he second was Article 48 of the constitution, which stated that, in an emergency, the president could issue important decrees without approval of the Reichstag -- a backdoor that eventually brought Hitler to power.
Despite these difficulties, the Weimar republic also had its strengths. For the first time in its history, Germans under the republic enjoyed the freedom of democracy and a Bill of Rights guaranteed every German citizen freedom of speech, religion, and equality under the law and all men and women over 20 years of age could exercise their right of vote. Moreover, after a severe economic crisis brought about by hyperinflation in 1923, Gustav Stresemann, the German chancellor (1923) and foreign minister (1923-29) brought about a remarkable turn-around and until 1929 the German economy boomed and cultural life flourished like never before. Unfortunately, Stresemann died in 1929, which ended the golden period of the Weimar Republic and…...

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The aftermath of the First World War, which Germany lost, would have been difficult for any government as it was for the Weimar Republic. The government faced considerable economic and political problems in its early years. This was mainly due to the devastation suffered in the war and the harsh reparations imposed by the victors, as well as the result of violent opposition from the extreme leftists and the extreme rightists.

Apart from these problems which were not of its own making, the republic also suffered from two inherent weaknesses in its constitution that eventually led to its downfall. The first was the system of "proportional representation": a system in which people vote for a party instead of voting directly for a candidate. This proved disastrous as dozens of tiny parties emerged, with no party being strong enough to get a majority in the Reichstag. The second was Article 48 of the constitution, which stated that, in an emergency, the president could issue important decrees without approval of the Reichstag -- a backdoor that eventually brought Hitler to power.

Despite these difficulties, the Weimar republic also had its strengths. For the first time in its history, Germans under the republic enjoyed the freedom of democracy and a Bill of Rights guaranteed every German citizen freedom of speech, religion, and equality under the law and all men and women over 20 years of age could exercise their right of vote. Moreover, after a severe economic crisis brought about by hyperinflation in 1923, Gustav Stresemann, the German chancellor (1923) and foreign minister (1923-29) brought about a remarkable turn-around and until 1929 the German economy boomed and cultural life flourished like never before. Unfortunately, Stresemann died in 1929, which ended the golden period of the Weimar Republic and signaled the rise of Hitler and the Nazis. At that time, there was no strong personality in the Weimar Republic to oppose him effectively. Hence, if we consider whether the fate of the Weimar Republic depended on personalities or the underlying trends; the answer would be: a bit of both.

I saw them digging up potatoes...while the farmer...watched them in despair and the local policeman looked on gloomily from the distance...What did it remind me of? Of the war, of the worst period of starvation in 1917 and 1918, but even then people paid for the potatoes.|...|
Hauser does not agree with Ostwald that times are finally returning to normal and in fact has his own moral message about the events of the day, as gangs of many men overtake well intentioned farmers by stealing their crops, without recourse and whole families, rather than just unemployed men roam the streets seeking food and refuge. The two, living in the same time see things froma very different perspective, and yet both harbor undertones of morality as a breaking point in the culture of the nation.

It is also important to mention that Germany was seeking and finding solutions in more than one…...

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Bibliography

Hauser, Heinrich. "The Unemployed" (April 1933) in the Weimar Republic Sourcebook, ed. Anton Kaes, Martin Jay, and Edward Dimendberg, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1994. 84-85.

Kroner, Friedrich. "Overwrought Nerves." In the Weimar Republic Sourcebook, ed.

Anton Kaes, Martin Jay, and Edward Dimendberg, (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1994. 63- 64.

Luxemburg, Rosa. "Founding Manifesto of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD)"

The result was an inflation rate that brought the value of the German mark down to virtually zero and for nine long months the country languished in a state of economic starvation, hoping for leniency from the Allies. ith none forthcoming, the present regime resigned and the new "Reich" coalition party assumed control of the government under the helm of Gustav Stresemann (127).
Germany's Return to Prominence?

The rise of Stresemann was evidence of the failure of the 1918 German Revolution. The effort lacked popular support, economic acumen or diplomatic ability. Germany in 1923 was perhaps worse off than it was in 1918. In order to begin a true rebuilding process, the new coalition first set out to stabilize the German mark.

The period of the eimar from 1924 through 1930 is seen as the "golden years" (139). In 1924 the mark had stabilized and the communist and Nazi parties struggled the…...

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Work Cited

Orlow, Dietrich. A History of Modern Germany. Prentice Hall, 5th ed. (2001).

Nervous Conditions
After World War I, the German nation and its people were devastated. The public was led to believe that Germany was going to win the war, and it looked forward to a much- improved socio-economic climate. Instead, the war was lost and the country was facing a very dreary future. As a result, the government established the Weimar epublic under the leadership of Friedrich Ebert, a past leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and a supporter of the war efforts. Some historians believe it was fate that Weimar Germany did not succeed. From the beginning the challenges were too great, the situation too grim and the individuals involved too unprepared. As a result, Weimar Germany had a short and bumpy ride that combined the best with the worst: Culturally, it remains one of Germany's most creative periods of time in art, literature and thought. Politically and economically, however,…...

