Weimar Republic- 1919-195
- Created by: hibaq8
- Created on: 30-04-16 11:36
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- Kaiser Wilhelm - in charge of Government and the army.
- Kaiser went into exile before the war.
- Physical and financial effect- 50% of milk and 60% meat. British navy had blocked sea ports. 750,000 Germans died of starvation and 1 million died of starvation.
- Germany borrowed money to pay for the war.
- 'Stab in the Back'- Germany could have won the war.
- Psychological effects- Germany had been proud, ambitious cuntry and worked extremely hard and made many sacrifices to win the war.
- Political effects- fewer able men to take power as most were put in Prison.
- Weimar Constitution- President- Can sack the Chancellor.
- Can call new elections.
- Commanded army.
- Could use Article 48.
- Government- Chancellor and ministers- Make laws for Reichstag to vote on. Appointed by President.
- Supreme Court- Check constitution is being followed.
- Reichstag- Elections every years. Deputies(MP's) elected by Proportional Representation. Votes on laws and Policies.
- German People- Everyone over 20 years. Vote for Reichstag every 4 years.
- Reichsrat- Upper house- Like House of Lords. Represents 17 German states. Gives advice to Reichstag and can reject new laws.
- Rights of the people- freedom of speech, press, Membership of unions, freedom of voting, Freedom to stand for elections.
- Proportional Representation- if a party got 12% votes in Germany they would get 12% seats in the Reichstag. There had to be coalition governments because no party gained a majority so decisions needed other parties to agree.
- Article 48- allowed President to rule by decree in an emergency, this meant that he could make decisions and laws without having to ask Reichstag to vote on it.
- Strengths and weaknessess- All Germans had the right to votat the age of 20- fewer countries allowed everyone to vote.
- Proportional Representation voting system was fairer. Each party got a number of seats in proportion to the percentage of votes they got.
- President had similar powers to the President of the USA, as his power was very strong so he could protect the Republic in a crisis.
- Free spech, freedom of newspapers, the freedom to set up trade unions and everyone could form a politica part- all these were completely new freedoms for Germany , and very modern for the time.
- Weaknesses of constiution- Proportional Representation meant whatever government or party was in power was always weak. Governments always had to compromise, and decisions could take a long time. There were lots of elections beccause parties refused to agree.
- Article 48 would later be used and abused by Hitler to make himself a dictator legally.
- In 1919 the Republic already had loads of enemies. This constitution was too fair- it gave people vote and right to create their own parties- like the Nazis.
- Being asked to vote was seen as a weakness by many Germans who were used to following orders.
- The Treaty of Versailles- Germany expected a fair treaty- Wilson wanted a fair treaty- he declared the 14 points that would make a better world and believed the trety should allow Germany to recover.
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