borrowing money from the US
   (President Gustav Stresseman did this and Germany earned a precarious
   economic boom). This allowed Germany to pay war loans and reparations
   with worthless marks and helped ex-great industrialists to pay loans as
   well. This also lead to pay rise of workers, as well as businessmen
   whom wanted a profit out of 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. On 15 November 1923, a
   new currency, the Rentenmark, was introduced at the rate of 1 trillion
   (1,000,000,000,000) Papiermark for 1 Rentenmark. At that time, 1 U.S.
   dollar was equal to 4.2 Rentenmark. Reparation payments resumed, and
   the Ruhr was returned to Germany.

   Further pressure from the right came in 1923 with the Beer Hall 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. The Storm Division ( Sturmabteilung or SA) was established in
   November 1921 and acted as Hitler's personal army. On November 8, 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, a minimum sentence for the charge and he served less than eight
   months before his release. Following the failure of the Beer Hall
   Putsch, his imprisonment and subsequent release, Hitler focused on
   legal methods of gaining power.

Stresemann's Golden Era (1923–1929)

   The Sino-German cooperation played a great role in Chinese history of
   the early and mid 20th century.
   The Sino-German cooperation played a great role in Chinese history of
   the early and mid 20th century.

   Gustav Stresemann was Reichskanzler for a brief period in 1923, and
   served as foreign minister from 1923- 1929, a period of relative
   stability for the Weimar Republic when there were fewer uprisings and
   the beginnings of economic recovery.

   Stresemann's first move was to issue a new currency, the Rentenmark, to
   halt the hyperinflation crippling German society and the economy. It
   was successful because Stresemann refused to issue more currency, the
   cause of the inflationary spiral. To further stabilise the economy, he
   reduced spending and bureaucracy while increasing taxes. He signed the
   Locarno Treaties with the Allied countries in 1925 as a means of
   restoring Germany's diplomatic status in Europe.

   During this period, the Dawes Plan was created, tying reparations
   payments to Germany's ability to pay. Germany was admitted into the
   League of Nations, made agreements over its western border, signed a
   neutrality pact- the Kellogg-Briand pact- with Russia, and disarmament
   was brought to a halt. However, this progress was funded by overseas
   loans, increasing the nation's debts, while overall trade decreased and
   unemployment rose. Stresemann's reforms did not relieve the underlying
   weaknesses of Weimar but gave the appearance of a stable democracy.

   Despite the progress during these years, Stresemann was criticized by
   opponents for his policy of "fulfilment", or compliance with the terms
   of the Versailles Treaty, and by the German people after the invasion
   of the Ruhr, in which he agreed to pay the reparations set by the
   treaty in order for the French troops to evacuate.

   In 1929, Stresemann's death marked the end of the "Golden Era" of the
   Weimar Republic. He died at the age of 51, four months after receiving
   the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Republic crumbles and Hitler's support rises (1930–1932)

Loss of credibility

   The last years of the Weimar Republic were stamped by even more
   political instability than in the previous years and the
   administrations of Chancellors Brüning, Papen, Schleicher and Hitler
   (from 30 January to 23 March 1933) were all Presidentially appointed
   dictatorships. On March 29, 1930, the finance expert Heinrich Brüning
   had been appointed the successor of Chancellor Müller by Paul von
   Hindenburg 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 Reichspräsident by the constitution, since it had
   no majority support in the Reichstag.

   After an unpopular bill to reform the Reich's finances was left
   unsupported by the Reichstag, Hindenburg established the bill as an
   emergency decree based on Article 48 of the constitution. On July 18,
   1930, 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, Brüning submitted to the Reichstag the
   president's decree that it would be dissolved.

   The Reichstag general elections on September 14, 1930 resulted in an
   enormous political shift: 18.3% of the vote went to the Nazis, five
   times the percentage compared to 1928. This had devastating
   consequences for the Republic. There was no longer a majority in the
   Reichstag even for a Great Coalition of moderate parties, and it
   encouraged the supporters of the Nazis to bring out their claim to
   power with increasing violence and terror. After 1930, the Republic
   slid more and more into a state of potential civil war.