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References

Delmar, Sefton. Weimar Germany. New York: American Heritage, 1972.

Gay, Peter. Weimar Culture. New York: Harper & Row, 1968.

Kracauer, Siegfried. From Caligari to Hitler: A Psychological History of the German Film. Princeton: Princeton Press, 1947.

Library of Congress. Library of Congress. "Country Studies,   Updated 6 February 2004. Visited 11 March 2004.http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.htm .

After the initial frustration of the reparations crisis subsided in 1923, cooler heads prevailed for a time and the Weimar Republic started to address its immediate economic problems. The Weimar solved the fiscal crisis by replacing the devalued and disreputable rentenmark with a new currency, the reischmark. (146) The Dawes Plan eased reparations anxiety by bringing in American bankers to loan Germany hard currency to support the reischmark while overseeing the payment of reparations in reischmarks. (146)

Structurally, the Weimar government encouraged free trade and sought to restore Germany's historic trade surplus by favoring the production of goods for export, which eased unemployment greatly. (149) Germany's economic recovery was also aided by loans from investors in the United States, which underwent an extended boom throughout the 1920s owing partly to the economic gains it made during Germany's wartime absence from world trade. (158) By 1929, Germany had made enough economic progress…...

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Conclusion

Considering the enormous challenges facing it, it is somewhat of a miracle that the Weimar Republic endured for as long as it did. However, it is not so puzzling if one recognizes that during the Weimar period, the political situation tended to reflect the economic conditions. In this sense, it is not hard to imagine a stable moderate-left coalition emerging after five more years of economic prosperity. However, considering the fragile economic foundations and persistent political threats, the Weimar had a very small margin for error, a margin exceeded for it by the Great Depression.

Orlow, Dietrich. A History of Modern Germany. New York: Prentice Hall, 2008.

Weimar epublic
The Legend of the Weimar epublic

The buildup to the Weimar epublic is a fascinating time in world history. The primary reason for this is that it is an international story more than just a German one. Every country that was involved in the conflict of World Was I was also involved in what happened in Germany following the war, and in what occurred in the next twenty years. The texts from which this research was taken look at the epublic from different angles and with different agendas. Peukert writes short essays about critical periods, and Weitz follows the more traditional historical chronology. This essay looks at the founding of the Weimar epublic from the vantage point of these two authors.

In his interpretation of the events that led up to the Weimar epublic, Peukert talks about how authors in the past have dealt with the subject. He says that the…...

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References

Peukert, Detlev J.K. The Weimar Republic. New York: Hill and Wang, 1987. Print.

Weitz, Eric. D. Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2007. Print.

erlin: Symphony of a Metropolis
The Weimar Republic represented a period of tumultuous upheaval for Germany politically and economically, but culturally as well. Following World War I, the public was only beginning to come to terms with the emerging pathologies and conflicts of Modernity and industrialization, and avant-garde art offered a means of approaching these issues apart from, but not outside, both the prevailing political rhetoric of the past as well as the discourse provided by a new generation of political actors and agitators. Walter Ruttman's 1927 film erlin: Symphony of a Metropolis (erlin: Die Sinfonie der Grosstadt in German) is one such piece of avant-garde art, because it attempts to show, over the course of a day, the life of a contemporary city as it blends, sometimes forcefully, the new and old worlds of the early-twentieth century. Examining Ruttman's film in detail will offer important insights into Wiemar-era cultural production,…...

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Bibliography

Elder, R. Bruce. Harmony and Dissent: Film and Avant-Garde Art Movements in the Early

Twentieth Century. Ontario: Wilfred Laurier University Press, 2008.

Follmer, Moritz. "Suicide and Crisis in Weimar Berlin." Central European History 42, no. 2

(2009): 195-221.

It is finally understood why such a burdened population would look to dolph Hitler and his Nazis to restore economic stability in the country.
2. Germany at the end of World War I

The German parliamentary republic, also known as the Weimar Republic, was established in 1919, shortly after the end of World War I, and officially brought the German Revolution to an end (Blanning, 2000, p. 159). This era was one of much political and social turbulence, as Germany was left in shambles after being defeated by the llies in the Great War.

The stage for the conflict was set by the terms by which Germany was held accountable in the Treaty of Versailles. The Versailles Treaty of 1919 was an agreement that was signed by the llied Powers and the German authorities during World War I, and it is this treaty that officially brought this particular war to an end.…...

