The Fallof the Wiemer Republic
The Weimar Republic was created in the aftermath of World War I to govern a defeated Germany. Although its constitution was designed to make the state a liberal parliamentary democracy, certain inherent political and economic factors combined to make Germany a dictatorship within fifteen years. Several factors undermined popular support for the new republic, while within the constitution itself lay avenues for the seizure of absolute power. This essay was written 4/23/96 in my tenth grade AP European History class. It describes the years between the two World Wars, when a suffering Germany turned to Hitler to alleviate its economic pain. The events that led up to this event are presented here. Germany was the losing state at the end of the First World War, and although the Weimar Republic was born in 1919, the government carried substantial negative baggage from the previous era. Chief of these were the reparations paid by Germany to the victors, initially set at five billion dollars annually until 1921. The economic hardship caused by these reparations payments spread themselves throughout German society. Even mor
The crisis served to break up the centrist coalition headed by the Social Democrats; the left would not give up unemployment insurance, while the right insisted upon a balanced budget, and paralyzed the Reichstag. Government could now only operate by Article 48, or presidential decree. By the end of 1930, Heinrich Bruning ruled as chancellor by the authorization of Hindenburg. In December 1932 Kurt von Schleicher became chancellor, and fearful of civil war he attempted to build a broad-based coalition of the left and the right. In reaction Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler as chancellor. The text used in this class was The Western Heritage, by Kagan, Ozment, and Turner. I remember it all too well, even though I remember far too little. These problems were initially masked by the smooth operation of government, as epitomized by the period under Gustav Stresemann. Stresemann was a moderate politician who moved against radical parties both to the left and to the right, and adhered to the Treaty of Paris even as he sought to negotiate better terms. New prosperity came to Germany, partially due to an influx of Amer
Some common words found in the essay are:
Weimar Republic, Treaty Paris, World War, European History, Ruhr France, Social Democrats, Wall Street, Hitler Nazis, Hindenburg December, Enabling Act, weimar republic, european history class, social democrats, popular vote, treaty paris, elected representatives, hitler effectively, constitution weimar, european history, history class, german military, constitution weimar republic,
Approximate Word count = 760
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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