Richard Nguyen
History 322
Midterm Part II Prompt I
HM04
The Weimar Republic was a period in historic Germany from 1919 to 1933 defined by deep suspicion of the government and extremist activity by both the left and right. As a coalition, the constant inter-struggles between the parties constantly overwhelmed and undermined the authority of the Republic. The government was a democratic republic outlined by a constitution that was drafted in the German city of Weimar, after which the republic is named, following their loss in WWI. The constitution was not drafted in Berlin as the Spartacist Uprising had made the city too dangerous. The Republic has historically been looked down upon; historical determinism based on hindsight believes that “The Weimar Republic was bound to fail.” However, the Republic has many strengths including the economy, its domestic and foreign policies, and how it provided the environments for a cultural revival.
Those who stated that the Weimar Republic was set to failure might’ve done so due to the economic background of Germany post World War I. Following the outcome of the War, the economy in Germany was left in a state of desolation and depression. Until the signing of the peace treaty in 1919, Germany was victim to a blockade that devastated its economy which depended on imports. “At home they [the civilians in the home front] were also fighters in the daily battle for food, fuel and medicines as the Allied economic blockade made savage inroads into ordinary people’s living standards” (Stibbe The War from Below 38). Food shortages became an essentiality in the lives of the citizens, not to mention that lack of medicine led those with everyday diseases like the common cold to their deaths. Thousands died due to starvation and disease during and closely following the conclusion of the War. With the economy in shambles, the citizens viewed the Treaty of Versailles Reparations Clauses as an insult to their already injured State. Article 235 of the Treaty states that “In order to enable the Allied and Associated Powers to proceed at once in the restoration of their industrial and economic life…Germany shall pay in such installments and in such manner…as the Reparation Commission may fix” (The Treaty of Versailles: The Reparations Clauses), meaning that the nation and her people had no choice or say in the matter as to how and how much they would have to compensate the other nations, whether it was gold, ships or other commodities. The Germans were handed a treaty and forced to agree and sign to it. Believing that they would win the war which would pay off the debts, the German government ignored the ongoing costs of WWI. Burdened with the massive war debt along with the Treaty of Versailles and constant printing of paper marks to buy foreign currency for reparations, Germany was plunged into an era of hyperinflation from June 1921 to January 1924. The “hellish carnival” that was Germany was defined by “plundering and riots, demonstrations and confrontations, profiteering and smuggling, agonizing hunger and gluttonous feasts, sudden impoverishment and rapid enrichment…” (A Moral History of the Inflation). The people became frenzied and panicked as they desperately wandered the streets looking for their next meal. Families were in rapid decline and children were forced to maturity in order to survive. The nation was not helpless however, as the efforts of several gifted men allowed the limping masses to stand up once more.
Friedrich Ebert was the first President of Germany from 1919 till his death in the office on February 1925. Under his reign, several social reforms were enabled that aided the suffering masses in those times of economic despair. Increases in workers’ sick and unemployment benefits, the eight-hour workday, universal suffrage for those over 20, and the ability for farmhands to organize helped galvanize the people back into the workforce. His foundation allowed an increase in production, almost to the same levels as before the War, and prosperity which lasted after his death and until the Great Depression. Gustav Stresemann, the man frequently viewed as the champion of the Weimar Republic, was a German politician who served as Chancellor in 1923 for the Republic. Due to the German workers’ strikes and increased printing of money, Stresemann introduced a new form of currency called the Rentenmark in his effort to end the hyperinflation. He also pleaded with France to retreat from the Ruhr, to which he promised the resumption of reparations. Stresemann’s main concern became freeing Germany from its chains of reparations, which he knew that other nations would come to see is an impossible feat if Germany made a God-willing effort. As he studied political economy during his days at the University of Berlin, his founding of the German-American Economic Association came to be no surprise. He forged an economic alliance with the United States that was of interest to both nations. Germany depended on the U.S. for a large portion of its food and raw goods and Germany was one of the largest export markets for the U.S. The implementation, of the subsequent Dawes and Young plans that resulted, worked ferociously to recover the nation. The Dawes plan, which instigated in 1924, was named after Charles Dawes, the Director of the U.S. Bureau of Budget, was designed to improve Germany’s economy. He orchestrated for Germany to fundamentally start the monetary system over from nothing. This introduced the aforementioned Rentenmark. He also persuaded the Allies to correspond and loan money to the German government and permit the Germans more time to repay their debts. The Young Plan was the subsequent renegotiation in 1929 that amended the Dawes Plan for reparation payments. It reduced the total amount of reparations due from Germany and allowed them more time, established the Bank for International Settlements to conduct the transmission of capitals, and ended foreign jurisdiction of Germany’s economy. Without the efforts of Stresemann and aid from the U.S., the economy would’ve remained in shambles and the Depression would’ve hit the nation even harder. As the Foreign Minister, Stresemann was also notably recognized for his reconciliation between Germany and France, a feat for which he co-received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1926.
