Fernando Alcoforado*
The Weimar Republic was the period of German history between the years 1919 and 1933 between the end of World War I and the rise of the Nazi party to power. The existence of the Weimar Republic can be divided into three phases: a phase of political and economic instability between 1919 and 1923; a phase of recovery and stabilization between 1923 and 1929; and a new phase of crisis, resulting from the fall of the New York Stock Exchange and the rise of Nazism between 1929 and 1933.
The New Republic corresponds in Brazil to the period between the years of 1985 with the end of the military dictatorship until the present moment. The existence of the New Republic can be divided into three phases: a phase of economic instability characterized by low economic growth and high rates of inflation between 1985 and 1994 that were overcome with the implementation of the Real Plan of stabilization of the economy; a phase of economic recovery and stabilization, between 1994 and 2014 with the adoption of the neoliberal economic model of opening the economy; and a new phase of crisis starting in 2014 characterized by a sharp fall in economic growth and rising inflation and unemployment, due to the exhaustion of the neoliberal economic model.
In Germany, the first phase of the Weimar Republic (1919-1923) involved political discussions about the acceptance of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, which imposed heavy penalties on the country resulting from World War I. An interim government was formed with the leaders of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Independent German Social Democratic Party (USPD). In January 1919, elections were held for the Constituent Assembly when it was promulgated the Constitution in July 1919 that transformed Germany into a Parliamentary Republic of liberal stamp was issued, being formed by the Reichstag (Parliament) and the Reichsrat (assembly of representatives of states , of an advisory nature). At the head of the Republic was the President and also the Chancellor (prime minister).
Parallel to this institutional arrangement, the German Revolution of 1918-19 took place. In order to form a soviet-based Socialist Republic, such as had taken place in Russia in 1917, German soldiers and workers tried to seize power in Berlin by organizing councils. The Spartacist League, a dissident of the German Communist Party (KPD), led the actions, with the Communists Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht as their main names. Despite the popular force, they failed to contain the reaction of the Provisional Government, led by the SPD, which summoned the army to defeat the revolution. The crushing of the revolutionary forces occurred in the Rhineland, in Bavaria and, especially, in Berlin. Several leaders were arrested and executed, including Luxembourg and Liebknecht.
The German economy in this period was characterized by hyperinflation and large numbers of unemployed. Hyperinflation benefited only a few economic groups, such as large industries, but directly affected the living conditions of wage earners. Still in the political aspect, this first phase was extremely troubled, with a series of attempts of coup d’etat by the forces linked to the old regime commanded by the Kaiser Guilherme II. The workers also organized several strikes between 1921 and 1922, demanding the nationalization of mines and banks, as well as improvements in working conditions. The dissatisfaction with the economic situation also led to the emergence of the Nazi Party. Based on a nationalist ideology, anti-liberal, forming paramilitary groups, blaming the Jews linked to financial capital by German economic problems and led by Adolf Hitler, the Nazis attempted a coup d´état in Munich in Bavaria in 1923, but not were successful.
In Brazil, in the first phase of the New Republic (1985-1994) Tancredo Neves was elected indirectly by the Electoral College (National Congress) in 1984, who died before assuming the government, opening the way for Vice-President José Sarney. In 1987 and 1988, the Constituent Assembly was held, whose Constitution was enacted in September 1988, which transformed Brazil into a liberal Presidential Republic. In Brazil, there were no attempts at revolution or coups d’état in this phase, as happened in Germany, but the Brazilian economy was characterized by stagnation. In 1990, Fernando Collor de Melo was elected by direct way as president of the Republic that began the implantation of the neoliberal economic model, was unsuccessful in adopting two economic plans to stabilize the economy to fight inflation and was ousted by impeachment due to corruption. Collor de Melo was replaced by Itamar Franco, his Vice President who, with the Real Plan stabilized the Brazilian economy keeping inflation under control and continued the implementation of the neoliberal economic model of opening the economy.
