Weimar Republic Dbq 1 Analysis

Claire Saunders
Mr. Borgiasz
AP Modern
European History
April 22, 2013
Weimar Republic
In the years following World War I, Germany had suddenly became a democratic state. The Weimar Republic created a divided situation in Germany, one that led to its downfall. The weak leadership of those at the head of government, the apathy of the German population towards democracy and the outright rejection of democracy by the communists were all factors that led to the instability and downfall of the Weimar Republic.
The weak leadership of the German Democratic Party division caused by the new democracy in Germany contributed to the instability of the Weimar Republic. In Document 4, Thomas Mann, a novelist, talks about the peacefulness of a democratic
He is arguing the positive effects of this new democratic state, but he is sating a very extreme opinion that is dividing the views of Germany. In Document 2, Marie Juchaez, a Social Democratic Party representative, talks about the sudden imposition of gender equality in Germany. This is a huge change in Germany that this particular woman thinks is a very positive change made by the new democracy and she mentions how “my sex now has the chance to fully develop all of its potential”. Marie Juchaez is arguing positively for the democracy because she is part of the government. Because she is part of the Social democratic party she will obviously advocate for her parties belief and success. In Document 1, Ernst Troeltsch, a leader of the German Democratic Party, talks about how though the democracy is good it does have issues. Though he does not give any specific problems of solutions he states that if changes in the state are not made Germany will fall to a dictatorship. The problems with government leadership can be seen in these documents. Ernst Troeltsch talks about the issues that the democratic state faces. As a citizen of this new democracy, one would not want to hear that their
Document 10, written by Heinrich Mann, describes the spirits of the German People. He says that their spirits are so worn down because of the conditions that they don’t really care about a democracy anymore because they are so tired and worn down. If no one cares about the democracy than no one is supporting it and that creates instability. Document 3 where a major communist leader calls the Weimar Republic "bloody class terror of the bourgeoisie." Though she is a communist and has very extreme views other in Germany may have had these views of the bourgeoisie as well, such as the lower classes because of their miserable conditions. Clara Zetkin, who was a Communist, has these views and is writing this editorial because she has communist views and believes in a communist state. She would not want a new democracy in Germany; she would want a Communist state. In Document 5 an artist shows how working class misery had the people "arising in armed revolution”. A revolution of the lower class is exactly how the communist believed a Communist state would eventually come to power. Both the picture and the editorial are offering those in the lower classes a view of the world if the communists came to power. Because of the misery of the lower class at the time people did not like the democracy and instead favored the equality and better life of a Nazi ruled Germany