(2) Strenghts and weakness of the Constitution and the consequences of the ToV (Treaty of Versailles
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A level Germany History ((5) Weimar's Political Crisis) Mind Map on (2) Strenghts and weakness of the Constitution and the consequences of the ToV (Treaty of Versailles, created by Marcus Danvers on 28/11/2014.
(2) Strenghts and weakness of the
Constitution and the consequences
of the ToV (Treaty of Versailles
Strenghts of the
Weimar Constitution
What do the Chancellor and the
Cabinet need to stay in power
Riechstag support - System of Check and
Balances. Support from the people
A Bill of Rights guaranteed individual rights such as
freedom of speech and the right to belong to a union
Strenghts of Proportional
Representation
Reflects the peoples ideals and idelogies
Who does it allow
to be represented
Everyone
Why strength
Democratic
Proportional Representation was accepted
by most across the Political system, the
SPD were committed to do it and their
opponents saw it as a way to prevent
Socialists having overall control
There is unlikely to
be an majority
The President was
elected by the people
Good as it cuts though the most likely divided Riechstag
Two levels of Representation
What are the benefits of Article 48
Allows the President to
deal with a crisi's
Weakness of the
Weimar Constitution
What are the flaws
in Article 48
Potential to go power crazy - put's power
in the hand of one person - Abuse
The Constitution was the product of a compromise between the parties that
were most successful in Jan 1919. Yet they did not poll close to this number
of votes again. Thus the constitution's base was un-representative
Weakness of
Proportional
Representation
Absualety everyone's voice get here (even the minorities)
Why will it cause Coalitions
Never a majority government
Will there be a clear Govt established
No - noting big will happen
The longest coaltion Govt to stay in power lasted for 18 months
Where does the power of the elites lie?
it there any change from the Second
Reich in their embedded position
The role of the elites are still there and unchanged
Why was Germany
so angry at the ToV
War guilt and reparations
(Political, Social)
Guilt should be shared
The economy is already in tatters - reparations will criple Germnay
Disarmament
(Political, Economic)
Any army 100,000 strong is far too small for a country Germany's size.
Germany is a great military nation - the army is a source of national pride
German territories
(Economic/ Social)
Both the Saar and Upper Silesia are important
industrial areas - we can't afford to lose them
Whilst Germany is losing land, Britain and France are increasing their
empires by taking control of German territories in Africa and the Middle east
Losted 13% of land, 15% of Coal fields, 48% of iron and steel
industries, 12% of population, 15% of Agricultural production
Fourteen Points
and League of
Nations (Political)
Germany's treatment goes against the 14 points. Other
counties have self determination but not Germnay
It is insulting for a country as powerful as Germany
not to be invited to join the League of Nations
consequences
of the ToV
Reparations -
failure to pay
There were huge problems in coming to terms with economic readjustment and debt.
Reparations made matters worse. By later 1922 their national debt was 469 million marks. In
July 1922 the govt asked for permission to suspend reparation payments. This was refused by
the French Prime Minister. Thus the German govt printed more money to cover its debts.
This move was taken as sabotage to 38 reparation payments. At the end of the year
the Reparations Commission declared that they had failed to meet their Reparation
promises. The German defaulting on Reparations led to the Franco/Belgian occupation
of the Ruhr in January 1923 with 60,000 troops. The German govt encouraged the
workers to offer passive resistance. This meant that the govt had to pay million of
marks to those that lost income and it also led to less income from tax.
Thus the govt printed more money. The German govt collapsed
into hyperinflation. The savings of the middle class were
destroyed and the working class saw their income drop
In 1920
Some right-wing Germans were so angry about the
Treaty that they made an armed rebellion against
the govt. This became known as the Kapp Putsch.
The rebels took control until the workers went on a
general strike, then the rebellion failed. The strike
added to the sense of chaos in Germany.
The govt actually lose control for a while, does
this suggest that they are strong? Is it the govt
that gain control again - The govt was shown to
weak if a small group could rebel - showed an
apertit for a right-wing politics (Nazi party)
In 1919
Germany's democratic govt was very weak.
When it agreed to sign the Treaty many
people believed that Germany had been
"stabbed in the back" by weak politicans.
This became a popular myth in Germany.
If the German people thought that their govt
should't have signed the treaty, would they trust
them - No they began to trusted the elites.
Treaty - The Political impact
The peopled hoped to gain Austria and Sudentenland from
the now defunct Austro-Hungarian Empire - bad blow
Wilson's principle of national self-determination seemed to operate
against Germans everywhere and in favour of Germans nowhere.
The War Gulit Clause - even more resentment -
the German delegation was helpless in stoping it
The Republic was tarnished with signed the Treaty - unfair as
the Republic govt tried everything possible to revise the
treaty even military resistance - the treaty had to be accepted
The govt even employed historians to prove
Germany was not responsible for the war but joint -
It did rehabilitate the reputation of the Army
Conservative right distrusted
the Weimar Republic
This defeat could ben seen as an act of political betrayal by
the Republican govt - govt disprove German was gulit, the
Republican unintentionally gave the conservative right the
opportunity to foster the legand of the "stab in the back"
Campaign for the Presidency in
1925, Hindenburg sought to justify
his and Ludendorff "silent
dictorship" by rewriting history
The Offensive aginast the
Republic by the NAZIS end of
1920s and beginging of the 1930's
First popular policy - the use of "stab in
the back" and the "Versallies diktat"
Second the party would offer economic salvation to the
middle classes suffering under the impact if the depression
after 1929 - enormously increased the NSDAP's electoral
support in the elections of 1930 and 1932
Treaty - The economic impact
The reperations were set at 132,000 million gold marks -
12,000 million in advance - 2,000 million per annum and
26 % of the value of Germany's exports
The reparations must have been a
considerable factor in the
hyper-inflation of 1921 and 1923
Could have increased taxes instead of
printing money - Would have antagonied
a population frustrated by "War guilt"
The Dawes Plan
of 1924
Germany would provide reparation payments to
Britain, France and Italy who, in turn, were
enabled to pay off their war debt to the United
States. These returned as loans to Germany.
Great damage was done to the Germany economy - The
loans upon which Germany depenced in order to
sustain an economy capable of paying reparations
Initially good (1924) Germany received
some 16,000 million marks. This helped:
Replenish the home market - outstripped by inflaction
Industrial production expanded
Public sector salary increase
full employment was achieved
Problem expansion
highly vulnerable
Didn't affect the large-scale
consumer industries at home,
such as motor vehicles
Didn't have the full infrastructure of export sale
The Wall Street Crash
in October 1929
German economy spiralled into
depression - decreased production,
foreclosures, 6 million unemployed
Speed - American loans were short term
and subject to repayments on demand
Difficult for the repayment to be
extensively rescheduled by the
Young Plan in 1929 or virtually
cancelled at Lausanne in 1932