Politics & the Workings of Democracy, 1924–1928 (AQA A Level History: Component 2: Depth study): Revision Note

Summary

• War hero Hindenburg was voted in as President of the Republic in 1925

  • This helped win the support of many people who had right-wing beliefs

  • However, Hindenburg was not a natural supporter of democracy or the Republic

• The elections of the 1920s indicated that the vast majority of voters rejected the extremist parties, such as the communists and the Nazis, in favour of democratic parties

• However, the elections also failed to elect a party with a clear majority

  • This led to a series of coalition governments that usually did not contain any members from the parties that won the most votes

• Historians disagree over whether democracy had stabilised in Germany by 1928

The Election of Hindenburg as President, 1925

• When Friedrich Ebert died suddenly in February 1925, elections were held to select a new President of the Republic

• The victory of Paul von Hindenburg had several consequences for the Republic:

  • As a famous war hero and victor at the Battle of Tannenberg, he was very popular with people on the right of the political spectrum

    • This meant they were more likely to support the Republic now that Hindenburg was the President

  • After the chaos of the Spartacist Revolt, the Kapp Putsch and the Munich Putsch, Hindenburg appealed for national unity

  • Hindenburg respected the Constitution of the Weimar Republic and did not abuse his power or attempt to overthrow democracy

“I have taken the oath as Reich President in accordance with the republican Constitution of 11 August 1919. The Reichstag and the Reich President belong together, for both have emerged directly from elections by the German people. Together, they embody the sovereignty of the people, which forms the foundation of our entire present constitutional life. The Reich President should serve to unite, above party divisions, all the willing and constructive forces of our people. That is the deeper meaning of the Constitution, to which I have just solemnly pledged myself upon my word as a man.”

From Hindenburg's official speech to the Reichstag on 12 May 1925 following his election .

• However, Hindenburg was a member of the aristocracy and believed countries should be run by monarchies rather than by democracy

  • In the years 1925-28 Hindenburg worked within the Constitution

  • From 1930, however, he became willing to bypass the Reichstag through Article 48

Elections and attitudes to the republic

• After the initial elections of 1919 and 1920, further elections were held in 1924 (two) and 1928

  • The results of these elections help us understand the attitudes of the German people towards the Republic

• The Social Democratic Party (SPD), who were in favour of democracy, gained the most seats in all three elections

• The Centre Party, also in favour of democracy, won slightly fewer seats in 1928 than it had in 1924

• The Communist Party (KPD), who wanted to replace democracy with a communist government, increased its seats from 45 in 1924 to 54 in 1928

• On the right wing, the Nationalists (DNVP) and the Nazis (NSDAP) lost voters between 1924 and 1928

• These results indicate that most German voters had a favourable view of democracy

  • However, due to proportional representation, no one party ever won a clear majority and was able to form a government

  • Six coalition governments were formed between November 1923 and June 1928

    • Because coalitions were assembled from parties with little in common, they were unstable and short-lived

  • The SPD, despite winning more votes than any other party, was not part of the majority of these coalition governments

  • This meant that these coalition governments did not have the support of the Reichstag and struggled to pass laws

    • This led to increased frustration amongst German voters with the Weimar democratic system

Attitudes of the elites and other social groups

• The elites — army officers, wealthy landowners, senior civil servants and judges — were dominated by people from the aristocracy

  • They remained hostile to the Republic

"I witnessed the repellent scenes that occurred on November 7, 1918, in Munich, sometimes in close proximity, and I nearly choked from disgust. And then the way in which Kaiser Wilhelm was sent packing, the way that every louse took it upon himself to hurl excrement at the man, the man who worked selflessly and self-sacrificingly for thirty years on behalf of Greater Germany. I know very well that the mob in other countries is dastardly beyond all measure, but does it match ours in its beastliness?"

The views of leading conservative and fierce critic of the Weimar Republic, Oswald Spengler in 1922. Although this pre-dates the period the views outlined persisted into the mid to late 1920s.

• The middle classes 'Mittelstand' had a variety of different attitudes towards the Republic, depending on their circumstances

  • Many of those who had lost their savings in the hyperinflation crisis of 1923 remained hostile to the Republic

  • Those who prospered during the boom of the 'Golden years' were much more supportive

• Many working-class people welcomed the rights, freedoms and equality that the Republic had introduced to Germany

  • Although some supported the KPD and were in favour of a communist revolution, most trade union members voted for the SPD

The position of the extremists: Nazis and communists

The Nazis

• The ultra-nationalist NSDAP blamed the Republic for what they saw as the betrayal of the Treaty of Versailles

• They were dedicated to the overthrow of the Weimar Republic

  • However, after the crushing failure of the Munich Putsch in 1923, the Nazis had changed tactics

  • Rather than use violence to overthrow the Republic, they used votes

• They attempted to make the switch from being a regional Bavarian party based in Munich to a national party that campaigned on national issues

  • However, this change in tactics appeared to have been unsuccessful

  • The Nazis won just 2.6% of the vote and gained just 12 seats in the Reichstag in the 1928 elections

  • After 1928, they targeted rural Protestant areas and attempted to appeal to several social groups in German society

The Communists

• The KPD openly campaigned for an overthrow of the Republic in order to replace it with a communist government

• They enjoyed sizeable support, although it was concentrated amongst working-class people in industrial areas

  • To a large extent, their policies and tactics were controlled by the communist government of the Soviet Union

How stable was Weimar democracy by 1928?

• Historians debate how stable the democratic Weimar Republic was by 1928

• Some argue that it had overcome the chaos of the early years and that voters were rejecting the parties that were committed to overthrowing it

  • They believe that extremist parties were being abandoned by voters in favour of parties that supported democracy

• Others argue that, despite the economic affluence, Weimar democracy was still failing to function properly

  • Supporters of this view argue that not only were parties unable to form majority governments, but also that the parties that won the most votes weren't even part of the coalition governments that were formed