Political Developments and the Working of Democracy

Who was elected as President after Ebert's death in 1925?

President Hindenburg

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What part of the political spectrum did Hindenburg sit on?

Monarchist

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How many elections were there in 1924?

Two

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Which parties achieved the most support?

SPD, DDP, DVP and Centre

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What percentage of the votes did pro-republican parties get?

61% in May and 67% in December

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What percentage of the votes did the Nazis get?

6.5% in May and 3% in December

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What happened to the Communist's support after May 1924?

It declined

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Which party joined a coalition for the first time in January 1925?

DNVP

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What did the political developments show about the democratic parties?

It showed that they struggled to provide stable governments

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What happened during the 1928 elections?

Support for extremist and anti-republican parties declined even further

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What happened to the Nazi vote during this election?

It declined even further to 2.6%, winning only 12 seats, making them trail behind other smaller parties like the Bavarian People's Party and the Reich Party of the German Middle Class

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Which parties saw a revival of support in 1928?

Christian National Peasant's Party, Farmer's Party and the KPD

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How many coalition cabinets were there between November 1923 and March 1930?

Seven

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What groups were starting to lose support?

Extremist groups on the left and right

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How many coalitions were there between 1919 and 1932 and how many had majority support?

Twenty-three in total and only six had majority support in the Reichstag

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What could the Weimar Republic not do as a result?

Plan for the future

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Why did the Luther coalition collapse in 1926?

A dispute over flags. Hindenburg wanted the imperial flag to be flown beside the new republican tricolour flag, at all German consulates in other countries

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What caused issues surrounding establishing and sustaining stable coalition governments?

The lack of parties that could effectively work together. The SPD and DNVP would not work together in a coalition and other parties did not have enough seats

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What was formed in 1928?

A Grand Coalition led by Hermann Muller of the SPD and was the longest coalition government, lasting until March 1930

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When did the Grand Coalition finally agree on governmental policies?

Spring of 1929

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What issues did the new coalition face?

Disputes over the budget and foreign policy, only surviving through the strong relationship between Muller and Stresemann

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What was significant about the years 1924-28?

It allowed pro-democracy parties the opportunity to establish stable democratic systems that could be supported by ordinary Germans

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What factor contributed to the failure of coalitions?

-Deputies did not represent a particular constituency
-Party committees had control over deputies
-Fractional rivalries
-Ministers had no flexibility
-Leaders had higher personal interest

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The SPD

-Remained the largest party in the Reichstag

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What was the main hopes of the SPD?

To have Germany remain a democratic state

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How many coalitions did the SPD participate in during this time?

Only six

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Who did the SPD appeal to?

Trade Unionists and industrial workers, but had limited appeal to young people and women, with little to no support from agricultural workers and farmers

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The Centre Party

A party that was created to protect the interests of Roman Catholics in Germany, but often cross political and occupational boundaries. However, they were often the cause of divisions over social and economic issues

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Who were The Centre Party supported by?

Industrial workers and industrialists, farmers and their landlords, alongside professional groups like teachers

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The Significance of The Centre Party

Had strong and influential participations in the Coalitions and none were formed without it, but a drastic leadership change in 1928, Heinrich Bruning taking over from Marx, shifted the party to the right

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The DDP

The DDP was in decline in the mid-1920's, and was often increasingly riven by internal disputes and had great difficulty in conveying clearly what they stood for

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Who was The DDP supported by?

Academics and professional groups, which helped it to secure places in almost all Coalitions

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The DVP

A conservative party which was committed to parliamentary democracy, participating in all the coalition cabinets of the period

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Who did the DVP appeal to?

Academics, but their main support came from industrialists

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What was so significant about the DVP?

They provided leading politician Gustav Stresemann, but after his death in 1929 the party soon started drifting more towards the right

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The DNVP

The conservative, nationalist party broadened it's appeal in the 1920's beyond it's traditional appeal of landowners in East Germany

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Who did The DNVP appeal to?

Industrialists, professional groups and even some industrial workers

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What was significant about the DNVP?

They were anti-democratic and nationalist, with it's main aims being the restoration of the monarchy and dismantling the Treaty of Versailles

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Divisions within the DNVP

The DNVP suffered clear divisions, because it was unable to join Weimar Coalitions. In addition, many of the newer and younger members sympathised and compromised with democratic parties, creating conflict over their tactics and policies

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How did The DNVP combat this?

They decided to join the Luther cabinet in 1926 and the Marx cabinet in 1927

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What happened to the DNVP in the 1928 elections?

