To what extent was the Weimar government doomed from the start?
There had been problems in three main areas when the Weimar government came into power; social, political and economic. These areas affected many people in Germany at the time; 1919 – 1923. Some of these problems were; effects of hyperinflation, the Treaty of Versailles and the reparation payment issues, these among others will be explained into further detail in this essay.
The Weimar Republic faced many political problems during their four years in power.
The Treaty of Versailles was one of them. The government signed the Treaty of Versailles just after the end of World War One to prevent another world war breaking out. Other countries like Britain and France also signed it. The Treaty stated that Germany was to accept full responsibility for starting the war. It also stated that Germany had to pay reparations to other countries, like Britain and France for the damage caused during the war; the total estimated figure was estimated at 6,600 million. Many German people believed that the army was betrayed by the politicians not defeated by other countries. This doomed the Weimar Republic from the start because they had no control of what happened before they came into power.
Another political problem was that the Weimar Republic had to face a communist uprising by the Spartacists. The Spartacists, led by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, attempted to begin a revolution, but the rising was supressed with the help of the army. Both Luxemburg and Liebknecht were executed because of the attempted uprising. This doomed the Weimar Republic because once this had happened they didn’t know if anything like this would happen again and if it did would they be able to stop it.
Hitler’s Beer Hall Putsch was another political problem the Weimar Republic had to face. In 1923 Hitler led a right wing attempt to seize power in Munich, but his attempt collapsed because they faced their...