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Modern World History 8.2 Democracy, or Something Like It 3 Views
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Description:
It's 1919, and it looks like Germany wants to build a democratic government. But don't count your democratic governments before they hatch.
Transcript
- 00:02
When it became obvious toward the end of World War one that Germany was [Wood burning in the fire]
- 00:06
about to be put on a stick placed over a campfire and smored.. sailors in the
- 00:12
German Navy rose up in Revolt well this revolt known as the November revolution
- 00:17
of 1918 caused so much trouble in Germany that Kaiser Wilhelm II was
- 00:21
forced to abdicate his throne the only folks left standing after the German [Freidrich and Phillip standing in fire]
Full Transcript
- 00:26
government had been burned to the ground were socialists, moderate socialists in
- 00:30
fact they were so moderate that the communists to the left thought they were
- 00:34
enemies of the worker and the political forces to the right thought they were
- 00:38
Bolsheviks well these guys just couldn't catch a break until they did the results
- 00:43
of the next national election put the Social Democrats in charge of Germany [German national election candidate votes]
- 00:47
the new government met in the city of Weimar in July 1919 and put together a
- 00:52
constitution that made Germany an officially democratic state the Allies
- 00:56
were not impressed however neither was a group of former army officers they
- 01:00
staged a revolt and tried to kick the Weimar Republic to the curb while their
- 01:05
plot didn't succeed well they were to be the first in a long line of malcontents [Hitler appears]
- 01:09
sout to destroy German democracy the Weimar Republic was an interesting place
- 01:15
it had universal suffrage, it had proportional representation,
- 01:20
it allowed recalls and referendums yeah the idea was that this was a government
- 01:25
that everyone could and should be involved in yet the new government left
- 01:29
a lot of the old Germany in place people who'd been in power in the past didn't
- 01:34
lose their land statues of long-dead aristocrats in the city squares [Statue of aristocrat]
- 01:38
continued to serve as toilets for pigeons but destiny just would not leave
- 01:42
Germany alone in 1929 a global Great Depression got its start in the United
- 01:48
States by 1932 six million Germans were unemployed the depression in combination [Employment percentages in 1932 Germany]
- 01:54
with the fallout from the war and the Treaty of Versailles made Germany a
- 01:58
really sad place to live it also made the country unstable the constitution
- 02:04
hammered out 1919 had a big honkin loophole in it called article 48
- 02:08
basically this article gave the president of the Weimar Republic the
- 02:11
power to take emergency measures without the legislative approval of the
- 02:15
Reichstag in certain situation well president Paul von Hindenburg who had [von Hindenburg appears]
- 02:19
been Germany's leader since 1925 decided to bust out article 48 in response to
- 02:25
the Great Depression he used his authority to try and pass a finance
- 02:29
reform bill that absolutely no one liked once Hindenburg had gotten a little
- 02:33
taste of unrestricted presidential power he just had to have another in 1933 the
- 02:38
building in Berlin where the Reichstag met burned down thanks to a Dutch [Reichstag building on fire]
- 02:42
Firebug who also happened to be a communist Hindenburg promptly wigged out
- 02:47
because the Communists were coming and issued the Reichstag fire decree it was
- 02:53
auf wiedersein, free press and free speech and hallow to a stronger Nazi Party after
- 02:59
that one year later Hindenburg was dead Hitler was in charge and the downhill [Hitler saluting to army]
- 03:04
slide to World War two had begun [Earth sliding down a hill]
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