Born Without a Chance of Survival: Why the Weimar Republic Failed
Germany was in a difficult position at the end of World War I. They had lost the war, and as a result, they lost thirteen percent of their land, and they were forced to pay £6.6 billion in war reparations. Not only did they loose the war, but with the war their current empire came to an abrupt halt as their Kaiser left the country. Not only did Germany need to begin solving the problems caused by the war, but they needed to bring create a new government to deal with these problems. The Weimar Republic never really stood a chance of lasting and failed primarily because the sanctions towards Germany in the Treaty of Versailles were seeking to supply justice to the Allies rather than to come to peace terms. The Treaty worked to punish Germany for their wrongdoings and to ‘make them pay’ both …show more content…
From the very beginning the regime was set up to fail due the stipulations set by Versailles. The peace terms caused Germany to struggle and impoverished them. According to Sir John Wheeler- Bennett, author of ‘The End of the Weimar Republic’, “the most remarkable thing about the Weimar Republic is not that it existed for only fifteen years but that it ever survived the circumstances of its nativity.” The Treaty was very severe in regards to the financial reparations it forced Germany to repay. Due to poor economic choices during the war the German Mark had already fallen and Germany had a huge amount of debt to pay for their own war costs. Germany had a policy of sparing the current generation and took out loans in order to finance the war. However, after the Treaty of Versailles the mark fell even more drastically. “In 1914 the exchange rate of £1 sterling had been 15 marks, in 1922, 760 marks, in January 1923, 72,000 marks, and by November of that year, 16,000,000,000
Germany was in a difficult position at the end of World War I. They had lost the war, and as a result, they lost thirteen percent of their land, and they were forced to pay £6.6 billion in war reparations. Not only did they loose the war, but with the war their current empire came to an abrupt halt as their Kaiser left the country. Not only did Germany need to begin solving the problems caused by the war, but they needed to bring create a new government to deal with these problems. The Weimar Republic never really stood a chance of lasting and failed primarily because the sanctions towards Germany in the Treaty of Versailles were seeking to supply justice to the Allies rather than to come to peace terms. The Treaty worked to punish Germany for their wrongdoings and to ‘make them pay’ both …show more content…
From the very beginning the regime was set up to fail due the stipulations set by Versailles. The peace terms caused Germany to struggle and impoverished them. According to Sir John Wheeler- Bennett, author of ‘The End of the Weimar Republic’, “the most remarkable thing about the Weimar Republic is not that it existed for only fifteen years but that it ever survived the circumstances of its nativity.” The Treaty was very severe in regards to the financial reparations it forced Germany to repay. Due to poor economic choices during the war the German Mark had already fallen and Germany had a huge amount of debt to pay for their own war costs. Germany had a policy of sparing the current generation and took out loans in order to finance the war. However, after the Treaty of Versailles the mark fell even more drastically. “In 1914 the exchange rate of £1 sterling had been 15 marks, in 1922, 760 marks, in January 1923, 72,000 marks, and by November of that year, 16,000,000,000