in the Republic and support for it therefore deteriorated. Concurrently the Republic had also been suffering from structural weakness which also played a major role in crippling its progress. For example, the constitution of the new Republic emerged finally from the National Assembly in July 1919. 3It was, on paper, the most liberal and democratic document of its kind the twentieth century had ever seen.1 In practice though, it left much to be desired. One of its weaknesses was the elaborate system of proportional representation which was devised to allow for minority parties to have a share in the system of government. Unfortunately, this system also made it virtually impossible for a single party to hold a majority in the Reichstag and therefore coalition governments were inevitable. Coincidently, there were also so many political parties, at least six major and many more minor ones, that it was hard to form stable coalitions for effective government.7 Another weakness was the powers vested in the President. For instance, the President was the commander of the armed forces, was capable of dissolving the Reichstag and submitting any law passed by it to the referendum, was responsible only to the people who elected him and under the infamous Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution, the President had the right to suspend civil liberties - with the Chancellors assent - in an emergency, thus giving him virtual dictatorial powers.4 Chancellor Bruening was first to make use of Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution from 1930 on when he, in response to the political and social unrest incurred in Germany during that period, was provoked to rule under emergency decree.4 Correspondingly, politics were radicalized once more and resulted thus, in the intensifications of divisions amongst the parties in the Reichstag to an extent that parliamentary government became all but impossible. Accordingly, the Weimar constitution became unworkable as well as...
