Political developments and the working of democracy, 1924-28

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Political developments, 1924-28

  • 1924-28 were much calmer than the immediate post-war years.
  • Political violence receded.
  • Extremist parties attracted less support in elections.
  • In 1925, President Ebert died and Paul von Hindenberg, a convinced monarchist, was elected.
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Reichstag elections

  • There were two elections in 1924 - they showed a return to greater support for pro-Weimar Republic parties e.g. the SPD, DDP, DVP and Centre.
    • 1st election: May 1924 - over 61% of the electorate voted for pro-republican parties.
    • 2nd election: December 1924 - 67% voted for pro-republican parties.
    • Both extremist parties (the KPD and Nazi Party) attracted less support after May 1924. In the first election, the Nazis shared 6.5% of the vote and in the second election, this fell to 3%.
  • In the 1928 election, support for extremist parties and anti-republican parties declined further:
    • The Nazi Party made little impression on the political scene - their share of the vote declined even further to 2.6%.
    • But, the KPD saw a revival in support with 54 deputies elected in 1928.
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Coalition governments

  • There were seven coalitions between November 1923 and March 1930.
  • Governments were no more stable than those between 1919 and 1923.
  • 6 out of 23 cabinets between 1919 and 1932 had majority support in the Reichstag and many minority governments only survived when there was unity between the coalition parties.
  • There were problems establishing and sustaining stable conditions as there was a limited no. of workable combinations for the coalition.
    • The SPD and DNVP wouldn't work together in a coalition.
    • Many parties didn't have enough seats to gain a majority.
  • There was the Grand Coalition of 1928 led by Hermann Muller (SPD). This was the longest living coalition of the Weimar era which remained in office until March 1930. But, this coalition was still divided over the government's policies on the budget and foreign policy.
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The development of political parties

SPD

  • Between 1924 and 1928, this was the largest single party in the Reichstag.
  • It only participated in six coalitions.
  • It had taken a significant role in the Revolution of 1918 so it still had quite revolutionary rhetoric. Therefore, sometimes it was unwilling to compromise.
  • It had close links with trade unions and appealed to industrial workers but not young people, women, farmers or the Mittelstand.

The Centre Party

  • It was supported by industrial workers, industrialists, farmers, landowners, professionals. So, it had a broad-based appeal which causec them to be more flexible than the SPD.
  • No coalition government was formed without its participation.
  • In 1928, Marx was replaced by Heinrich Bruning who was less committed to parliamentary democracy - this showed a drift towards the right.
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The development of political parties

DDP

  • Liberal. It mainly appealed to academics and professional groups.
  • It supported parliamentary success and participated in all coalition governments.
  • From the mid 1920s, it was in decline.

DVP

  • Conservative. It was supported by academics but mainly by industrialists.
  • Gustav Stresemann was a politician from this party. His death in 1929 caused the party to drift to the right.

DNVP

  • From the mid-1920s onwards, it had attracted support from industrialists, professional groups and even some workers.
  • It was conservative, nationalist and anti-democratic. It wanted to restore the monarchy and dismantle the Treaty of Versailles. It refused to join most coalitions.
  • Growing diversity in the party meant that some younger members were willing to join coalitions and compromise.
  • In the 1928 election, they lost a lot of support - this caused the DNVP to move towards the right and Hugenberg was chosen as their party leader.
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The development of political parties

NSDAP (Nazi Party)

  • After the Munich Putsch, there was a period of decline.
  • Hitler wrote 'Mein Kampf' while in prison - he decided that the way to gain power was to win mass support and not to overthrow the government. When Hitler was released from prison, he tried to assert his control over the party, re-organise it and re-orientate its campaigning.
  • At the end of 1927, it had 75,000 members and seven seats in the Reichstag.
  • In 1928, they decided that they needed to broaden their appeal - farmers were unhappy and so the Nazis tried to campaign more in rural areas.
  • In the 1928 election, they lost 100,000 votes but in rural areas in the north, they had almost 18% of the vote.
  • By October 1929, membership grew to 150,000.
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The development of political parties

KPD (Communist Party)

  • This was the largest communist party outside Russia.
  • The support for the KPD mainly came from industrial and port areas e.g. the Ruhr, Saxony.
  • They wanted to overthrow the Weimar Republic.
  • From 1925 onwards, the Communist Party in the Soviet Union told the KPD that there was no longer an opportunity for revolution and they should attack the SPD. They labelled the SPD as 'social-fascists' and concentrated on them rather than the Nazi Party. This weakened anti-Nazi forces.
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The 1925 election of Hindenburg as President

  • In 1925, Ebert died, so there was to be a national election.
  • Candidates were reduced to three: Hindenburg, Wilhelm Marx for the Centre Party and Ernst Thalmann for the KPD.
  • Due to Thalmann's candidacy, the left vote was split and in the election, Hindenburg won 48.3% of the vote to Marx's 45.3% and Thalmann's 6.4%.
  • Those on the right saw his election as the beginning of the restoration of the monarchy and it was seen as a major step away from parliamentary democracy.
  • Hindenburg wanted national unity and he kept with the Weimar constitution. This reconciled some anti-democratic parties to the existence of the Weimar Republic.
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