History - Weimar Republic Downfall

When considering the importance and extent to which the Great Depression was the main cause of the collapse and decline of the Weimar Republic, it is necessary to assess other factors which also added to its failure. The Great Depression was a prominent reason in the latter stages of the Weimar republics collapse, it accelerated its failure in 1929 and by 1932 arguably the Weimar Republic couldn’t go on. Despite this, the main cause of the collapse was the continuous poor economic state of Germany which hindered the success of democracy and finally resulted in the failure of the Weimar. The results of the First World War, the effects of the Treaty of Versailles and the 1923 hyperinflation crisis significantly worsened Germany's economic problems, in which Hitler and the Nazis easily exploited. The Great Depression and derived from this constant financial strain that the government suffered under and eventually spiralled the situation out of control which proved unmanageable for the government. This created a cut back in support from those who were in favour of democracy and produced resentment amongst other parties. Finally the Weimar's inability to deal with the crisis via unsuccessful decision making and the long term traditional attitudes of the elites within the government that were also highly important contributions to the collapse of the Weimar. Consequently with detrimental ongoing economic crisis and contributing political factors, the Weimar Republic was doomed from the outset, resulting in its collapse.
Arguably the Great Depression played a vital role in the collapse of the Weimar but was not the main reason. The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic crisis that began in the United States with the Wall Street Crash on October 29th, 1929. International trade, incomes, and profits plummeted and unemployment rose. In source 2, the German Reich Chancellor Franz von Papen said “Germany is also plagued by its foreign debts”, the Depression created problems for Germany as they relied on loans from America pay off their reparations and revive their economy. Furthermore Von Papen claims “Unemployment is more widespread than in any other country; some 20-25% of the working population is unemployed” this shows us that the depression had caused immense problems for the working population and the Weimar republic would be pinned with the blame by the NSDAP.
Although the government attempted to resolve the problem of unemployment for example, chancellor Heinrich Bruning who introduced a series of policies to deal with this fiscal crisis. He cut down wages, salaries and prices in an effort to restore confidence in the German financial and industrial system. His efforts were unsuccessful and ineffective as subsequent to this by 1931 there were nearly 4.5 million people out of work, thus illustrating the Weimar's inability to deal with the crisis contributing to its own collapse. This initiated further opposition and bitterness towards the Republic. Clearly the depression contributed to the Weimar's unpopularity and more so its collapse. Additionally both liberal parties, the DVP(German's People Party) and DDP (German Democrat Party) witnessed a decrease in votes during the 1930 election as much of their support rested on the middle class who were "monetary advantageous" to the average class man felt humiliated, betrayed and angry towards the Weimar Government. Consequently faced with a "fundamentally undermined Weimar system” as seen in source 3 many people turned to the Nazi party in hope of a radical solution to their troubles. This strengthens the argument that economics was central to the collapse of the Weimar republic; the Depression added the final touches. Furthermore with large firms dependent on USA loans and German banks that also had taken out loans to invest in businesses, when the depression struck it destroyed the relative stability of the financial system and hence placed an overwhelming burden on the welfare state. The welfare State's purpose was to provide benefits for the unemployed, pensioners and disabled. In 1927 the welfare state introduced the unemployment insurance Act. By 1929 as a result of the depression it was unable to provide unemployment insurance for the amount of unemployed people. Arguably these two factors were linked as without the Great Depression the welfare state would not have suffered an overwhelming burden. The welfare states failure to deliver this unemployment Insurance during this crucial period reflected the weakness of the Weimar system itself. On the other hand the economic crisis was the main reason to the Weimar's failure proclaiming, in times of crisis such as the 1923 hyperinflation, these difficulties endangered the order and resilience of the Weimar but did not make the Republic's failure inevitable. However the fact that these economic problems persistently occurred, suggests that this was the Weimar's governments downfall and resulted in its failure; the Great Depression just the last straw.
Germany was even more devastated when they received their reparations bill of 6.600 million pounds. With the country already in social and political ruin, the economic reparations ultimately destroyed the foundations of the Weimar Republic This proved too much for the Government to handle and by 1922 they declared themselves unable to make payments. Additionally due to heavy taxation which, was also an effect of inflation meant students, pensioners and people with savings lost all their money; thus the government's status deteriorated amongst these groups. Even more, German agriculture was fiancially tarnished as farmers suffered from the fatiguing effort to supply Germany during the war.
The Treaty of Versailles was also a result of the First World War and had disastrous impact on the German economy contributing to the Weimar's failure. The government accepted responsibility of the war and signed the War Guilt Clause (article 231), this encouraged social unrest in Germany and resentment especially amongst the Right wing nationalists. During this time, the fact that the Weimar republic was a newly established democracy meant it was vulnerable and under threat. Weimar government lacked assistance and support, German people did not really support democracy from the beginning.
On the other hand it could be argued that German people were in favour of democracy but lacked the principle foundations of it. Never the less it is clear that the Weimar was never whole heartedly supported even before it came into practice.
Additionally Right wing groups also attacked democracy mainly because of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, because their members were incredibly powerful being were highly integrated into the major institutions of state, society, business, civil service, and the army. This highlights a flaw in the Weimar government, because the coalition parties were not united with a common goal this was proved difficult to implement policies and deal with opponents. Attacks from the Left wing radicals also endangered democracy. In January 1919 an attempt was made from the Left wing group, the Spartacus's who attempted to overthrow the government, however this was crushed by the army and the Freikorps. Although the Weimar did survive these attacks, arguably these uprisings only failed not because these opposition groups lacked clear aims and an alternative system. Even more the economic burden created by the Treaty, made continued reforms and tax policies difficult.
Hyperinflation in 1923 another crucial disaster. The economic effects of the occupation were catastrophic. However the solution was "temporary" and one that depended on international loans. Again reflecting a grave decision made by the government as having provided a permanent solution, this would have prevented the severity Great Depression's impact on Germany. Stresemann himself described this period of affluence as "dancing on a volcano", this exemplifies that too was aware that depending on American loans was risky. Still in 1929 when the Depression hit, Germany was once again faced with economic problems. In source 1 in an extract from the meeting between the German Reich chancellor and Hermann Muller “Reich Chancellor Muller asked the party spokesman to state their views on ... the severe economic problems the country faced...the SPD spokesman stated that a commitment to the financial programme did not seem possible” Hitler and the Nazi party again were quick to put down the Weimar government for this.
Clearly, the Weimar government's failure to take firm action played a vital role to the collapse of the Weimar. This is particularly evident with invasion of the Ruhr, as previous to this the SPD (Social Democrat Party) had the backing of the working class who were protected from the inflation via trade unions and also the support of large landowners who were able to pay of their debts which if made the efficient decisions could have excelled on this support. Consequently endless economic disasters became too unmanageable for the government to keep combating, as with any government this repeated economic crises would too inevitably lead to their failure. Another equally significant factor which contributed to the collapse of the Weimar Republic, was the traditional attitudes of the ruling elites and a lack of bureaucratic culture. Furthermore when democracy was introduced , the old elites such as the German National People's Party never fully fledged their support to the Republic or the notion of democracy , consequently they wanted a reversion back to the old system. However the communist party and the NSDAP (The Nazi Party) was determined to unify the people of Germany, long term values of democracy were deficient in order for the Weimar to be successful. Subsequently by 1930 there was a powerful current of opinion in Germany demanding a more authoritarian government. It lead to question that if the ruling class were not in favour democracy how was the rest of the country going to support it? The Weimar Republic was unable to accomplish unconditional support of these traditional elites such as the army officers. Consequently with the combination of old and new political forces present in the government, this prevented the proper ruling of democracy.
In conclusion it is clear that economics was the foremost reason to why the Weimar republic collapsed as even before the Great Depression, was constantly faced with financial constraints that was caused by the damage of the First World War, this meant straight away the Weimar was forced to introduce a new democratic way of life in the most unpromising conditions. Even more, the reparations of the Treaty of Versailles and the exacerbated the government's financial pressures. Lastly the major hyper inflation crisis in 1923 meant money completely lost its value, subsequently as demand rapidly decreased many people lost their jobs. No doubt, the actions of the government themselves contributed to their own downfall as thoughtlessness decisions decreased their popularity and status amongst Germany. Alongside this attribute lies the ruling elite's for example the DNVP as their failure to support the vulnerable democratic meant the regime itself lacked confidence. Together these were a vital contribution to the collapse of the Weimar Republic. It is evident t .hat economic hurdles occurred throughout the Weimar's life and led to abnormalities within the system and eventually its collapse. This concludes that the Weimar Republic itself was the special path that Germany followed, as this failed experiment of democracy ultimately caused Germany to propel towards the Nazi regime.