To what extent was the Right Wing a threat in the Weimar Republic?

Essay by tigger1100 February 2006

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There were several reasons why the Weimar Republic suffered opposition from the right wing. Many of the right-wing members preferred the Kaiser's Germany of a dictatorial state. They opposed democracy and desired to establish a conservative authoritarian regime, which included certain authoritarian traditions. They wanted to restore the Domestic Politics where the Kaiser chose the Chancellor and could dismiss him if need be and also re-introduce anti-Catholic and anti-Socialist laws. The Germans preferred an authoritarian military leader, "the Germans do not want a President in a top hat...he has to wear a uniform and a fistful of medals." Stresemann once said. This made it difficult for democracy to emerge since there was little tradition of it.

From 1919 to 1923 the right-wing caused many problems for the Weimar Republic.

When the Treaty of Versailles was signed in June 1919 there was a great deal of uproar from the German people and the government.

Many of them opposed the terms of the treaty and blamed Friedrich Ebert and the Weimar Republic for the downfall of Germany. Ebert's opponents believed that the German Army had been 'stabbed-in-the-back' by the Left and the November Criminals, who agreed an armistice in November, 1918. When the treaty came into effect on the 1st January 1920, the government began to comply with the disarmament requirements of the Treaty. This included the disband of the Freikorps.

These events infuriated many right-wing members, amongst these was Wolfgang Kapp. He was a right-wing journalist and leader of the Fatherland Party who strongly believed in an authoritarian government and was outraged by the 'Stab-in-the-Back' myth and the November Criminals ideas. When the Defense Ministry ordered for two Freikorps brigades, about 12,000 men to disband, this infuriated the Freikorps commander Luttwitz. Therefore, Luttwitz, Kapp and other army officers planned to overthrow...