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Strengths
- Had shared power between Reichstag and Reichsrat - no single group had all power.
- Proportional representation (PR) used - number of seats in Reichstag directly related to percentage of votes.
- Voting used, election every four years, full suffrage.
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Weaknesses
- PR meant no party could ever have majority support, therefore barely anything was agreed upon because the parties never agreed. Many parties ended up using coalitions.
- The balanced power made it difficult for the chancellor to rule when the country was in crisis. Therefore he could ask the president to rule by decree (article 48), showing that the constitution didn't really work.
- Extremists didn't support it and moderates felt it was weak.
- The Allies were taking all their money for reparations and the French were occupying the Ruhr (industrial area of Germany).
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Opportunities
- Gustav Stresemann came to power as chancellor in 1923 and managed to increase the Weimar's power, decrease inflation and reduce suffering.
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Threats
- Left and right wing parties were opposed.
- Spartacist League (left wing) 1919 - 100,000 communists took over key Berlin buildings (eg newpaper offices). The Government used the Freikorps (demobilised soldiers) to disband them.
- Kapp Putsch (right wing) 1920 - 50 right wing supporters marched on Berlin to overthrow the Republic and bring back the Kaiser. They controlled the city however the government urged strikes, at which point Kapp (the leader) fled, realising he could not govern.
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