Year 12 Modern - The Weimar Constitution

The Weimar Constitution aimed to establish a Germany that was democratic, liberal, and progressive. Instead, it created a fragile democracy which lurched from crisis to crisis until 1923, and was then easily dismantled by Hitler ten years later.

Why did this democratic experiment fail?

This website lists the main clauses of the 1919 Weimar Constitution.

Go here for a word-fill exercise all about the Weimar Constitution (good for revision)!

Check out this Powerpoint presentation about how the constitution worked.

John Clare's website lists the main problems with the Constitution as follows:

Ineffective Constitution

The Weimar Constitution did not create a strong government:

	Article 48 of the constitution gave the President sole power in ‘times of emergency’ – something he took often.
	The system of proportional voting led to 28 parties. This made it virtually impossible to establish a majority in the Reichstag, and led to frequent changes in the government. During 1919-33, there were twenty separate coalition governments and the longest government lasted only two years. This political chaos caused many to lose faith in the new democratic system.
	The German states had too much power and often ignored the government.
	The Army, led by the right-wing General Hans von Seeckt, was not fully under the government’s control. It failed to support government during the Kapp Putsch or the crisis of 1923.
	Many government officials – especially judges – were right-wing and wanted to destroy the government. After the Kapp Putsch, 700 rebels were tried for treason; only 1 went to prison. After the Munich Putsch, Hitler went to prison for only 9 months.