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As the Great War would come to a resolution, the political and economic contexts in Germany would come to be met with more unrest. In the face of social pressures, as well as the sense of the hurt national pride -- due to both the loss of the war but also to the fact that it was being held accountable -- the German authorities strived to restore balance. The outcome was however far from the desired one.

Weimar was faced with numerous problems as soon as it was established in 1919. Germany had lost a war, and its central government could not exercise much power on international or domestic affairs. The Weimar Republic adopted a system of proportional voting, which promoted a creation of twenty-eight small, weak, and decentralized parties (Finer, 1946, p.555).

It was nearly impossible for one particular party to maintain power for a long period of time, and the Weimar Republic started to lose its credibility and support of the German people. Because the central legislative body of the Weimar Republic, or the Reichstag, was feeble and unpopular due to the constantly changing ruling party, the power of the German states grew, and they frequently ignored orders or directions of the central government. This instability would constitute a primary factor in the generation of the

Dada and Degenerate Art in Germany
At the end of WW1, Germany found itself in a period of transition. Held responsible for the war and forced to pay reparations, the Weimar Republic was in a disastrous state. The Kaiser Willelm II had abdicated, hyperinflation decimated the value of the mark, and erlin was fast becoming vice capital of the world with "New Frau" poster-girl Anita erber taking pride in her position as the high priestess of immorality.[footnoteRef:1] It was a new Germany in every respect -- but not one that was destined to last: it was new in the sense that for the first time in its culture, the Germans were embracing the end -- the end of the old order, of the old code, of the old art and moral imperatives; life was short and falling apart at the seams as fast as the mark was becoming worthless. Jobs were…...

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Bibliography

Altshuler, Bruce. The Avant-garde in Exhibition. NY: Abrams, 1994.

Barron, Stephanie. Degenerate Art: The Fate of the Avant-Garde in Nazi Germany. NY:

Abrams, 1992.

Droste, Sebastian; Berber, Anita. Dances of Vice, Horror and Ecstasy. UK: Side Real

Conservatives and socialists splitted society and failed to create a functioning coalition. After years of authoritarian monarchic control, proportional system of election led society to political chaos, as nearly 20 parties with different political programs from communist to right radicals were represented in eichstag. None of country's politicians was successful either in diplomacy or in the art of achieving compromise. The experience of political pluralism led to political and economical disorientation in society, as in a period of 1919-1933 Germany witnessed several temporary coalitions in parliament and twelve governments, which were unable to stabilize country's economy.
Haffner describes that political crisis was a common attribute of Weimar republic's pluralism: "From 1914 to 1923 all governments had been weak" German parliamentarians of Weimar republic faced a common problem of all young political parties. Being one of the most popular parties in the country with wide support in society and even being…...

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References

Gay, Peter Weimar Culture: The Outsider as Insider W.W. Norton & Company 2001

Haffner, Sebastian Defying Hitler: A Memoir Picador 2003

Eyck, Erich History of the Weimar Republic Macmillan Pub Co 1970

Eyck, Erich

Hapsburg Empire in the Half entury before World War I
At the outbreak of World War I, The Hapsburg Empire was one of the last vestiges of Holy Roman Empire to be found in Europe. The eventual defeat of the Austrian Haspburgs culminated a demise that began in the half century before the war started.

The reason for the longevity of the Hapsburg Empire rested in its ability to form advantageous political alliances whether they be through marriage- Maria Theresa and Joseph II, religion- acceptance of Protestants ending discrimination against Jews or militaristic- alliance w / Germany, in nature. During the half century before the World War, The Haspburgs created some allegiances that would prove to be faulty.

During the rimean War (1853-1856) the Haspburgs flirted with siding with the France and England against Russia if Russia did not leave Romania. Russia withdrew but not without hard feelings towards the Hapsburg Empire,…...

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Conflicting National Interests

 http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/civil_n2/histscript6_n2/wwstart.html 

Military Casualties of W.W.I  http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/casualties.htm

ecause the Republic was weak, it was open to failure, and open to a takeover by a powerful group such as Hitler's Nazis. asically, the failure of the Republic allowed Hitler to take control of the government, which ultimately led to World War II, the persecution of the Jews, the Holocaust, and millions of deaths. Thus, the fall of the Weimar Republic was extremely significant to world history, and it was because it was created as a weak Republic that it could fall so quickly and have so many weaknesses that Hitler and his party capitalized on. This shows a very diachronic relationship between the Army, the legislative branches, and the Chancellor, because they could not work together harmoniously, and so, they created friction that led to the failure of the Republic. A more synchronic relationship may have created more strength in the Republic, and led to a much…...

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Bibliography

Author not Available. (2005). The French National Assembly. Retrieved from the French National Assembly Web site: www.assemblee-nationale.fr/english/8al.asp22 July 2005.

