Germany Essay
Account for the lack of support for the Weimar Government to 1923.
In October of 1918 Ludendorff ensured opposition to a Republic when he handed power to the Reichstag so an armistice could be negotiated. On November 9th Prince Max of Baden handed the Chancellorship to Friedrich Ebert, leader of the SPD, and Philipp Scheidemann declared Germany as a Republic. The new Weimar Government was thus forced to sign the armistice which shocked the German population as they were under the illusion that they were winning the war since the Ludendorff Offensive and the bombings on Paris. From that moment on the negative connotations of defeat and the armistice were tied to the Weimar Government and they lacked support from anywhere in the German spectrum of politics and the public.
The German population of 1918 did not support the Weimar Government as they felt that they had been ‘stabbed in the back’ and were not accustomed to a tradition of democracy. The news that negotiations had begun to end the war came as a profound shock which affected all classes and the entire spectrum of German politics. Due to the armies’ 65km advance on the Wester Front which broke the stalemate, and the bombing of Paris, the civilian population felt betrayed by the Republic. Dolchstosslegende was a belief deliberately encouraged by the right-wing conservative forces in Germany to stir opposition to the Weimar Government and to increase belief that the army had been betrayed. Preserving the honour of the army and Germany’s military tradition was Ludendorff’s aim when he surrendered power to the Reichstag in October 1918. Thus, the civilian politicians, the so-called ‘November criminals’, were held responsible.
The USPD opposed the Weimar Government because of their failure to uphold the Workers’ and Soldiers’ Councils which originated from the Kiel Mutiny on November 4, 1918. However, this was only the surface issue of why the USPD opposed the SPD and Ebert as the real issue was in the
In October of 1918 Ludendorff ensured opposition to a Republic when he handed power to the Reichstag so an armistice could be negotiated. On November 9th Prince Max of Baden handed the Chancellorship to Friedrich Ebert, leader of the SPD, and Philipp Scheidemann declared Germany as a Republic. The new Weimar Government was thus forced to sign the armistice which shocked the German population as they were under the illusion that they were winning the war since the Ludendorff Offensive and the bombings on Paris. From that moment on the negative connotations of defeat and the armistice were tied to the Weimar Government and they lacked support from anywhere in the German spectrum of politics and the public.
The German population of 1918 did not support the Weimar Government as they felt that they had been ‘stabbed in the back’ and were not accustomed to a tradition of democracy. The news that negotiations had begun to end the war came as a profound shock which affected all classes and the entire spectrum of German politics. Due to the armies’ 65km advance on the Wester Front which broke the stalemate, and the bombing of Paris, the civilian population felt betrayed by the Republic. Dolchstosslegende was a belief deliberately encouraged by the right-wing conservative forces in Germany to stir opposition to the Weimar Government and to increase belief that the army had been betrayed. Preserving the honour of the army and Germany’s military tradition was Ludendorff’s aim when he surrendered power to the Reichstag in October 1918. Thus, the civilian politicians, the so-called ‘November criminals’, were held responsible.
The USPD opposed the Weimar Government because of their failure to uphold the Workers’ and Soldiers’ Councils which originated from the Kiel Mutiny on November 4, 1918. However, this was only the surface issue of why the USPD opposed the SPD and Ebert as the real issue was in the