Reasons for the Collapse of the Weimar Republic

German instability begun even before World War One was brought to an end as Germany signed the armistice on November 11 1918. As the Kaiser abdicated, Social Democratic Party (SPD) chancellor, Phillip Scheidemann, declared Germany a democracy, introducing the Weimar Republic. This regime was born into a world of violence, revolution, defeat and chaos and by late 1918, strikes and mutinies were spreading across the country such as the Kapp and Munich Putsch. The armistice and Paris Peace Conference only upset German pride and ironically introduced further social, economic and political unrest sending Germany into debt of min. £6,600,000,000. A calling of peace and end of war triggered further instability, distrust of government and chaos. After elections in January 1919, the Weimar appointed Ebert the Republic’s first President with Scheidemann as the Chancellor. Then came the ‘Weimar’ Republic’s new constitution’, which, though it’s most democratic document, had heavy flaws that partook in the instability of the German regime. Technically, the constitution guaranteed many positive democratic qualities such as freedom of speech, personal liberty, freedom of religion and freedom of association. However due to the introduction of Article 48, consequential incapability to change the autocratic regime, and the militaristic Germany created by the Ebert-Groener Pact, by 1929, German stability wasn’t achieved ergo, leading to the demise of the Weimar Republic in 1933.

The shock of defeat was so great for Germans, and many couldn’t accept it rendering Germans to look for a scapegoat to undertake the blame for the defeat. The notion of “dolchstosslegende” or being “stabbed in the back” was being introduced as it was believed that the home-front wasn’t cooperating during the war. Hindenburg reflects this in his statement “...if determined and unanimous co-operation had existed between the army and those at home...the german army was stabbed in the back.” Hindenburg is...