establishment of the weimar republic

• Ebert


  Not a revolutionary, believed in evolutionary change through winning a majority in parliamentary elections and then introducing reforms
• Ebert's priority after the armistice


  Organise elections for a Constituent Assembly
• Ebert urged Germans to keep essential services running, avoid street demonstrations and maintain law and order
• Ebert's authority did not extend much beyond Berlin where disorder and violence were becoming the norm
• After the armistice and demobilisation of the army


  Bands of angry, disillusioned and workless ex-soldiers roamed the streets
• Street demonstrations, strikes and armed clashes became regular occurrences
• Ebert-Groener Pact


  Agreement where Ebert assured Groener that the government would resist further revolution and uphold the existing command structure in the army, in return for the army's support
• For Ebert's critics on the left, the Ebert-Groener Pact was an abject betrayal of the revolution
• Events during the struggle for power

  1. 6 December - Spartacist demonstration in Berlin fired on by soldiers, killing sixteen

  2. 23-24 December - Sailors' revolt against the government in Berlin put down by the army

  3. 6 January - Spartacists launched an armed revolt against the government, the January Revolution or Spartacist Uprising, crushed after a week of heavy fighting
• Ebert's efforts to contain the revolution were further threatened by pressure for more radical change from the left
• The workers' and soldiers councils, in which the USPD and the Spartacists had established a foothold, had made the running in the early stages of the revolution
• On 22 November an agreement was reached between the new government and the Berlin workers and soldiers councils whereby the government accepted that it only exercised power in the name of these councils
• Many in the USPD saw the councils as the true expression of the revolutionary will of the people and the means by which the revolution could be extended
• The elections for the Constituent Assembly were held on 19 January 1919, with women voting for the first time
• The SPD secured the largest share of the vote and seats in the Assembly but did not have an overall majority
• The Assembly met in Weimar rather than Berlin, as the political situation in the capital was still unstable
• Ebert was elected by the Assembly as the first President of the Republic and a new government, led by Philipp Scheidemann, was formed
• The workers' and soldiers' councils handed over their powers to the Constituent Assembly
• The new constitution represented a clear break with the autocratic constitution of the German Empire
• Parties in the Weimar Republic

  • Centre Party
  • German National People's Party (DNVP)
  • German Democratic Party (DDP)
  • German People's Party (DVP)
• Strengths of the Weimar Constitution

  • Wider right to vote than other democratic countries, including women
  • Proportional representation enabled smaller parties to win seats
  • Full democracy in local and central government
  • Guaranteed rights of individuals
• Weaknesses of the Weimar Constitution

  • Proliferation of small parties due to proportional representation
  • Coalition governments due to lack of overall majorities
  • President's power to rule by decree undermined democracy
  • Lack of reform of army, civil service and judiciary which remained anti-democratic
• The defeat of Germany in WWI brought about the abdication of the Kaiser and the emergence of the new democratic Weimar Republic
• The circumstances under which the new republic was created left a legacy of bitterness and distrust that caused problems for its new rulers
• The Republic was accepted by many Germans not as a superior form of government but as a convenient means of filling the void left by the collapse of the monarchy