Why was the Weimar Republic so much disliked by the German population?
The civil government of the Weimar Republic had to pick up the pieces left behind by the Second Reich and its militarist leadership. They had to sign the Treaty of Versailles, which took away large territories from Germany and assigned it the sole responsibility of the war. The treaty also demanded huge payments of war reparations and was specifically designed to symbolize the defeat of Germany. By signing the treaty, Ebert and his fellow politicians became associated with the German “shame,” particularly since the aristocratic-nationalist circles refused to accept any responsibility for the lost war and blamed the republic instead. Moreover, there had been no democratic tradition in Germany to build on, and the population was not ready to engage in the long process of political compromise necessary to sustain a democracy. Finally, the economic and political turmoil during much of its fourteen years of existence branded the republic as an unstable form of government that left many people in dire straits.