Advantages and Disadvantages of the Weimar Republic.

?

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Weimar Republic.

Advantages

  • The Bill of Rights guaranteed every German the right to vote no matter their religion, ethnicity or race. It ensured freedom of speech and religion for every German citizen, so therefore everyone was equal.
  • All men and women over 20 were given the vote, this was (was) better than Britain because only women over 30 could vote.
  • There was an elected parliament (Reichstag) and president so it was all fair.
  • The Reichstag made the laws and appointed the government, which had to do what the Reichstag wanted.

Disadvantages

  • Proportional Representation: This meant that parties were given as many seats in the Reichstag as the percentage of votes they got from the elections, this meant that there were hundreds of small parties, with no ruling majority. This meant a lot of the time the governments had to be coalition, which only lasted a few weeks. This was the Republics major weakness.
  • Article 48:  this said that, in an emergency, the president did not need the agreement of the Reichstag, but could issue decrees, The problem with this was that it did not say what an emergency was, and in the end, it turned out to be a back door that Hitler used to take power legally.

Evaluation

The Weimar Republic was good and bad, but the main problems were pretty big, and left a lot f holes that Hitler could weasel his way into power with. But it did supply a fair and equal system, and equality for women, which is very, very important.

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar History resources:

See all History resources »See all WWII and Nazi Germany 1939-1945 resources »