GermanyÆs Weimar Republic was beset by troubles from the start. Born of the nationÆs humiliating defeat in World War I, it emerged from the chaos of bloody street battles and divisive strikes that all but engulfed German society in the warÆs wake. The so-called elites that had held prewar Germany together never supported the Weimar government, massive war debts fueled runaway inflation that shattered Weimar credibility, harsh terms of the Versailles Treaty burdened the country with huge reparations and occupation troops, and divisions within Germany itself fueled almost continual unrest. Indeed, ôthe frustrations, resentments, and disunity generated by à [the] wartime collapse [of Imperial Germany] became the hallmarks of political discourse in the new republicö (Retallack 1996 91).
The structure of the new government itself may have been part of the problem. ôTrue the Weimar constitution was democratic and proclaimed equality before the lawö (Pulzer 1996 306). However, it (arguably) may have placed a bit too much emphasis on democracyÆs participatory aspects, allowing periodic plebiscites on complex and significant issues. On the other hand, it bestowed huge emergency powers upon the president, allowing him, among other things, to dismiss the chancellor, dissolve parliament and call new elections at will. In addition, if a coalition majority could not be reached in parliament, the president could authorize the chancellor to rule by decree (Fulbrook 1991 29).
The Social Democrats, who early on gained control of Parliament through a series of coalition governments, was an otherwise centrist party that nevertheless adopted repressive policies which caused long-lasting societal scars. Specifically, party leaders ôhit back at the protest movement with disproportionate force, when they ought to have tried to get to grips with the underlying reasons why the unrest had arisen in the first placeö (Mommsen 1997 253). I...