Mahler, Gregory S. (2003). Comparative Politics: An Institutional and Cross-National Approach. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Rempel, Gerhard. (2000). The Weimar Republic I: Economic and Political Problems. Retrieved from the Western New England College Web site: July 2005.http://mars.wnec.edu/~grempel/courses/germany/lectures/23weimar_collapse.html22

Behrman holds that it was weak political institutionalization rather than a weak civil society that shackled Weimar Germany.
Unfortunately, many scholars of democracy theory and proponents of democratic culture have approached the Weimar Republic already holding the assumption that a democratic culture is necessary for a functioning democracy. With this assumption in place, they then debate whether Weimar Germany really possessed a "democratic culture." A democratic culture is often taken to entail Toqueville's "associationism," a vibrant public sphere, formal outlets for political dissent, and informed political debate. Such inquiries have provided little insight into the nature of healthy democracies because they are based on a faulty assumption, that culture is a condition or even a determinant in the formation of a society's political structure.

As Berman observed, passionate civic engagement among a nation's citizens, without an adequate institutional foundation to channel such passion, can actually be averse to functional democracy. Berman…...

Nevertheless, in the immediate period, due to the increasing prosperity, the Republican left started to benefit from the people's trust and this was proven as well by the elections in 1928. Moreover, the coalition formed by the German's people Party with the three Republican parties was undoubtedly considered a change. However, the situation was not to last long and one year afterwards in Germany the first signs of an economic depression have made themselves felt. As a consequence, people started to mistrust the political change they had sustained and that allowed the left-wing and right-wing radicalism to gain legitimacy, a fact which led to tensions of the parties which sustained those currents of thought on the political scene. In this situation, one of the logical measures, which later determined the appearance of Fascism, was that the Socialists, under the pressure of the fear that their sustainers would embrace Communism, became…...

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Bibliography

Felix GILBERT, The end of the European Era: 1890 to the Present," W.W. Norton Company, New York, 1981 pp. 270;

AJ.P. TAYLOR, "The origins of the Second World War," Oxford university Press, 1999, 246 pp;

Stanley G. PAINE, "Fascism. Comparison and definition', Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1980;

Arthur O. LOVEJOY, "The meaning of Romanticism for the Historian of Ideas," in Franklin L. BAUMER (ed.), "Intellectual Movements in Modern European History,"New York: Macmillan, 1965;

Termination of the Republican Government in Germany in 1933
The last years of the Weimar republic were marked by even more political instability than in the previous years. On March 29, 1930, finance expert Heinrich runing had been appointed the successor of Chancellor Muller 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 Reichsprasident by the constitution, since it had no majority support in the Reichstag. After an unpopular bill to help the Reich's finances had not found the support of 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 Sozialdemokratische Partei…...

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By the time Bismarck had to leave the Chancellor's office in 1890, France and Russia were working to forge an alliance in both commercial and military terms. French capital markets were supplying Russian industrialization with the investment that was drying up, not least thanks to Bismarck's intervention, from the German side. The French arms industry looked to provide the Russian armies with modern equipment. Russian officers were lavishly entertained in Paris, and naval squadrons paid much-heralded visits to Le Havre and St. Petersburg. This was the "nightmare" that Bismarck had always feared, posing a threat to Germany's strategic borders in the west and to Austria's existence in the east.

Subsequent German foreign policy initiatives, notably the initiation of a large battle fleet under the naval laws of 1898 and 1900, drove Britain into diplomatic alignment (the Entente) with a Franco-Russian alliance already in the offing at the time of Bismarck's fall. "In 1912 Lord Haldane, then the British Secretary for War, hoped that, given the new correlation of forces, Germany might be willing to sign a naval agreement to limit numbers. In Berlin, however, Haldane met with stiff resistance from Tirpitz and the Kaiser: too much prestige and funds had been invested to retreat and acknowledge defeat. There was to be no arms control."

Intensified by the reign of the far more militaristic Kaiser Wilhelm II, Bismarck's legacy would contribute to the political culture in which Nazism found significant support-bases. As a result, in Germany, as in Japan and Italy, later attempts to extend democracy would succeed in establishing the unstable democracies of the Weimar Republic. Despite advances in industry and science under the Second Reich, Germany retained a despotic aspect to its character, due to

I do not agree with the statement that opposition to the Weimar government from 1924-1929 was harmless. There were several significant opposition groups during this period that posed threats to the stability and functioning of the government.

Firstly, right-wing extremist groups, such as the Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler, emerged during this time and gained considerable support. These groups vigorously attacked the Weimar Republic, spreading their ideologies of racism, anti-Semitism, and authoritarianism. Their opposition was far from harmless, as they organized violent activities, attempted coups, and disrupted the political process. The Beer Hall Putsch in 1923, led by....