1919-33: The Weimar Constitution | GCSE History Revision | Weimar & Nazi Germany

It's 1919, a new constitution has just been agreed in Germany by 262 votes to 75. But what is the constitution? How does it work? What are its strengths and weaknesses?

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Quizlet Flashcards: https://quizlet.com/_6x92em

Practice exam-style questions:

// I'll find some at some point but it's the summer hols rn, so u shouldn't be doing practice questions, plz go outside, see some friends and have some fun

LINK FOR OTHER QUESTIONS (INCLUDING SOURCE & INTERPRETATIONS QUESTIONS): https://quizlet.com/_6cqa3d

Revision Notes:
The Weimar Constitution:
- The electorate consisted of all men & women aged over 21
- The electorate voted in the President (every 7 yrs), Reichstag (every 4 yrs) and Reichsrat (every 4 yrs)
- The president had no part in day-to-day politics, however had some political powers
- The president chose the Chancellor
- The Chancellor was head of the Government and chose all government ministers
- The Cabinet was made of the most important ministers - they were the most important decision-making body of the government
- The Parliament was made up of two houses: the Reichstag and Reichsrat
- The Reichstag was the more powerful of the two houses - they were directly elected in by the people
- The Reichsrat represented the regions of Germany - each region sent a certain number of representatives, dependant upon its size

Parliament:
- Made up of 2 houses: Reichstag & Reichsrat
- Normally, all laws had to pass through both houses

Reichstag:
- The more powerful of the 2 houses
- Controlled taxation
- Directly elected by the people at least once every 4 yrs

Reichsrat:
- Elected every 4yrs
- Represents the regions of Germany

Strengths of the constitution:
- It was democratic:
- Men & women were both allowed to vote and the voting age was reduced from 25 to 21
- The Reichstag was elected using proportional representation - 1 representative for every 60 000 votes
- This made it more democratic than both Germany under the Kaiser and Britain at the time
- Checks and balances:
- It was carefully constructed so no one person or group could have too much power
- The chancellor could only pass laws in normal circumstances if the Reichstag & Reichsrat voted for them
- The Reichsrat, though the least powerful of the two houses, could still delay any new laws passed by the Reichstag - unless the Reichstag overruled it by a 2/3rds majority
- Central Government had more power than it did under the Kaiser
- Local government retained some of its power, with each of the 18 regions of Germany keeping some of their own independence

Weaknesses of the Constitution:
- Coalition Government:
- Proportional representation caused many smaller parties to gain seats
- There were 29 parties in total during the 1920s in the Reichstag
- PR often caused no majority governments, so coalitions had to be formed regularly
- Compromise often occurred, creating a lack of clear, strong policies
- Coalitions frequently fell apart
- There were 9 coalition governments between 1919 and 1923
- Weakness in a crisis:
- Coalitions made it hard to give swift, clear decisions in a crisis
- Article 48 allowed the chancellor to bypass the Reichstag and pass laws straight through the president in times of crisis
- By around 1930, the chancellor was regularly relying on article 48, bypassing the democratic rules of the constitution
- This made the constitution seem weak & encouraged people to think a single, all-powerful leader was better than an elected parliament
- Based on division and violence:
- Even though it gave full power to the electorate, there was a sense that the Weimar Republic was not really the choice of the people
- During the German revolution, the government had used force, relying on the army to subdue riots in Berlin
- Several parties elected to the Reichstag (e.g. the Nationalists) were opposed to democracy & openly despised the new constitution
- The Weimar Republic was created out of violence, without real public enthusiasm
- It was considered flawed by moderates and opposed by extremists
FOR FULL NOTES FOLLOW LINK: https://quizlet.com/_59lgnv

IMAGE ATTRIBUTIONS:
Thumbnail - “Das Reichtagsgebäude - The Reichstag building - Berlin” by Jens Cederskjold, licensed under CC BY 3.0
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Author's Page: https://web.archive.org/web/201610142...
Alterations have been made to this photo - the colour balance has been adjusted and it has been blurred.

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