The Weimar government

HOW TO WRITE THE

ESSAY
The basic PEEL
 P-point
 E-evidence
 E-elaborate
 L-link
First thing first
 From your planning, you should have
your points in mind.
 For writing each point, start with a new
paragraph.
 Each paragraph comprises of the PEEL
explained in previous slide.
How to go about it…
 State the point clearly, bluntly and briefly.
 Next, put facts that are relevant to prove
your point stated.
 Thereafter, explain in details your facts.
 Offer some ideas, give assessments of
the importance of the point and link the
point to other paragraph.
Lastly…
 Answer the question back directly, citing
your given point.
 Check your essay again for spelling
errors, sentence structure that include
grammatical mistakes.
Actions speak louder than
words
 How stable was the Weimar government?
 This is a frequently ask question.
 There is 2 approach to the question:
 Looking back at the circumstances
surrounding the establishment of the
Republic.
 Forward to a consideration of the reasons
for its failure.
The introduction
 The period between 1924-9 present one of
the most tantalising 'might have been' in
history.
 During that period, Germany prospered
economically, politically and in its foreign
policy until the onset of the great
depression.
 It is believed that without the onset of the
great depression, the horrors of Hitler might
have been avoided as Germany will still be
able to develop into a stable parliamentary
democracy.
Here we PEEL
 Point – period of stability between the periods of
1924 – 1929.
 Evidence – both Germans and Americans alike
notice this was a high point for the Weimar
republic.
 Elaborate – an American journalist write 'A
wonderful ferment was working in Germany.
Life seemed more free, more modern, more
exciting than in any place I had ever seen‘
 Link - It is even thought that conditions were so
bad by 1929 that the Weimar Republic may
have soon collapsed without the onset of world
depression.
Firstly…
 The first factor is economic stability.
 The link between the health of the
republic and the economy is striking.
 Thus the country face difficulties when its
economies faced trouble.
 Draw some general conclusions about
the strength of the economy in 1929.
Stability-pros
 Point – the stabilisation of the currency and
introduction of Dawes plan bought economic
growth and affluence.
 Evidence –'German business conditions
appear to have righted themselves on a
relatively high level of activity’. Heavy
industries exceed export and out-put levels
of 1913.
 Elaborate – The economy was recovering
and the Republic was becoming more
stable.
Stability-cons
 Point – Recovery was not as real as it
seems to be at face value.
 Evidence – Germany's balance of trade
was in the red. Unemployment was never
below 1.3 million.
 Elaborate – Germany's economic well-
being was dependent on and vulnerable to
'the investment whims of foreign capital‘.
Thus, Germany was forced to rely on
international loans generally from America
Stability-cons
 Link – so, the 'recovery' of Germany's
economy was only 'a false image of
prosperity' (Layton). Her economy could
not possibly be stable when it was tied so
tightly to external forces beyond her
control.
The second scene
 The second factor to include is political
stability.
 It is the country weakness for not able to
establish lasting political stability.
 1924-9 stands out as a time when a
stable political system seems to be
stabilising.
 However, it is unable to withstand the
effect of the depression and its existence
was an illusion.
Political stability
 Point – Economic and certain signs of
political recovery between 1924 and
1929.
 Evidence – Election results of this period
gave people grounds to believe the long
term survival of Weimar was a strong
possibility
 Elaborate – Notable decline for left-wings
parties like the Nazi party.
Political stability
 Elaborate – Parties sympathetic to the
Republic (like Social Democrats who held
the majority 153 seats) gained seats.
Doubled as a sign of chronic political
weakness.
Political stability
 Point – Sign of chronic political weakness.
 Evidence – No progress made in parliament.
the coalition governments did not enhance
the credit of party politics in Germany, where
the foundations of democracy were
insecure.
 Elaborate – The coalition governments did
not enhance the credit of party politics in
Germany, where the foundations of
democracy were insecure
Political stability
 Link – Showed no effective consolidation nor
any significant sign of political maturation in
particular the main democratic parties had
still not recognised the vital necessity of
working together in a spirit of compromise'
The X factor
 The third factor is the most important. It is
known as foreign policy.
 Due to its foreign policy, the country
seemed to make the most progress
during the period 1924-9.
The X factor
 However, it had drawback. By 1929 the
policy had seemed to reach a dead end
and that germans thought that a more
dynamic approached is needed. Thus
Hitler promises to overthrow the treaty of
versailles won genuine popularity for his
moves in this direction in the 1930s.
The X factor
 Point – Bring about a revision of the
Treaty of Versailles.
 Evidence – Germany joined the League
of Nations and the Kellog-Briand Pact
was subscribed to. Pacts and Treaties
such as these, including the Treaty of
Berlin with Russia and reduced
reparations in the Young Plan.
The X factor
 Elaborate – This led Germany to believe
she was no longer the 'ogre' of Europe.
 Link – 'His achievement was indeed
considerable though by 1929 his policy
had not lasted long enough or gone far
enough to establish a momentum that
could survive the very different
circumstances of the 1930s'.
Last but no the least…
 Itshould be obvious by now that the most
that can be claimed for the Weimar
Republic by 1929 is 'relative stability' in
neither economic, political or foreign
affairs had sufficient progress been made
to enable the republic to withstand the
coming storm:
Famous last paragraph
 By 1929 neither the economy nor the political system
were stable. Prosperity in Germany was based on large
international loans, and the economy was facing severe
internal structural problems. There was no sign of
political maturation by 1929. The parties had not
learned to work together for the good of the country. In
1929 with the death of Stresemann came the end of
stability in foreign affairs. Therefore by 1929 the
Weimar Republic was not stable.