Weimar- strengths and weaknesses notes

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Weimar- Strengths and weaknesses.

When Germany lost WW1, the Kaiser fled and a new democratic government of Germany was declared. (February 1919)

This happened in Weimar as it was too dangerous to make s declaration in Berlin where there had just been a revolt by a communist group. (Spartacists.)

The Weimar Republic was a genuine attempt to create a perfect democratic country.

KEY WORDS

Democratic- Something that follows the principle of democracy which advocate majority rule and fair process, usually involving elections.

Decrees- Laws passed by one minister in a parliament, which have not been approved by the majority parliament.

PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION

- Instead of voting for an MP, the Weimar Germans voted for a party

- Each party was allocated seats in Reichstag reflecting the number of people who had voted for it (eg 100 votes, 100 seats)

- This was a disaster as it resulted into lots of tiny parties and no big party strong enough to take majority.

- Therefore no government got its laws passed by the Reichstag.

The Weimar Republic looked like the perfect democracy, but it had two great weaknesses- Proportional representation and Article 48.

ARTICLE 48

- In emergencies, the president did not need the agreement of the Reichstag, but could use decrees.

- The problem was that it did not say what an emergency was.

- This lead to be a back door that Hitler used to take power legally.

REVISION TIP

* Make sure that you learn the two great weaknesses of the Weimar Republic

ANSWER PREPARATION

* As part of your revision, think about the arguments and facts you would use to explain:

What the Weimar constitution of 1919 said

How good the Weimar constitution was.

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