President Of Germany example essay topic

Aim: Find evidence for and against the assumption that the Treaty of Versailles was a burden to the new democratic Weimar government in Germany. The war had not been successful. Russias departure from the war had had no effect on the strength of the allies and Germany was in an imminent position, it was going to lose the war. At the time of the First World War Germany was run by the Kaiser who was a semi-absolutist, he could appoint who he wished, but also had to consult the Reichstag, an assembly of members elected by universal male suffrage.

During the war two other people joined in running the country with the Kaiser, General Ludendorff and Field Marshal Hindenburg. These two men plus the Kaiser exercised a virtual military dictatorship over Germany. The war in 1916 looked good for the Germans, they were winning and Hindenburg and Ludendorff blocked several opportunities for peace. In 1918 it was a different story, the Germans were fighting a war on two fronts and the naval blockade imposed on Germany meant that food and other essential goods were not being brought in. The USA had got involved at that point and poured in a further 2 million troops to support the war effort. Ludendorff and Hindenburg clearly saw that the end of the war was imminent and quickly came up with a plan to pass the defeat of the war on someone else they started there own boigiour revolution.

They managed to persuade the Kaiser to abdicate they then started an Imperial rule again under the control of Prince Max of Baden. Prince Max of Baden who was the chancellor, until February 1919, he led the Imperial provisional government set up by the two Generals and the Kaiser, but the American President knew what was happening and refused to star talks with Germany until it had a proper government. The different parties in Germany such as the S PDs and the US PDs started a constituent assembly, The Weimar Constitution. The Weimar constitution was actually very democratic. Proportional representation meant that everyone in Germany had some sort of representation. Article 1 of the constitution states that The German Federation is a republic.

Political authority is derived from the people. This was very advanced for its era, especially the fact that voting included women suffrage as well as male suffrage. Another good example of it being very democratic in its thinking is article 41, which states that The National President is chosen by the whole German people. Not only could the people choose their own government, but they also had a vote in who led that government. Many historians have said that it was an amazing and bold political idea, of which aspects still survive in todays political systems.

As a historian / book writer once said, a countries political system can not be changed quickly, revolution only brings the same type of autocratic government with a different face and promises of a new improved political system, change is gradual. I think that this government had come into existence too quickly, it was a good fair way of running a country, but Germany wasnt ready for a system, which was so democratic and fair. Germany had only ever experienced Imperialism and this government was considered to be radical, I dont even believe that the people who run this government were ready to up hold its democratic nature. Even so the concepts behind the idea were very good indeed, it was the first government ever to give the people a choice. The new Weimar Republic named after the small town where its first parliament met was far different from the proud Imperial country founded by Bismarck. Few Germans admired a government, which had been born out of defeat; whose representatives had signed the hated Versailles Treaty.

From the start it was plagued by revolutions, riots and disobedience of every kind, especially as its constitution allowed the German provinces a great deal of freedom. In Berlin a rising of revolutionary socialists called Spartacists had to be crushed by the army; a similar rebellion was put down in Munich. Unfortunately, as in Italy, the German army did little about disorder organised by parties of which its leaders approved. Ex-servicemen were able to join together in units called Free Corps and allowed to murder and beat up their opponents.

Unofficial courts sentenced and executed their enemies. Once all the party members had been voted in, by universal male and female suffrage, a constituent assembly was set up. A constitution was written and all the assembly members were asked to sign it, and this is when the Weimar constitution was born. The constitution written by a liberal lawyer called Hugo Preuss, contained a voting system called proportional representation. This was the first big problem for the new government, its very own voting system. Proportional representation (PR) basically means that all the parties that are voted into government have a vote in the legislations that are proposed by the president and his party.

This meant that the presidents government would need at least 50.1% to pass anything, no government ever managed to achieve this landslide majority therefore coalition government was a common procedure in the Weimar governmental process. The majority party would have to find another party with similar ideals and persuade them to vote in accordance with their legislative ideas. More time was spent getting other parties to agree with you than actually improving the laws of the nation. The constitution also stated that The President of the Federation may dissolve the Reichstag this basically gave the President the right to run the country on his own, with out the support from the elected government.

Ebert, the President of Germany, did disband the German government at a point and ruled by him self, this shows the power of the national President, and it is almost as absolute as the Kaisers powers once were. Another one of the articles in the constitution state that The national President has supreme command over all the armed forces of the Federation. If the President liked he could start a war without the consent of his elected government or he could use the army to take over the country and impose a dictatorship over Germany. The government engaged in too much procrastination and not enough action it was basically a failure from the start. After the war and the reshuffling of Germanys government the new Weimar government were asked to discuss and sign a treaty.