In addition to the foreign policies with the United States, Stresemann also signed the Locarno Treaties in 1925. The Treaties pursued the security of post-war territories; Germany’s western borders with France and Belgium would not change. The Treaties opened the eyes of world towards Germany’s efforts for peace and improvement of European diplomacy. This eventually led to the nation’s admittance into the League of Nations in 1926, which was established post-WWI with the ideals of world peace and international cooperation. On the home front, Stresemann was also able to integrate several centrist parties in order to form the Great Coalition, which created several reforms that aided the indisposed citizens and economy of Germany. The Coalition provided government funds in order to help the unemployed pay bills and find new work. One of the many domestic policies that were introduced under the Weimar Republic is the Constitution itself. Although the Constitution faced much public scrutiny from historians in hindsight due to the 48th article, the Constitution itself held fast to its many strengths. Article 48 of the Constitution states that “In the event that the public order and security are seriously disturbed or endangered, the Reich president may take the measures necessary for their restoration, intervening, if necessary, with the aid of the armed forces” (Weimar Constitution Article 48). In retrospection, we know the illegitimacies that arose from this Article, however it showed that the constitution had set up precautionary measures in the case of national and domestic emergency. It allowed for the election of a strong President who could take charge during times of crisis. In times of war, every state needs a strong leader to make the hard decisions that others will not or will take too long to decide and bicker upon. During the times of the Ancient Roman Republic, the Senate had two elected heads, Consuls, who had the power to appoint a man with the entire military might of the nation. This was done in order to protect Rome in the case of a civil war or foreign invasion. Our own country has similar emergency powers enacted upon by the President. Although our Constitution does not explicitly grant the President additional powers in the times of nationwide disaster, there are implied powers according to scholars. President Abraham Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus without approval from Congress in 1861, with the claim of the rebellion creating an extreme case of emergency. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued an order for all Japanese Americans in the West Coast to be put into internment camps during the Second World War. Truman also declared the use of emergency powers many times.
The Weimar Constitution was the first democratic constitution in German history following the end of Imperial Germany after WWI. The democratic process and voting abilities ensured that the many boiling opinions of the people were represented. The election system provided proportional representation, meaning that all parties were given seats in the Reichstag that matched the percentage of people who voted for them. All men and women over the age of 20 were given the opportunity to vote. Even in Britain, women were only allowed to vote if they were over the age of 30. Both the president and the Reichstag, parliament, were elected by general universal suffrage in accordance with proportional representation. An elected president and Reichstag ensured a separation of powers and checks and balances. The parliament passed laws, declared wars, and ratified treaties. The Reichstag was also given the power to revoke the emergency powers decree of Article 48 for the Reich president. And the president was able to disband the Reichstag. The powers of the president and chancellor were balanced as well; the chancellor would stop the president from being too powerful and vice versa. The president was provided the power to appoint the chancellor and dismiss him if need be. The chancellor was responsible to the Reichstag and served as a chairman. The constitution also only allowed for a president to serve a seven-year term through direct election. Each of the 19 states of Germany were allowed their own powers in domestic affairs. The Constitution also provided the citizens an essential Bill of Rights with their God-given freedom of speech, religion and equality through Articles 118, 135, and 109 respectively. Article 109 states that “All Germans are equal before the law. Men and women have the same fundamental civil rights and duties. Public legal privileges or disadvantages of birth or of rank are abolished” (Weimar Constitution Article 109). All Germans had equal rights to vote, “express his opinion freely by word…or print” (Weimar Constitution Article 118), “enjoy full religious freedom and freedom of conscience” (Weimar Constitution Article 135), travel freely and hold political meetings. All of these newly granted freedoms pushed Germany forward in terms of cultural development as well.
