THE US.

AND WEIMAR
CONSTITUTIONS:
Why Democracy Failed in Post-War
Germany
Presented by Jennifer Wright
And Kevin Dorth, WKU-Owensboro
September 11th and 17th, 2014

T H E R E V O LU T I O N A RY WA R
Biggest grievances of the colonies:
Commerce Restrictions
Taxation
Quartering of Soldiers

Declaration of Independence
Public Opinion

ARTICLES OF
C O N F E D E R AT I O N
Thirteen articles upon which the government was
run.
Problems:
No checks or balances
Congress could not tax (war debt.)
Decisions were made by alliances of states.

Abuses of State Legislatures

Punctuated by a lack of wisdom and steadiness.
(James Madison, 1787)

PHILADELPHIA CONVENTION
1787
Modifications to The Articles
Limited authority to tax and regulate commerce.

Scrapping The Articles and Starting Anew

Anti-Federalists vs. Federalists

Eyes of the world watching a Grand Experiment

FEDERAL CONSTITUTION OF 1787

Restrained government excesses.
Protected minority rights.
Debated intensely for almost a year.
9 state threshold reached with New Hampshire,
June 1788.
The last state, Rhode Island, ratified it in 1790.

T H E A F T E R M AT H : A N E W
M O D E L O F G OV E R N M E N T
6 spheres of influence (George Billias)
1987 160 of 170 nations had constitutions
modeled after the U.S. (Time Magazine)
2012 90% of all countries have written
constitutional documents with judicial enforcement

BACKGROUND TO WEIMAR REPUBLIC

End of the war
German (Ludendorff Offensive fail-late 1918)
Socialist revolutions & military mutinies
Ludendorff resigns
Large numbers of soldiers leave the western front
Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates on Nov. 9th
Government turned over to Ebert
Schleidemann announces Germany is now a republic

BACKGROUND TO THE WEIMAR

REPUBLIC
Matthias Erzberger is sent to negotiate with Allies.
On Nov. 11, at 11pm, the armistice is signed.
Germany not disarmed - to prevent spread of
communism
Friekorps - Special fighting force

BACKGROUND
After months of riots and threats of revolution, The
Weimar Republic is created:
Freidrich Ebert is first president
Hugo Preuss is minister of interior
Erzberger is head of the Catholic Center Party

THE WEIMAR
REPUBLIC
Created Jan. 19, 1919
Once elections were held, the provisional
government relocated to Weimar to create
constitution
Very liberal to appease the Allies
Hugo Pruess creates a draft, and is passed
Weimar Constitution is promulgated Aug. 11, 1919

WEIMAR
CONSTITUTION
Modeled after the US Bill of Rights
All Germans were declared equal before the law

Freedom of speech
Freedom of religion
No censorship
Habeus Corpus

WEIMAR
CONSTITUTION
Two parts
Organization of the Reich Government
Basic Rights of Germans

180 articles

WEIMAR
CONSTITUTION
Preamble:
The German people united in its tribes
and inspired with the will to renew and
strengthen the Reich in liberty and
justice, to serve internal and external
tranquility, and to promote social
progress, has adopted this Constitution.

WEIMAR
CONSTITUTION
On paper, the most liberal and democratic
document of its kind the twentieth century had
seen, mechanically well- near perfect, full of
ingenious and admirable devices which seemed
to guarantee the working of an almost flawless
democracy.
- William Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third
Reich

WEIMAR
CONSTITUTION
The idea of a cabinet government-England
and France
The idea of a strong, popular president-the
US
This created the freest society on earth

WHY DID IT FAIL?

The Treaty of Versailles
Constitution designed to placate Allies in hope of
fairer stipulations
Delegates signed Treaty reluctantly, hoping to evade
some clauses.
After the signing of the Treaty, Germany became
deeply divided.

WHY DID IT FAIL?

Article 48
Enabling Act
Germany created the Constitution for the wrong
reasons
Not intended for liberty, democracy, and freedom,
but for stability

Germany descends into political instability

Kapp Putsch
Beer Hall Putsch

WHY DID IT FAIL?

The multiplication of small splinter parties, making
a stable majority impossible
Rejection of some of Preusss ideas:
Centralized state with provinces (similar to US
Constitution-state and federal power)

THE END OF GERMAN DEMOCRACY

Hindenburg wont make Hitler Chancellor despite
votes.
Hindenburg dissolves Reichstag and calls for new
elections
Hitler gains over 200 seats

Kurt von Schleicher takes over.

Goes to Gregor Stressor to make a deal with Nazis

Hitler appointed as Chancellor anyway.

END OF GERMAN DEMOCRACY

Jan. 30, 1933, Hitler becomes Chancellor
Feb. 27, 1933-Reichtag fire (set by a Dutch
communist)
Hitler uses Article 48 and the Enabling Act,
Shut down the press
Uses military force,
Expells all communists from the Reichstag

Hitler takes total control upon Hindenbergs death.

CONCLUSIONS
The U.S.: A Declining Influence
Law & Versteeg, the New York University Law
Review
Grundgesetz (Basic Law) most important post-war
constitution.
Gained traction in 1990s (Soviet Block countries).

Grundgesetz and U.S. Constitution are similarly

influential.

Figure from: Law, David S. and Versteeg, Mila, The Declining Influence of the United States Constitution (May 26, 2012).
New York University Law Review, Vol. 87, No. 3, pp. 762-858.

SELECTED
REFERENCES
Billias, George. (1990).. American Constitutionalism Abroad: Selected Essays in

Comparative Constitutional History.

Billias George Athan. (2009). American Constitutionalism Heard Around the

World,17761989: A Global Perspective. New York: New York University Press.

Boyer, Paul S. (2012). American history : a very short introduction. New York : Oxford

University Press
Law, David S. and Versteeg, Mila (2012). The Declining Influence of the United States

Constitution.New York University Law Review, Vol. 87, No. 3, pp. 762-858. Available at
SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1923556
Middlekauff, Robert. (2007.) The glorious cause : the American Revolution, 1763-1789.

New York : Oxford University Press

Wood, Gordon S. (2009). Empire of Liberty. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

SELECT ED REFERENCES
William L. Shirer. (1960). The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi
Germany. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks.
Alan Bullock, (1971). Hitler: A Study in Tyranny. New York: Harper Perennial.
Dennis Sherman & Joyce Salisbury (2008). The West in the World: Volume !II From
1600. Boston: McGraw Hill.
John Keegan (1999), The First World War. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION