How Did The Weimar Republic Have Too Much Power In Germany

The era between World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945) was considered as one of the most unstable period in world’s history. Europe faced after the First World War an entirely new stage, devastation was a massive issue and found almost everywhere after war and after the loss of three important empires: the German, the Ottoman, and the Austria-Hungarian empires. Viewing the political map of Europe shortly after World War I it is noticeable that there were only two countries with no democracy in 1919, those two countries were the Soviet Union and Hungary. The situation was different in 1939 and not really comparable, because in 1939 there were only a few countries or nations with a parliamentary government. France, Britain, Switzerland, Belgium, and Scandinavian countries are
The “old” German empire reached to an end when its significant personalities agreed on “a revolution from above” 1, as the Foreign Minister of Germany Paul von Hintze was convinced to try to prevent a revolution in Russian manner. It is essential to take a closer look at the constitution of 1919 while analyzing why the Weimar Republic failed and why Adolf Hitler became the chancellor. The position of the “Reichspräsident” that was created had way too much power. This leader position could break down the Reichstag with Article 25 that says, “the president of the Reich may dissolve the Reichstag, but only once for the same cause”(wiki). Furthermore he had the authority to suspend some basic rights in order to create his “personal” vision of the public order and security. Another article in the constitution that underlines the competences is article 48, which basically says that the “Reichspräsident” can govern even without the parliament. These articles demonstrate the power and influence that the “Reichspräsident” had and a consequence of distrust against political and liberal parties in the pre war period.