During the period of the Weimar Republic, there occurred a cultural revival in Germany that arose from the end of the war and the freedom of expression of ideas. Writers, poets, and artists were unrestricted in their flourishing. Artists strained to signify truth for the German people and were even criticizing the politicians and governments unobstructed. Dadaism was an art movement that developed in response to WWI and was characterized by a lack of logic and reasoning as a form of protest. The crusade lasted into the early years of the Weimar Republic even after the War ended until 1922. Dadaism demanded “The immediate expropriation of property [socialization] and the communal feeding of all; further, the erection of cities of light, and gardens which will belong to society as a whole and prepare man for a state of freedom” (Dadaism Demand 3). The movement itself challenged accepted definitions of art as it was detached from reality and convention. They emphasized the focus on experience, creativity and intellectuality that differed from culturally-putative customs. However, there existed antagonism to the movement. Raoul Hausmann, in his publication The German Philistine Gets Upset, argued that “It is the German writer, the German intellectual who explodes with rage because his formally perfect schmalz-bread soul has been left to bake in the sun of ridicule” (The German Philistine Gets Upset); yet even the opposition to Dadaism led to expressionism via literature. Humanity is expression after all. The Weimar Republic led to an explosion of culture through the arts and sciences. Literature, drama, music, dance and even philosophy flourished. The era was a proverbial golden age for cinematic films and liberated night life. Ivan Goll argued that true art is primal; “the last art was: disintegration of the ego; disintegration of the world” (The Negroes Are Conquering Europe) and that Europeans were chained and tied down, and so had forgotten that primordial sense of liberation the pure unadulterated nakedness of the dance. He argued that the Negroes, through dance and music, were able to revitalize the culture of the Europeans and gave back to their conquerors. The field of philosophy offered inquiries into structure of nuclear family. The New Woman was a feminist movement that began at the turn of the 20th century. Women started to fight for what they believed in; they started taking over jobs that were “men-oriented” and even began voting. The New Woman was an allegory designed for the representation of feminism. “She is organically bound up with the economic and culture developments of the last few decades” (This is the New Woman) and set out to prove that women are completely capable to satisfy the demands of any position that were required of them in life. The New Woman fought not only for herself but for all those of the female sex as well.
If the Weimar Republic were not bound to the failures of the times that defined it, the Republic might still exist today. The untroubled economic conditions would allow for the continued flourishing of the culture. Germany was on its way towards economic independence had it not been for the Great Depression. Article 48 would’ve continued to set up a precautionary measure without exploitation by future corrupt leaders. And the external and internal relations that were laid out through foreign and domestic policies would’ve continued to be upheld as Germany moved towards world peace. Without the worries of economic concerns and foreign invaders through monetary or physical means, the people would’ve had the time and means to focus their efforts of the embellishment of the culture via art, literature, and philosophy.
Postscript
Hyperinflation is a worry of the citizens of the United States in wake of our National debt being well over $14 trillion held by the public. Intragovernmental holdings add another $5 trillion to that resulting in a sum total of $19 trillion gross national debt with China and Japan being the major debt holders. The Weimar Republic is a historic example of government planning that resulted in the devaluing a nation’s currency. It demonstrated the social, political and cultural devastation caused by hyperinflation as it provided ground for the political success of such leaders as Adolf Hitler. The people became hopeless and desensitized as they flock towards the man with whom they deemed the title of savior and god. With the ongoing war in the Middle East, the American economy is left in shambles much to the disbelief, ignorance, and disregard of the general masses. The recent presidential election leads many to believe and fear that our current President is just the first in a line of many leaders, or the singular leader, that will eventually lead to the resurrection of the idealisms of Hitler. Although our Constitution does not explicitly give full control of the nation to the President, the abovementioned implied emergency powers have been used by many Presidents in the past. Many historians and scholars even believe that the Framers allowed these implied powers due to the structural design of the Executive Branch, which allows it to act much faster than the Legislative Branch. The conditions are set up too similarly to those of the Weimar Republic for those who know of its future not to be fearful. The path of history, if we’ve learned anything, is a loop. People often say that we must use the past to learn from and improve upon the status of our own times and for the future; yet there also exists the phrase that “history is doomed to repeat itself.” It’s human nature: the inevitable struggle to escape the cycle creates circumstances which continue the cycle. Progress, therefore, does not truly exist within the confines of history in terms of this cycle. We build and create things that make this circle bigger, but we eventually only arrive back at the start. Wheels and nails and compasses and printing presses and engines and telephones and lightbulbs and penicillin and the internet are all inventions meant for the betterment of mankind. Yet we see every day that there are those who are exploited by such inventions. Immense organizations and corporations frequently abuse those who they believe are beneath them, the general masses that they don’t view as people. Take the Dakota Access Pipeline; Dakota Access and Sunoco stand to make billions of dollars through the manipulation of the physical land and her people. As soon as the pipeline bursts, which is not a matter of “if” as much as “when,” the Mississippi River, the largest drainage system on the North American continent that runs through Canada and 10 different states, will become polluted and destroyed. The government will use the taxpayers’ money to help clean the river yet the corporate giants will not be held accountable. This is no different from how the Weimar Republic’s political leaders were able to exploit Article 48. As humans, we haven’t progressed at all from our days in the stone age. We’re stuck in a loop.