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Was The Weimar Republic Doomed From Its Very Beginning?
hostile towards the new government and their methods and system still remained the same. Both the bureaucratic and judiciary systems remained unchanged and this proved to be a great threat to the republic’s survival.
The main flaw in the Weimar ‘s actual constitution was Article 48.This article gave the National President to “hold it (a state) to the performance thereof by force of arms”. This article gave the President the right to rule by decree when he thought it to be necessary and consequently it can be considered to undermine the great democratic institution which the Weimar Republic claimed to be. Although the article was initially instated to defend the constitution it was actually one of its main flaws.
The landed elites were not only hostile to the welfare provisions that the republic granted but they also had a great deal of influence and power. There was no clear change in the way that large corporations and businesses were run and there was a clear clash of classes The political threats that the Weimar Republic faced stemmed from the Communists on the left-wing as well as the threat posed by the right wing.
It is evident that when analysing the success of the Weimar Republic one must take into consideration the problems that lay ahead. The hyperinflation crisis of 1923 arguably originated as a result of the First World War and the governments high expenditure during the period. This led to a growing budget deficit particularly as the government had been ordered to pay reparations. The Great Depression, which was a consequence of the Wall Street Crash of 1929, was another forthcoming problem that the Weimar Republic had to face.
Consequently it is possible to argue that there were too many obstacles that lay in the way of the Weimar Republic for it to be successful. The weaknesses that it had such as the lack of change made to the judiciary, military and bureaucracy systems and Article 48 of it’s constitution made it very difficult for it to be successful. Although it initially provided German citizens with hope for the future after a very bleak war there were far too many weaknesses for it to be an entirely effective method of democratic rule. The hostility that surrounded its creation was an indication of the fact that it was not going to be an extremely successful method of governing. Therefore it can be stated that the Weimar Government was doomed from its very beginnings.