The Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic was created at a time of confusion and chaos after Germany had lost World War One. Berlin was in a state of unrest so politicians met in the town of Weimar to create a new constitution for Germany. The German parliament was called the Reichstag and the leading/majority party appointed the ChancellorIn the Weimar Republic, the Chancellor was the head of the government, appointed by the President.. Every seven years, Germans also voted for a President. Fredrich Ebert was President 1918-1925 and Paul von Hindenburg 1925-1934.
It looked like the perfect democracy, but the constitution had two great weaknesses - proportional representation and Article 48.
Proportional representation
Instead of voting for an MP, as is done in Britain, Weimar Germans voted for a party. Each party was then allocated seats in the Reichstag exactly reflecting (proportional to) the number of people who had voted for it. This sounds fair but in practise it led to many parties gaining seats but no one party being strong enough to rule. Therefore the government had to be a coalition of parties and it was often difficult for them to agree and pass the laws that Germany needed. This was a major weakness of the Republic.
Article 48
In an emergency, the president did not need the agreement of the Reichstag, but could issue decreesLaws passed by one minister in a parliament, which have not been approved by the majority in parliament.. The problem with this was that it did not say what an emergency was, and in the end, it turned out to be a back door that Hitler used to take power legally.
| Constitution | Strength | Weakness |
| Proportional representation | Voting system based on fairness | Made it easier for small parties to be formed, therefore made it difficult to win a majority to form a government. This resulted in coalition governments. |
| Article 48 | Decisions could be made quickly in emergencies. | It was non-democratic as it meant the President could by-pass the politicians in the Reichstag. Later it was used by Hitler to create a dictatorship. |
| Coalition governments | Allowed different political parties to have a say in running the country. | Made it difficult to form a lasting government with clear policies. Politicians spent time negotiating deals with other parties rather than ruling the country. |
| Constitution | Proportional representation |
|---|---|
| Strength | Voting system based on fairness |
| Weakness | Made it easier for small parties to be formed, therefore made it difficult to win a majority to form a government. This resulted in coalition governments. |
| Constitution | Article 48 |
|---|---|
| Strength | Decisions could be made quickly in emergencies. |
| Weakness | It was non-democratic as it meant the President could by-pass the politicians in the Reichstag. Later it was used by Hitler to create a dictatorship. |
| Constitution | Coalition governments |
|---|---|
| Strength | Allowed different political parties to have a say in running the country. |
| Weakness | Made it difficult to form a lasting government with clear policies. Politicians spent time negotiating deals with other parties rather than ruling the country. |