They suffered a huge loss of support and elected a new leader, Hugenberg in 1928, who in 1929 led The DNVP into an alliance with the Nazis and paramilitary groups about the Young Plan. Thus, they returned to their anti-democratic and anti-Weimar ways

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The NSDAP

The Nazis had taken a huge hit after the failed Munich Putsch in 1923, and in prison Hitler wrote Mein Kampf, in which he decided that the route to Nazi power was not through an armed overthrow of Weimar, but through winning mass support

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Who did the Nazis need support off the most to win mass support?

The Army and other key groups amongst the elite

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How was Hitler impacted by the restrictions placed upon the Nazi party, upon his early release from prison?

Stormtroopers had been banned and he was not allowed to speak in public until 1927, thus he used this time to assert his undisputed control over the Nazi Party, re-organising it and re-orientating it's campaigning

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What measures did the Nazis take after 1927?

By 1927, they had 75,000 members and only 7 deputies in the Reichstag, so in 1928 they broadened their appeal in rural areas of Germany, especially in the Protestant north of Germany

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The Nazis by October 1929

-The Nazis did poor in the 1928 elections losing 100,000 votes
-Some areas of Germany had Nazi vote as high as 18%
-Membership grew in 1929, to 150,000
-1929, the Nazis took control of their first town

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The KPD

Although it was the largest communist party outside of Russia, it failed to become a mass party, and got all of their instructions from Moscow, being part of the Comintern

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Who did The KPD appeal to?

Individuals in important industrial and port areas, like the Ruhr, Saxony and Hamburg. However, they had a strong following in Berlin also

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What were their main aims?

To overthrow the Weimar Republic, by revolution, just as it had happened in Russia in 1917

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The Soviet Union's influence

In 1923, at the height of the political and economic crises of hyperinflation and the occupation of the Ruhr, Communists leaders were sent to Moscow to instructed on how to launch a communist uprising in Germany

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The 1923 Communist Uprising

As a result of their instructions, a communist uprising was launched and uprising began in Saxony and Hamburg, which were ruthlessly suppressed by the Army

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The failure

In 1924, the communist leadership told The KPD, they must now focus on attacking the SPD, labelling them "Social-Fascists", for betraying the working class. They focused on attacking them rather than stopping the Nazi's increasing influence, and this divi

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Who died on the 28th February 1925?

The first President of the Weimar Republic, President Ebert

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How was the next President of the Weimar Republic elected?

Ebert had been elected by the National Assembly, but his successor had to be elected under the terms of the Weimar Constitution which would have to include a full election, with the successor winning 50% of the vote, but a second round would be undertaken

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Who were the seven initial candidates?

Karl Jarres for the right (DVP and DNVP), Otto Braun (SPD), Wilhelm Marx (Centre), Ernst Thalmann (KPD) and Erich Ludendorff (NSDAP). Jarres won the most votes, with the SPD second but there was no overall winner

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The second round

Jarres withdrew from the race and was replaced by Paul von Hindenburg, who consulted the ex-Kaiser before deciding to stand. The SPD calculated that Marx had a better chance of winning against Hindenburg than Braun, so withdrew and told SPD supporters to

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The results

Hindenburg won with 48.3% of the vote to Marx's 45.3%. Thalmann trailed behind with only 6.4% of the votes

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Hindenburg

Hindenburg was a symbol of the past, with his military uniform and medals. He stood on the right, making many hopeful of a restoration of the old order. Many deemed Hindenburg the Ersatzkaiser (substitute Emperor), and his leadership was deemed a step awa

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Hindenburg as President

During the Presidential oath, Hindenburg appealed to the parties in the Reichstag to work closely with him in restoring national unity. He did not abuse his powers, and it helped to reconcile Weimar with anti-democratic parties

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Hindenburg by the 1930's

By the 1930's, Hindenburg was getting more and more impatient with political parties maneouvring at a time of economic degree, thus used his Presidential Decree more often

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The attitudes of The Old Elite

They all hated this new idea of democracy, holding the firm view that the Republic was born out of betrayal to the Fatherland. Plus, the Treaty of Versailles was seen as the ultimate betrayal

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How was Hindenburg's election helpful in bringing The Elites back around to the idea of the Weimar Republic?

He was more authoritarian and so, many thought that he would bring back the military style of government that they were used to. In doing so, they got the support of industrialists and the police

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Political Developments and the Working of Democracy

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