Friedrich Ebert: Savior of the Republic | EUROtoday

On Jun 7, 2025

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Friedrich Ebert stabilizes the disaster -shaken Weimar Republic. In 1925 the Reich President died surprisingly on the age of 54. Could he have saved the primary German democracy from doom?

Article abstract

In his memoirs, Walter Zechlin calls 4 politicians who “gave” their character of the Weimar Republic. Ebert, Stresemann, Hermann Müller and Brüning are notably highlighted, all of which died early. Ebert, as the primary democratically elected Reich President, performed a vital function within the stabilization of democracy. His early demise in 1925 and the next political developments, particularly Hindenburg’s appointment as President of the Reich, marked the tip of the Weimar Republic. The instability of the governments and the challenges of time, similar to makes an attempt at coup and the worldwide financial disaster, formed the political panorama. The query stays whether or not an extended residing Ebert might have prevented the rise of the NSDAP.

This is an experimental software. The outcomes may be incomplete, outdated and even mistaken.

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In March 1923, Ebert gave a flaming speech in Hamm that requires a passive resistance within the occupied Ruhr space.
© Hulton Archive/Getty Images

In his memoirs printed in 1956, Walter Zechlin, spokesman for the Reich authorities from November 1926 to May 1932, referred to as 4 politicians who “gave” their character of the Weimar Republic: “Ebert, Stresemann, Hermann Müller and Brüning”. You might argue in regards to the choice. The first three mixed one attribute: they have been torn in the course of life. Reich President Friedrich Ebert died in February 1925 on the age of solely 54, Reichs Secretary of State Gustav Stresemann in October 1929 with 51, the 2 -time Chancellor Hermann Müller in March 1931 at solely 54 years. This early demise of the three nice democrats preceded the early demise of the Weimar Republic.

https://www.zeit.de/zeit-geschichte/2025/03/friedrich-ebert-weimarer-republik-demokratie-stabilitaet