What were the main reasons why the Weimar Republic failed?
The Weimar Republic was in many ways doomed from the start. Before there was the Kaiser with the empire with prestige and power that other nations backed down to then, the war came and then it ended. Germany was humiliated by the Treaty of Versailles, and this new government agreed to its terms. To many, this was insulting as they saw how far Germany had fallen. It was impossible to shack off that way of thinking.The Weimar Republic was democratic, but Germany had never actually experienced democracy before. The president had strong emergency powers that allowed him to bypass the Reichstag and Reichstag itself was a mixture of all kinds of the movements that had trouble working together, no one ever had a majority. The old days were remembered fondly when Germany was strong, and several parties that ran for office were undemocratic for that reason. It was seen Germany had not been defeated in battle but by those now in running the Weimar Republic. The stab in the back or Dolchstosselegende myth.The reparations Germany had to pay could not be met, and this slowed their recovery. The Ruhr region was occupied after payments could not be made. Inflation devastated the nation. Nearly two-fifths of the workforce was out of work in 1932. The Nazi Party gained support, but Hitler’s appointment as chancellor was unexpected, and even then those who sought believed they could control him. This was not the case.
Explain why the Weimar Republic had so many crises from 1919-1924?
Weimar Republic Government of Germany 1919–33, so named because the assembly that adopted its constitution met at Weimar in 1919. In its early years, the Weimar Republic was troubled by postwar economic and financial problems and political instability, but it had recovered considerably by the late 1920s. Its major political leaders included presidents Friedrich Ebert (1919–25) and Paul von Hindenburg (1925–34), as well as Gustav Stresemann, who was chancellor (1923) and foreign minister (1923–29). With the Great Depression, its political and economic collapse enabled Adolf Hitler to rise to power and become chancellor (1933), after which he suspended the Weimar constitution. © 2005 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Why was the Weimar Republic in danger of collapse in 1919-1920?
Germany was in a state of chaos, the Kaiser had abdicated, his son, Prince Max, who was next in line said that he didn't want to succeed him. The Weimar Republic had the unenviable job of trying to restore pride and stability into a defeated and divided nation. This was made harder by an economic collapse with many soldiers returning to find no work. Although the WR tried hard Germany had no history of democracy, prior to 1919 the Kaiser had ruled as a virtual autocratic dictator, true Germany had a Reichstag, but the Kaiser appointed the government and they made all the important decisions. With no concept of the rule of law street fights broke out between the various factions and at some time or another there were attempted coups and declarations of governments which undermined the attempts of the Weimar Republic and Ebert, the Chancellor, to bring stability to Germany.
After 1923 the Weimar Republic never recovered from its problems, what evidences are there?
I agree entirely with the answer by Tomas Schild. The question has the wrong sequence of events. The brief period from 1924–29 or so were the years when the Weimar Republic looked as if it would succeed.The Great Inflation ended with the introduction of a new currency at the end of 1923.Reparation payments were rescheduled and put on a sound footing.A series of treaties known as the Locarno Treaties - Wikipedia ended Germany’s status as a pariah state.In the arts, sciences and scholarship Germany flourished again. Consider, for example, the great housing estates built at this time, especially in Berlin but also elsewhere. They were considered exemplary and widely imitated abroad.There no more uprisings or attempted putsches - which had characterized the period 1919–23.It was the Great Depression that derailed the Weimar Republic.
Why did the Germans blame the Weimar Republic and not Wilhelm?
Joseph did a pretty good job of listing events but didn't really answer the question. He should have also pointed out that Ebert was the first President of the Republic followed by Hindenburg. The President choses the Chancellor which was Hitler in 1932. That year is important. That means that a decade passed between the creation of the Republic and the rise of Hitler. Why blame Weimar? The German Army was not defeated on the battlefield. The politicians ended the war because it just couldn't be won and the sailors revolt made this point. They were ordered to commit themselves to a suicide attack for no apparent reason so they walked off the job. The Weimar Republic was seen as the signer of the Treaty of Versailles which castrated Germany. This was not really true. A coalition government signed the treaty and the allies gave Germany two weeks to make up their minds or hostilities would start again. The German Army was already losing men who just left to go home. They couldn't go back to hostilities. The coalition government also had to deal with bolshevik uprisings all over the country and the freikorps (roving bands of ex-soldiers acting like brigands). Ebert signed the treaty and crushed the rebellions. The election of 1919 made Ebert the President of the Weimar Republic. Maybe that's were you can assign blame.
What were the achievements of the Weimar period?
It's a difficult question to answer, as the failures of the Wiemar Republic are much more visible than the achievements. And the achievements, for the most part, ended with the dictatorship of Adolph Hitler and WW2. However, the Wiemar Republic did have a brief "golden" age from 1923 to 1929. During this time, Gustav Stresemann presided over a fairly effective government. He was able to stabilize Germany's economy, which had been wracked by hyperinflation so bad that it was cheaper for Germans to use their Marks to wallpaper their house than to purchase actual wallpaper. He was also able to mediate some of the provisions of the Versailles Treaty by signing agreements with France, England, Russia and the US that solidified Germany's borders and lessened its reparation repayments. He was able to get the railroads organize, calm disorder in the German streets and generally get Germany headed in the right direction. His achievements were recognized in 1926 by Germany's becoming a full-fledged member in the League of Nations. Culturally and scientifically, Germany flourished during this period. German art blazed new trails and the Bauhaus Movement created a new way of architecture. Poetry and jazz found new audiences in Berlin. Werner Heisenberg, Max Born and Pascual Jordan made important discoveries in physics and mathematics and philosophers such as Martin Heidegger were breaking new ground. However, part of Stresemann's economic success was forging ties with American banks to pay back Germany's war debts. As long as Wall Street prospered, Germany had funds to make its payments. However, in 1929, Wall Street collapsed and, with Wall Street, Germany came tumbling down. Stresemann died of a heart attack that year and Germany did not have any democratic leaders ready to take his place. High unemployment returned to Germany as its economy came to a rapid halt during the Great Depression. Amid the unrest, street fighting broke out between the Nazi Party and German socialist and communist parties. This chaos allowed Hitler to maneuver and gain power via the German constitution. By 1933 Hitler was firmly in control of the nation and expelled many of the artists and scientists that led Germany's interwar cultural and intellectual boom. And the few successes of the Wiemar Republic were soon forgotten in the wake of Nazi dictatorship.