The Weimar Republic - 1289 Words

Tobin Mayhew Saer Nazi Germany Essay #1 February 23, 2016 In 1919 the German people attempted to create a parliamentary democracy with the Weimar Republic. Born in the ashes of defeat, the Weimar Republic was heavily burdened with failures of the past. For decades historians have sought to understand why the Weimar Republic failed and if it was doomed to do so from the start. The answer to this question is very complex as many different factors were involved. The fait of Weimar Germany was in the hands of many different ideas and forces that caused its failure which make it very difficult to isolate one or two for being solely responsible for its demise. Many take one look at Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime and place immediate blame on it†¦show more content†¦A very substantial reason for the failure of the Weimar Republic was the impact of the Great Depression and the massive inflation that resulted because of it. Finally, with Germany on its knees begging for a sense of unity and hope, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime came t o power officially ending the short lived Weimar Republic. After World War I, Germany signed the peace settlement at Versailles, France in June of 1919. The severity of the terms caused intense political debates and division in Germany. A majority of Germans strongly opposed signing the treaty and the left and right wings had different ideas about how to respond to it. Right-wing nationalists like the NSDAP demanded the government completely renounce the treaty and not comply with its harsh terms. Those who were more moderate such as the supporters of the Weimar republic scorned this approach, as they believed it would cause retaliation, economic issues or even war. When the treaty was signed, the German people felt that they were treated unfairly and a consensus that the Weimar Republic was soft footed arose. This was the first of many more issues to come. It has been argued that the financial reparation fees imposed on Germany were too excessive. This burden on the post-war eco nomic situation caused German recovery to be next to impossible. Within three years of the signing of