One of the first questions were whether or not Germany should be able to vote for or against the proposals made, the members voted no they shouldnt. This left Germany powerless to any decisions made by the members of the treaty, and therefore not responsible for any of the conclusions that the committee came to. Germany was also blamed for starting the war, which made it easier for the allies to punish the Germans. Thousands of millions of pounds were to be paid in reparations to the allies, Germany lost lots of important useful land and they were not allowed to have an army over 100,000 men, they were also not allowed to join with Austria and certain zones were demilitarised. The biggest blow to Germany was the fact that the government had to sign this treaty. The treaty was unpopular but the fact that the government had agreed to this treaty was even worse, they had betrayed the German people.

Was the Treaty of Versailles really the reason for the fall of the Weimar republic Well, throughout the Weimar Republics history its opponents laid the blame for Germanys humiliation at Versailles at the door of the new republic and the November Criminals who had stabbed the German army in the back. If nothing else the Treaty caused complete humiliation and national animosity towards the USA and its European counterparts. Opponents used the treaty against the Weimar republic to create huge discontentment among the people. The reparations were ridiculously high, and Germany couldnt pay them.

Germany was defenceless against invasion, which France did on many occasions to take Germanys coal and metal because essentially Germany had broken the treaty by not being able to pay the reparations. The whole treaty was a mess; the German public felt betrayed by their own government because they are the ones who agreed to sign the treaty. Hugo Preuss, 1923 said The criminal madness of the Versailles Diktat was a shameless blow in the face to hopes of political and economic recovery. The opposition to the government reviled in the opportunity to ruin its reputation and cause the German public to be ashamed and disillusioned in their government. Riots were a common occurrence for the government to deal with, and towards the end revolutionary take-overs were also quite common. In four years 376 political murders took place in Germany.

If the killers were communists they were caught and put to death. If not they were given light sentences or allowed too escape. Nowhere was this lawlessness more widespread than in Munich. Capital of Bavaria Here the authorities made no secret of their contempt for the Republic Some even wanted Bavaria to become independent again under its old royal family. When Munich's police chief was told that there were murder gangs operating in the city he replied. Yes, but not enough of them.

Political troubles were only part of the story in 1923, when the French army occupied the Ruhr coalfields because Germany had failed to make certain payments of reparations. German workers began a new war with their old enemy All over the Ruhr there were strikes and acts of sabotage. Before long factory and mining work stopped altogether since the area produced 80 per cent of Germanys coal, iron and steel, the economic effects were felt throughout Germany. Production slowed down, causing widespread unemployment Worse still German money began to lose its value because it no longer represented real wealth In January 1923 72.000 marks equaled 1 Ten months later it took 16.000 million marks to equal a 1. Germans found their savings wiped away overnight, their wages useless pieces of paper. On the other hand there is evidence which does show that the treaty of Versailles didnt actually effect the government directly.

The reparations were too high for Germany to pay and so it didnt actually cause a constant economic depression, in fact in November 1923 a new currency, the Rentenmark, ends inflation crisis and economic recovery begins. Germany, in 1924 receives foreign help in the form of loans, which literally marks the end of Germanys punishment. Pacts between Germany and France and Germany and the USSR were formed in 1926-1927. Germany even joins the League of Nations, which gave them an important chance to help make decisions on European matters; it also marked the fact that Germanys European counterparts were recognising Germany again.

A quote from a book called Weimar and the Rise of Hitler written by A. Nicholls in 1979 states The real damage the treaty did to Germany was to disillusion more moderate men who might otherwise have supported their new republic. I believe this confirms the fact that it wasnt the treaty its self that was the problem, it was the way it was used as propaganda against the government that caused the biggest problems. J. Hiden, The Weimar Republic, 1974 says that It is no longer acceptable to blame the ultimate failure of the Republic on the treaty of Versailles, and even its economic effects are disputed. These two sources seem to be reliable as both have hindsight also they clearly illustrate the fact that the treaty was hardly at all to blame for the collapse of the Republic. These three main factors potentially put Germany in a strong position: . The break-up of the Tsarist, Austro-Hungarian and Turkish empires created opportunities for Germany, since it was now surrounded by small, weak states, especially in the east... France failed to achieve its aims of a permanently weakened Germany and a secure border.

Reparations were not so burdensome that they destroyed the German economy Above is just one of many anti-republican propaganda posters used to rally support for groups like the Nazi party. The Treaty was used in a very unfair way towards the government, directly the treaty didnt have a significant effect on Germany, but indirectly it was used to put down the government and cause national hatred for there leaders. J. Hiden said The pernicious effects of the Treaty of Versailles lie. in the way it created added dimensions to existing internal conflicts and contradictions. The government was weak, and with the treaty causing so many problems the government wasnt decisive enough to deal with those problems. In conclusion I think that the constitution was a problem on its own for Germany. The written constitution wasnt properly thought through, and although the ideas and concepts are good and fair I dont believe that Germany was ready for something quite so radical and democratic.

In relation to the treaty I think it did pose as a threat to the government, not because of the economic repercussions, but because of the way in which it was used to rally support against the government. Germany was going through very precarious times and a decisive strong government was needed, which is exactly what the Weimar constitution didnt offer.