Weimar republic

• To set up a new government away from the unrest of Berlin ,politicians moved to the small town of Weimar, whhere a new government was created .
• President of the Weimar republic

  • Head of the republic
  • Elected every 7 years
  • power to choose key ministers such as the Chancellor
  • Article 48:President can overule the government and make laws by decree
• Government of the Weimar republic

  • Below the president
  • Cabinet made political decisions
  • Chancellor led the cabinet
• Parliament of the Weimar republic

  • Beneath the government
  • Made of the Reichstag and Reichsrat
  • Parties given proportionate representation so the number of seats a party held reflected the number of votes they received
  • Reichstag and Reichsrat elected every 4 years
  • Reichstag was more powerful and controlled tax
  • Reichsrat represented each region of Germany
• The new constitution was drawn up by a Jewish man called Hugo Preuss and stated all men and women over the age of 20 could vote
• Strengths of the Weimar constitution

  • Genuine democracy because all Germans over 20 could vote
  • Constitution was strong because no one person or group could hold too much power
• Weaknesses of the Weimar constitution

  • Weaknesses outweigh strengths
  • Proportional representation meant weak coalitions were the only way to gain power and lead Germany
  • Article 48 meant the president could bypass democracy
  • Constitution was weak as strong German states such as Prussia still held power through the Reichsrat
• Sparticist uprising

  • Communist group supported by the soviet union
  • Led by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht
  • January 1919:Staged a revolt in Berlin hoping to lead a general strike(Ultimate aim was to overthrow the Weimar republic)
  • Ebert used a right-wing(conservative) group of former soldiers to stop the uprising, realisng the need to use political extremist groups against eachother
• Kapp Putsch

  • March 1920:Freikorps staged a revolt in Berlin led by Wolfgang Kapp
  • Aimed to seize control and stop the Weimar democracy
  • Putsch failed because of German workers strike forcing Kapp to flee
• Munich Putsch

  • Nationalist soicalist German worker's party(NSADP)/Nazi party staged the Munich Putsch
  • Adolf Hitler and Ludendorf led the Putsch
  • Nazis thought the Weimar republic was weak because of the economic crisis in 1923
  • November 1923:Nazis entered a meeting of the Bavarian government and Hitler demanded their support
  • Nazis took control of local police and army headquarters but Ludendorf secretly let government leaders go
  • The next day, Hitler marched on Munich to declare himself President of Germany but was met by police who arrested him
• Imprisonment of Hitler

  • Used his trial for publicity to spread the Nazi message
  • Wrote 'Mein kampf' outlining his political agenda(Destruction of democracy,Lebensraum(Expansion of German territory to house the population),inferiority of Jews)
  • Realised he needed to reorganise the Nazi party to gain support