In Germany, in the second phase of the Weimar Republic (1923 and 1929), the country experienced a period of political and economic stability. As the US capitalist groups, which started investing directly in Germany, the economic stability achieved improved workers’ wages, as well as reducing unemployment rates. However, as these investments tied the German economy to the New York Stock Exchange, the crisis of 1929 hit Germany hard. The linkage of the German economy to that of the United States was crucial to the impact of the New York Stock Exchange crackdown. The same effect was suffered by Brazil in 1929 whose economy went bankrupt because it depended on the export of coffee to the world market.
In Brazil, in the second phase of the New Republic (1994 and 2014), the country experienced a period of political and economic stability in the governments Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Lula and Dilma Rousseff (1st presidential term). During this phase, the neoliberal economic model of opening the economy to international capital and liberalization of imports, privatization and denationalization of state enterprises and inflation control was adopted. The result of this economic policy was disastrous for Brazil because, despite the success in controlling inflation, the country reached very low levels of economic growth, suffered a process of deindustrialization and denationalization of the country, in addition to increasing the vulnerability of Brazil in relation to the outside world thanks to its economic and technological dependence. The depletion of the neoliberal economic model has contributed to the outbreak of the recessionary crisis (1929-1933) crisis of the government and mass unemployment.
In Germany, in the third phase of the Weimar Republic (1929-1933), the crisis of 1929 led the German economy to bankruptcy with hyperinflation resulting in a large number of unemployed, which reached 5 million workers. This situation led to the discredit of former political groups, such as the Social Democrats, paving the way in the 1932 elections for the rise of the Nazis. In the streets the conflicts between Nazi and Communists were constant. With the support of industrial capitalists opposed to the Communists, the Nazis took advantage of the political crisis in the Reichstag and made Hitler the German Chancellor in 1933. With the Reichstag fire being singled out as communist action, Hitler put the KPD into lawlessness and later the SPD. The death of President Hindenburg in 1934 made Hitler the sole head of the state, the Führer, thus initiating the organization of the Third Reich. On January 30, 1933, Hitler assumed power in Germany, ending the Weimar Republic – the German democratic experiment between 1919 and 1933. The consequences of Hitler’s rise to power in Germany were disastrous for the German people and for humanity as are known to all scholars of history.
In Brazil, in the third phase of the New Republic (2014-2019), the crisis of 2014 led the Brazilian economy to bankruptcy, resulting in a huge fiscal crisis, a business crash and a large number of unemployed, reaching 14 million workers and 28 million underutilized workers. The economic crisis added to the inability of the rulers and constituted powers of the nation to fight the corruption that became endemic in Brazil. This situation led to the discredit of former political parties such as the PSDB and PT and old political leaders such as FHC and Lula, opening the way in the 2018 elections for the emergence of new parties such as the PSL and Novo, and new leadership such as Bolsonaro . All this paved the way for the emergence of the candidate, Jair Bolsonaro, with a messianic vision and typically neofascist proposal who presented himself as “savior of the motherland” and was elected President of the Republic in 2018. After his election, Bolsonaro has sought to put into practice its neofascist government project in the economy and in the areas of education, environment, crime fighting, among others, in addition to inciting the population with the act scheduled for May 26, aiming at the closing of the National Congress accused of being against “New policy” and the Federal Supreme Court to be conniving with the corrupt. Despite the shortcomings of the National Congress and the Federal Supreme Court, true Democrats need to be convinced that it is preferable to have them as institutions guaranteeing democracy to the dictatorship that will come if Bolsonaro succeeds in his purpose as Hitler did in Germany.
* Fernando Alcoforado, 79, awarded the medal of Engineering Merit of the CONFEA / CREA System, member of the Bahia Academy of Education, engineer and doctor in Territorial Planning and Regional Development by the University of Barcelona, university professor and consultant in the areas of strategic planning, business planning, regional planning and planning of energy systems, is the author of 14 books addressing issues such as Globalization and Development, Brazilian Economy, Global Warming and Climate Change, The Factors that Condition Economic and Social Development, Energy in the world and The Great Scientific, Economic, and Social Revolutions that Changed the World.
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