When and Why Did the Weimar Republic Collapse?

When and Why did the Weimar Republic collapse?
The Weimer Republic was a government that the Germans established due to being one of terms specified by the Allies in the Treaty of Versailles. The collapse of the Weimar Republic could have been caused by many different events that occurred during that time period. The exact reasons of why it fell have been debated over by scholars and historians for many years. Some people say it was the people in power and the fact that the army still had sway in the government had caused the fall; others say the instability of the government and the Depression contributed to the collapse. These reasons will be thoroughly looked at.

Many things could have caused the collapse of the Weimar Republic on March 1933. One of the prevailing reasons as to why the collapse occurred was the fact that the Weimar Republic wasn’t stable in the first place. With the forced introduction into Germany in 1919, the concept of a democratic government was new to Germany, who has always been ruled by a Kaiser. The new system of government caused a lot of confusion and anger among the German community, and the government system was in chaos itself.

The Weimar Republic had a unique ruling system; with a chancellor and a president ruling at the same time. The power of authority was split in between these two roles, with each position usually backed up by a large coalition. The role of chancellor was only held by a person for a couple of years at most, due to the inability of the coalition government to properly make a working system that would satisfy all their needs. Another point to add on the instable government was the unique power Article 48; which gave the chancellor the right to dismiss people from the parliament. As you can see, with all these things contributing to the instable government, it is clear that it would’ve been one of the causes to the collapse of the Weimar Republic.

While many people say the Great Depression was not the cause for the collapse of the Weimar Republic, it had created the unique and powerful social and economic circumstances that led to the collapse. During the Stresemann Era when Germany was going by the policy of fulfilment, Stresemann had loaned a lot of money from other countries to help pay off their debt to the Allied Nations; mainly borrowing money off the United States of America. When the Great Depression hit the world, it impacted heavily on the Germans, who had been borrowing money off other countries.

The crisis caused by the Great Depression opened up the way for the Nazi party to rise into power, due to the large amount of people losing jobs in every station, including those in the Weimar Republic. It also lead Hindenburg to move towards a more authoritarian ruling system, not trusting the Weimar republic’s system of leadership. Though the Great Depression was not the main leading cause to the fall, this shows us that it did affect the outcome of history and had opened up the circumstance that led to it.

Even though Germany had to switch from a monarchic government to a democratic government, the army still had as mush sway in the new democratic government as it did in the old one. The army, or Reichswehr, had a lot of political sway before the Weimar Republic was set up. However, even after the new government was set up, the leading people still relied and needed the backing of the German army, so, whoever could get the support of the German army, that person would have a large increase of political sway due to the army’s influence on Germany. With the obvious sign that the army still had power, you could say the Weimar government was basically a farce, and that the army still had control.

Though there are a lot of possible reasons as to why the Weimar Republic collapsed, the final one mentioned here would be that the decisions made by the people in power affected and shaped the Weimar republic by the decisions they made. Some of these people are Paul von Hindenburg and Adolf Hitler. These two people were the last two people in the roles of president and chancellor before the collapse of the Weimar government. Paul von Hindenburg was a second and last President of the Weimar Republic, and had been in that position from 1925-1934. Many of his decisions throughout his presidency had led slowly towards the collapse of the Weimar republic. His biggest decision that contributed to the collapse was his move towards an authoritarian ruling system, which gave Hitler the chance to become chancellor, and after his death, gave Hitler total control over the German government.

Hitler was also big contributing factor as to why the Weimar Republic collapsed. When Hitler was announced chancellor in 1933, the Weimar government’s system of ruling started to crumble and fall under Hitler. Hitler's rise to power was a slow process, having to learn from his mistakes and try to create an image of him that would gain the German people’s favour. Once he managed to become chancellor, he eliminated all his enemies and possible competition in the Night of the Long Knives. Once Hindenburg died, Hitler took the position of president off of him, becoming the sole leader of Germany. His actions that led to ascension and his actions once he was elected had completely destroyed the concept and idea of the Weimar republic.

With just those four reasons as to why the Weimar republic ended, it clearly shows us the weakness of the government and why it collapsed. With all the decisions made by people in power and the workings behind the scenes, the Weimar republic was doomed to fail the moment it started.