Wiemar Repblic Help? (1 Viewer)

[Bakakoko]

I'm currently answering the question:

"Asses the main causes of the collapse of the Wiemar Republic."

Personally i would include:
- The impact of the treaty of Versailles
- Political, social and economic issues
- Impact of the Great Depression (specifically the situation with the loans to repay the reparations)
And I'm curious as to weather or not the "raise of the Nazi party" is needs to be spoken about in depth, or should I just talk about the link between the Socialist-Democratic nature it posed and the Authoritarian style it used to rule.

What are your opinions?

 

[ghruei]

i think you're going the right way about the question. You don't wanna be talking about 100 different causes for the collapse and not actually make a solid argument. The one thing you should defiantly talk about are all the challenges like the kapp putch and all that (this is where you could talk about the nazis too) . As long as you back up your argument with historiography you should be good. Markers can't take marks off because you're talking about something they don't like - unless it's completely unrelated

 

[Bakakoko]

Yeah, thanks. i was just saying should i delegate, lets say a paragraph or 2, to each cause and tie them together before the conclusion?

 

[ghruei]

yea, you could do that. Most of the causes for failure are interrelated if you think about it. To avoid a descriptive response you should do cause and effect for everything. But you should try and tie them all together like you said, it doesn't need to be 1/2 a page though and if you wanted to you could tie them together through out the essay. lol i don't know if that makes complete sense but i hope it helps

 

[Bakakoko]

yea, you could do that. Most of the causes for failure are interrelated if you think about it. To avoid a descriptive response you should do cause and effect for everything. But you should try and tie them all together like you said, it doesn't need to be 1/2 a page though and if you wanted to you could tie them together through out the essay. lol i don't know if that makes complete sense but i hope it helps

Yeah, that's what i was thinking. Thank you. Good luck for the rest of your exams.

 

[Eduard_Khil]

yeah, technically you can tie each piece of information together, of course you might not be able to do it, given the time and pressure possibly, but I definitely feel that the Nazi parties impact should definitely be mentioned, such as their rise given by the results of the polls of the September 1930 elections, the presidential 1932 elections as well as their final May 1932 elections which they gain a majority over the Reichstag, might want to explain why, these left wing/right wing groups suddenly gained more support to back up your answer. such as answering why did people begin to deviate from central parties and turn to more extreme parties.
This correlates to the question that you answer as a reason for it's fall

 

[enoilgam]

Although I doubt whether this question will come up, it is a great practice question because it tests your knowledge of the Weimar period as a whole. I did this as a practice for my HSC and this is how I laid it out:

Thesis - The Weimar Republic had many weaknesses and shortfalls which ultimately precipitated it's demise
Para 1 - Association of the Republic with Germany's WW1 defeat and humiliation at Versailles and how it led to the collapse
Para 2 - Germany's lack of a democratic tradition
Para 3 - Structural weaknesses of Weimar democracy
Para 4 - Great depression

Throughout the response I analysed each issue and I often linked these factors to the growth of the Nazi party. This question is very broad and it's impossible to discuss every issue. So, instead of dedicating one paragraph to the Nazi's as well, I linked them into the four factors discussed above.

 

[cem]

Don't forget the weaknesses of the Weimar Constitution - that should be worked into any argument and can be done through the elections etc.

NB Eduard_Khil - the Nazis didn't have a majority of seats in the Reichstag in any free elections - they were the largest party but even so they still didn't have a majority.

This sort of question requires you to make some decisions about which issues you think are the most important and discuss them in detail. Two answers could emphasise different things and still both get full marks.

 

[Eduard_Khil]

NB Eduard_Khil - the Nazis didn't have a majority of seats in the Reichstag in any free elections - they were the largest party but even so they still didn't have a majority.

oops forgot to add in Papen