This blog series is going to focus on how Hitler got into power, how he created the totalitarian state and then his policies.

World War One had ended on 11 November 1918, the Kaiser had abdicated and Germany was in a poor economic situation. To top it off, they were forced to sign a peace treaty which forced them to claim war guilt. This was mandated by Britain, France and America. The only alternative was restarting a war which Germany had no chance of fighting. The war guilt clause justified handing over a treaty which severly crippled Germany.

On 28 June 1919, the German delegation signed this treaty which was done in the Palace of Versailles, France. They were not allowed to enter negotiations. Thus it was labelled as a "diktat" by German citizens.

All of this is important since it sets the scene for German politics. You see, the Treaty of Versailles really hit Germany in the weak spot. They were forced to pay £6.6 billion in compensation, lost 50% of iron reserves and 13% of European territory. Some Germans thought they could've fought on in the War and believed in the Dolchstoss theory. They believed Ebert (the replacement to the Kaizer) had betrayed Germany by signing the "diktat". Ironically, Ebert also thought the German Army could've fought on. He hated the treaty so much that he refused to sign it personally; he ordered someone else to sign it. Nevertheless, it meant that anything he decides to do would later be unpopular.

In Februrary 1919, Ebert and the National Assembly (temporary government) discussed the new constitution in Weimar. Germany was based in Weimar due to civil unrest in the Capital. Thus it was called the Weimar Republic. It remained as this even when the government moved to Berlin.

These are the main features of the constitution.

Two houses were set up: the Reichstag and the Reichsrat. The Reichstag controls taxation and discusses new bills. Every four years, members are elected. Anyone over 20 can vote in a secret ballot.
Ironically, this is more democratic than the constitution in Britain (at the time) which allows women over 30 to vote and men over 18.

The Reichsrat can delay new bills unless it was passed by a two-thirds majority in the Reichstag (this is crucial later on).

The chancellor runs the country but needs Reichstag support for laws and the President, who is elected every seven years, chooses the chancellor, can suspend civil liberties (under Article 48 ) in emergencies and can dismiss the Reichstag at any time to then call for a re-electiin.

The Reichstag is elected by proprtional representation i.e. % of votes = % of seats.
On paper this seems like a good idea but it allows extreme parties in such as the Nazis; even 1% of votes would give them a considerable amount of Reichstag seats.

This also meant that the Reichstag was very diverse in political parties. You have to understand that nobody knew who to vote for since Germany had been autocratic before WWI. Democracy was a new idea in Germany and thus it was hard to tell which parties would be the best to vote for; there was no precedents by any party. This led to the formation of weak coalitions that didn't agree on anything.

This system was fairly weak and was later exploited by Hitler but that's a future story.
The next blog will deal with attacks to the constitution and economic problems.