weimar democracy

• ebert was the leader of germanys largest political party, the SPD
• the SPD declared that germany would now be a democratic republic, allowing german people to vote for their leaders
• ebert and the newly elected politicians met in weimar to draft a set of rules for how germanys new republic should be governed
• left wing - socialist/communist eg the SPD

  right wing - anti democratic, nationalistic and less interested in equality eg the nazi party
• strengths of the weimar constitution


  • aimed to be fair to men and women, had equal rights including the right to vote
  • no party could easily dominate or pass laws without the support of other parties
• weaknesses of the weimar constitution


  • there was never a majority party, making it difficult to pass laws and lead to arguments
  • democratic systems was unpopular with business owners and upper class families - meant less support for the government
• the spartacists

  left wing political group
• 1919

  spartacists attempted to seize power in berlin by taking over important buildings and ebert responded by sending 2000 free corps to attack the spartacists
• hitler joined the german workers' party and by summer 1921 he was the party's leader
• hitler set up the SA to guard meetings. in 1923 he led the munich putsch in bavaria which ended up with him being charged for treason and spending 9 months in prison
• the failure of the munich putsch taught hitler that the nazi party would have to gain power democratically, rather than by force
• gustav stresemann helped germany recover from some of its problems
• stresemann was chancellor and then germanys foreign minister till his death in 1929