   From 1930 to 1932, Brüning attempted 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 lowpoint. In line with liberal economic theory that less
   public spending would spur economic growth, Brüning drastically cut
   state 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. This was
   understandably an unpopular move on his part.

   The economic downturn lasted until the second half of 1932, when there
   were first indications of a rebound. By this time though, the Weimar
   Republic had lost all credibility with the majority of Germans. While
   scholars greatly disagree about how Brüning's policy should be
   evaluated, it can safely be said that it contributed to the decline of
   the Republic. Whether there were alternatives at the time remains the
   subject of much debate.

   The bulk of German capitalists and land-owners originally gave support
   to the conservative experiment: not from any personal liking for
   Brüning, but believing the conservatives would best serve their
   interests. As, however, the mass of the working class and also of the
   middle classes turned against Brüning, 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
   Brüning and come to terms with Hugenberg and Hitler. Hindenburg himself
   was no less a supporter of an anti-democratic counter-revolution
   represented by Hugenberg and Hitler.

   On May 30, 1932, Brüning resigned after no longer having Hindenburg's
   support. Five weeks earlier, Hindenburg had been re-elected
   Reichspräsident with Brüning's active support, running against Hitler
   (the president was directly elected by the people while the
   Reichskanzler was not).

Franz von Papen calls for elections

   Hindenburg then appointed Franz von Papen as new Reichskanzler. Von
   Papen lifted the ban on the SA, imposed after the street riots, in an
   unsuccessful attempt to secure the backing of Hitler.
   SPD election poster, 1932. Translation: "Against Papen, Hitler,
   Thälmann; List 2, Social Democrats". The poster shows the Social
   Democrats crushing their three ideological enemies, Monarchism, Nazism
   and Communism.
   SPD election poster, 1932. Translation: "Against Papen, Hitler,
   Thälmann; List 2, Social Democrats". The poster shows the Social
   Democrats crushing their three ideological enemies, Monarchism, Nazism
   and Communism.

   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
   of the members of the new cabinet were of the same political opinion as
   Hindenberg. This government was to be expected to assure itself of the
   co-operation of Hitler. Since the Republicans and Socialists were not
   yet ready to take action and the Conservatives had shot their political
   bolt, Hitler and Hindenberg were certain to achieve power.

Elections of July 1932

   Since most parties opposed the new government, von Papen had the
   Reichstag dissolved and called for new elections. The general elections
   on July 31, 1932 yielded major gains for the KPD and the Nazis, who won
   37.2% of the vote, supplanting the Social Democrats as the largest
   party in the Reichstag.

   July 1932 resulted in the question as to now what part the 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 August 13, 1932. There was still no majority in the
   Reichstag for any government; as a result, the Reichstag was dissolved
   and elections took place once more in the hope that a stable majority
   would result.

November and 'Socialist General' Schleicher

   The November 6, 1932 elections yielded 33.1% for the Nazis: it dropped
   2 million voters. Franz von Papen stepped down, and was succeeded by
   General von Schleicher as Reichskanzler on December 3. The political
   army officer Schleicher, had developed in 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 Dictatatorship 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's plan was for a sort of Labour Government under
   his Generalship. It was an utterly un-workable idea as the Reichswehr
   officers were hardly prepared to follow Schleicher on this path, and
   the working class had a natural distrust of their future allies.
   Equally, Schleicher aroused hatred amongst the great capitalists and
   landowners by these plans. The SPD and KPD could have achieved success
   building on a Berlin transport strike.

   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 January 22, 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 extra acres 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 January 28 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. If this continued there
   was real danger that the Centre and Nazi parties would radicalize
   further, and that in the end a vast united national bolshevist front
   would be formed against the ruling system.

   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 eleven Cabinet seats. Later that day, the
   first cabinet meeting was attended by only two political parties,
   representing a minority in the Reichstag: The Nazis and the 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 the Reichstag.

