1919-33: The Weimar Constitution | GCSE History Revision | Weimar & Nazi Germany

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It's 1919, a new constitution has just been agreed in Germany by 262 votes to 75. But what is the constitution? How does it work? What are its strengths and weaknesses?

#GCSEHistory #GCSERevision #WeimarGermany

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Practice exam-style questions:

// I'll find some at some point but it's the summer hols rn, so u shouldn't be doing practice questions, plz go outside, see some friends and have some fun

Revision Notes:
The Weimar Constitution:
- The electorate consisted of all men & women aged over 21
- The electorate voted in the President (every 7 yrs), Reichstag (every 4 yrs) and Reichsrat (every 4 yrs)
- The president had no part in day-to-day politics, however had some political powers
- The president chose the Chancellor
- The Chancellor was head of the Government and chose all government ministers
- The Cabinet was made of the most important ministers - they were the most important decision-making body of the government
- The Parliament was made up of two houses: the Reichstag and Reichsrat
- The Reichstag was the more powerful of the two houses - they were directly elected in by the people
- The Reichsrat represented the regions of Germany - each region sent a certain number of representatives, dependant upon its size

Parliament:
- Made up of 2 houses: Reichstag & Reichsrat
- Normally, all laws had to pass through both houses

Reichstag:
- The more powerful of the 2 houses
- Controlled taxation
- Directly elected by the people at least once every 4 yrs

Reichsrat:
- Elected every 4yrs
- Represents the regions of Germany

Strengths of the constitution:
- It was democratic:
- Men & women were both allowed to vote and the voting age was reduced from 25 to 21
- The Reichstag was elected using proportional representation - 1 representative for every 60 000 votes
- This made it more democratic than both Germany under the Kaiser and Britain at the time
- Checks and balances:
- It was carefully constructed so no one person or group could have too much power
- The chancellor could only pass laws in normal circumstances if the Reichstag & Reichsrat voted for them
- The Reichsrat, though the least powerful of the two houses, could still delay any new laws passed by the Reichstag - unless the Reichstag overruled it by a 2/3rds majority
- Central Government had more power than it did under the Kaiser
- Local government retained some of its power, with each of the 18 regions of Germany keeping some of their own independence

Weaknesses of the Constitution:
- Coalition Government:
- Proportional representation caused many smaller parties to gain seats
- There were 29 parties in total during the 1920s in the Reichstag
- PR often caused no majority governments, so coalitions had to be formed regularly
- Compromise often occurred, creating a lack of clear, strong policies
- Coalitions frequently fell apart
- There were 9 coalition governments between 1919 and 1923
- Weakness in a crisis:
- Coalitions made it hard to give swift, clear decisions in a crisis
- Article 48 allowed the chancellor to bypass the Reichstag and pass laws straight through the president in times of crisis
- By around 1930, the chancellor was regularly relying on article 48, bypassing the democratic rules of the constitution
- This made the constitution seem weak & encouraged people to think a single, all-powerful leader was better than an elected parliament
- Based on division and violence:
- Even though it gave full power to the electorate, there was a sense that the Weimar Republic was not really the choice of the people
- During the German revolution, the government had used force, relying on the army to subdue riots in Berlin
- Several parties elected to the Reichstag (e.g. the Nationalists) were opposed to democracy & openly despised the new constitution
- The Weimar Republic was created out of violence, without real public enthusiasm
- It was considered flawed by moderates and opposed by extremists

IMAGE ATTRIBUTIONS:
Thumbnail - “Das Reichtagsgebäude - The Reichstag building - Berlin” by Jens Cederskjold, licensed under CC BY 3.0
Alterations have been made to this photo - the colour balance has been adjusted and it has been blurred.

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Just got an 8 in my history GCSE because of your vids you’re honestly a legend

samueltomlinson
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🚨CORRECTIONS 🚨:
➤ The minimum voting age in the Weimar Republic was 20 and not 21.
➤ I am also aware that I pronounced Reichstag wrong. You do not need to point this out to me.

Spotted a mistake in the video?
If you think you’ve spotted a mistake, leave a polite comment saying what you think is wrong and linking a legitimate source. I’ll check and if you’re right then I’ll add the correction to this pinned comment. :)
✘ I do not engage with corrections comments which are written rudely
✘ If you leave an essay full of corrections, I won’t check it because I have other, better things to do

Alonglongtimeago
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yoooo thats awesome she was in sixth form while doing this for us. THANK YOUUU

gulbywulby
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I’m German and I just love hearing non-German people saying „Reichstag“ I swear my heart melts every time

jxll_
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yeah i might just be cooked tomorrow, still wondering why on earth i picked history

eduardodudu
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mirabut
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eireannmackey
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leulwosen
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This is really useful. I’m doing the A Level and my component 2 is Weimar Germany and Nazism. You’re videos have been great for jogging my memory.

Dizzy_frog
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A long, long time ago...in a galaxy far way, Naboo was under an attack...

(By the way, love how you add humour into your videos, it honestly makes me gain motivation to actually revise XD ).

sharkythest
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georgiadoherty
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Florencejordaneast
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Funny how you pronounce Reichstag. I'm German btw

clarae
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history mock tomorrow. "Loving God, I pray that you will comfort me in my suffering...."

asbjrnlarsen
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Edit: After a week or so I got my result and I got a grade 6, thanks for this video you absolute legend

Cupofwater
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rosea
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wajihaaa
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vkqwfsl
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garvitpandey
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pawal