Weimar Constitution of Germany

Origin of Weimar Republic 

The period between the years 1914-1918 saw the world undergoing the destruction caused by the first world war between the allied forces (French, British, Russian, USA) and the Central Powers (German Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire). By November 1918, it became clear that Germany, along with the central powers, had exhausted their warfare as well as supplies and were inching closer to defeat. Meanwhile, the British re-appeared on the battlefield with a new strategy along with the support of the USA.

During the period of 1914-1918, the German monarchy was headed by Kaiser Wilhelm II who was also the commander-in-chief of the German armed forces. When the people realised that the defeat was inevitable, the unrest increased which eventually led Kaiser to flee from Germany to Holland. The growing unrest and uncertainties led to a change in the political surroundings and power got transferred to the leader of the Social Democratic Party, Friedrich Ebert.

After losing the war, a peace treaty was formulated in Versailles, in the presence of all the parties involved in the war, which is familiar to the world as the Treaty of Versailles. However, the Germans were not invited to the discussions. This treaty was very unpopular in Germany as the treaty required Germany to accept complete accountability for the repercussions caused due to war . Germans lost 12% of their population and 13% of their land to the allies. Germany was asked to pay ‘reparations’ to the allies as financial reparations. Due to the harsh unrest growing at home, the German government put forward two conditions for accepting the treaty, they wouldn’t accept the full accountability of war and Kaiser wouldn’t be subjected to a trial. The collective powers of allies didn’t accept the conditions and instead asked the German government to either accept the conditions or go back to war. Having exhausted the majority of the resources, the government had little to no options but to accept the conditions of the treaty. The people of Germany were infuriated by this decision and the right-wing parties labelled the government as the November Criminals.

Weimar Republic

The Weimar Republic referred to the new system of democracy instituted in Germany after the war. In the elections, the Social Democratic Party didn’t win the majority votes, the party got into a coalition with Catholic Centre Party. The new government was entrusted with the responsibility of formulating a new constitution. Since Berlin was the heart of unrest, the committee met in a marketplace in Weimar, hence the name Weimar Republic.

Weimar Constitution

The new government adopted a fresh set of rules and regulations to govern the newly formed Weimar Republic and called it the Weimar Constitution.

The new constitution extended the right to vote for all adults above the age of 21. The Weimar Constitution abolished the monarchy and introduced the concept of democracy by electing a president for the term of seven years whose powers were limited by the Reichstag. However, in emergency cases, Article 48 of the constitution gives unlimited power to the president to rule by decree.

There were two parliamentary houses in the Weimar Republic, the Reichstag and the Reichsrat. The chancellor would be the leader of the Reichstag, a position similar to the British Prime Minister. Elections were held every four years.

The Weimar Republic was a federal state which was further divided into 18 different states called Länder, having their own state government which could further send their representatives into the Reichsrat.

Apart from the above-mentioned changes, the new Weimar Constitution ensured equal rights to all German men and women. The new constitution abolished the basis of discrimination on the birth or social standings. The new constitution also ensured a right to freedom of expression to its citizens and scrapped the censorship on the cinemas.

Even after incorporating several changes in the constitution, the German people were not excited about the newly formed democracy. The constitution had several loopholes.

Loopholes in the Weimar Constitution

The establishment of the Weimar Republic was considered one of the major democratic moves in Europe, however, this utopia lasted for only fifteen years. Despite several strengths and a fresh perspective that the Weimar Constitution brought in the country suffering from the aftermath of a world war, it had several loopholes or weaknesses which eventually led to its downfall. 

Weaknesses:

• The proportional representation in the Reichstag posed problems as it allowed several smaller parties to get elected in the Reichstag. This prevented any single party from gaining a majority due to which parties had to enter coalitions to form a government. 

• Article 48 of the constitution which provided unlimited powers to the president in case of emergency failed to define the state of emergency. This made the elected representatives often misuse the powers.

• The economic restoration plan known as Dawes Plan made the economy heavily rely on foreign loans and remittances which further pushed the economy into the great depression following the Wall Street crash.

• The new Weimar Constitution provided similar positions to the old civil servants who were earlier in the key positions at the time of the monarchy. The new constitution gave them the key positions which meant that they still were in the position to influence the wind of change.

Conclusion

The Weimar Republic was constituted after the end of World War I and was perceived as the fresh wind of change for the economies dealing with the aftermath of the wide massacre. However, the constitution had its own strengths and weaknesses which led to its downfall within fifteen years of its incorporation.