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

Hitler's chancellorship and the death of the Weimar Republic (1933)

   Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor on the morning of January 30, 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 of Reichstag deputies.

Reichstag Fire

   The Reichstag Fire on February 27 was blamed by Hitler's government on
   the Communists, and 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 suspended a number of constitutional
   protections of civil liberties, allowing the Nazi government to take
   swift action against political meetings, arresting or murdering members
   of the Communist party.

Reichstag election of March 5

   Hitler and the Nazis exploited the German state's broadcasting and
   aviation facilities in a massive attempt to sway the electorate, but
   this election — the last democratic election to take place until the
   end of the Third Reich twelve years later — yielded a scant majority of
   16 seats for the coalition. At the Reichstag elections, which took
   place 5 March, the NSDAP obtained seventeen million votes. The
   Communist, Socialist and Catholic Centre votes stood firm.

   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 March 3. Former Chancellor Heinrich Bruning
   proclaimed that his Centre Party would resist any constitutional change
   and 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 two-thirds
   parliamentary majority. This Act would, and did, bring Hitler and the
   NSDAP unfettered dictatorial powers.

Hitler cabinet meeting in mid-March

   At the meeting of the new cabinet on March 15, 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 Enabling Act in the Reichstag, thereby
   providing the two-thirds 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 socialists. Hitler however assured his coalition
   partners that arrests would resume after the elections, and in fact
   some 26 SDP Socialists 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. Kaas himself negotiated a
   letter of constitutional guarantee in theory accepted by the Centre
   Party as final condition for assent to the Enabling Act, which
   guarantee was not finally given, before the Centre indeed assented
   through Kaas towards the two-thirds majority.

   Ludwig Kaas, the party's chairman since 1928, had strong connection to
   the Vatican Secretary of State, later Pope Pius XII. 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 favour of the Enabling Act.

   Kaas is remembered in connection with this vote he handed, and in this
   connection to the Vatican for whom he thereafter set in train and
   drafted the Holy See's very long desired Reichskonkordat with Germany.
   Ludwig Kaas is named along with von Papen as being one of the two most
   important political figures within this achievement of Dictatorship by
   Adolf Hitler.

   The Socialist leader Otto Wels is remembered as the sole opposing voice
   to the 23 March Enabling Act that marks the end of the Weimar republic.

Enabling Act negotiations

   On March 20 negotiation began between Hitler and Frick on one side and
   the Catholic Centre Party (Zentrum (the word zentrum means centre in
   German, thus the naming of the Catholic Centre Party)) leaders — Kaas,
   Stegerwald and Hackelsburger — on the other. The aim was to settle on
   conditions under which Center would vote in favour of the Enabling Act.
   Because of the Nazis' narrow majority in the Reichstag, Centre's
   support was necessary to receive the required two-thirds majority vote.
   On March 22, 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 retain Zentrum
   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.

Ceremonial opening of the Reichstag in Potsdam on March 21

   The ceremonial opening of the Reichstag on March 21 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 — orchestrated by
   Joseph Goebbels — aimed to link Hitler'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 announce to the population a return to conservatism to curb the
   problems affecting the Weimar Republic, and that stability might be at
   hand. In a politically adroit move, Hitler bowed in respectful humility
   before President and Field Marshal von Hindenburg.

Passage of the Enabling Act by the Reichstag on March 23

   The Reichstag convened on March 23, 1933, and in the midday opening,
   Hitler made a historic speech, appearing outwardly calm and
   conciliatory. It is most noticeable for its abrupt reversal of the Nazi
   Party's hardline stance against Christianity and particularly
   Catholicism. 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 future recognition 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 (German Resistance Against
   Hitler, Klemens von Klemperer, OUP, 1992) 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 (Edgar Ansel Mowrer,
   Triumph and Turmoil,1968 p.209)

   In the debate prior to the vote on the Enabling Act, Hitler
   orchestrated the full political 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 two-thirds majority, he made a speech critical of the
   abandonment of democracy to dictatorship. At this Hitler could no
   longer restrain his wrath. ( The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich,
   William L. Shirer 1959).

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

Aftermath

   The passing of the Enabling Act gave Hitler and his government sweeping
   powers to legislate without the Reichstag's approval, and to make
   foreign policy decisions and deviate from the constitution where they
   saw fit. Hitler would use these powers to remove all opposition to the
   dictatorship he wished to create. The decrees issued by Hitler's
   cabinet within succeeding weeks rapidly stripped Germans of their
   rights, removed all non-Nazi members of the Civil Service, and banned
   all other political parties and unions, ushering in the Third Reich.

   The NSDAP movement had rapidly passed the power of the majority
   Nationalist Ministers to control. Unchecked by the police, the S.A
   indulged in acts of terrorism throughout Germany. Communists, Social
   Democrats, and the Centre were ousted from public life everywhere. The
   violent persecution of Jews began, and by the summer 1933 the NSDAP
   felt itself so invincible that it did away with all the other parties,
   as well as trades unions. The Nationalist Party was among those
   suppressed. The NSDAP ruled alone in Germany. The Reichswehr had,
   however, remained completely un-touched by all these occurrences. It
   was still the same State within a State that it had been in the Weimar
   Republic. Similarly, the private property of wealthy industrialists and
   landowners was untouched, whilst the administrative and judicial
   machinery was only very slightly tampered with. {Arthur Rosenburg, A
   History of The German Republic, 1936)

Reasons for the Weimar Republic's 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 no democratic traditions and Weimar democracy
   was widely seen as chaotic. And since Weimar politicians had been
   blamed for the " stab in the back" that led to the surrender of the
   German army in World War I, the government's legitimacy was on 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. In 1923-29 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 1932, about 5 million Germans
   were unemployed. 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
   triggered by the Wall Street crash in 1929. The crash and subsequent
   economic stagnation led to increased demands on Germany to repay the
   debts owed to the U.S. 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 Versailles treaty 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, shown 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 want 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.

Institutional problems

   It is widely agreed 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 the Reichspräsident was frequently considered as
       an Ersatzkaiser ("substitute emperor"), an attempt to replace the
       Kaiser (who resigned and fled in 1918) 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. For
       example, the Reichstag Fire Decree was issued on the basis of
       Article 48.

     * The use of almost pure 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 (after the war only parties with 5% or more
       of the total vote would be allowed to enter the Bundestag). 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
       first-past-the-post system.

     * The Reichstag could remove the Reichskanzler from office even if it
       was unable to agree on a successor. This " Motion of No Confidence"
       led to many chancellors in quick succession, adding to the
       Republic's instability (see Chancellor of Germany for a list). 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 constitution provided that in the event of the president's
       death or resignation, the Reichskanzler would assume that office
       (and crucially possess its powers) pending election of a new
       president. This allowed Hitler to easily unite the offices of
       Reichskanzler and Reichspräsident after Hindenburg's death in 1934.
       However, by this time the dictatorship was already firmly installed
       and this clause alone cannot be blamed for Nazism.

Role of individuals

   Some historians prefer to consider individuals and the decisions they
   made. This brings up the problematic question of what alternatives were
   available at the time and leads to speculation and hypothesis.

   Brüning's economic policy from 1930-1932 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 Great Depression is an open
   question.

   Paul von Hindenburg became Reichspräsident in 1925. He represented the
   older 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 may 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
   January 30, 1933, which indicates some hesitance. Some claim Nazism
   would have lost much public support if Hitler had not been named
   chancellor.

   Writers John Cornwell and Ian Kershaw are amongst the modern
   commentators who have studied the role of Ludwig Kaas and his alliance
   to Pope Pius XII.

   As regards the Rhenish-Westphalian Industrial Magnates and Franz von
   Papen, the Nuremberg Trials studied the era from January 30, 1933, and
   came to the conclusion that it would not be an indictable offence to
   have assisted Adolf Hitler and the NSDAP to power.
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