Article 48 also gave the president emergency decree powers to protect the republic from crises initiated by its opponents on either the left or the right. (ILRIM) 1. However, it had major flaws that contributed to its downfall in 1933-34. Keywords Weimar Republic, state of emergency, constitutional dictatorship, Article 48 Weimar Con- stitution, anti-positivism Introduction On 14 and 15 April 1924, some of the brightest minds of constitutional law in the Weimar Republic convened in Jena for the first annual meeting of the Association of German Constitutional Lawyers. Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution gave the President power ‘to take all necessary steps if public order and security are seriously disturbed or endangered’. The Weimar Republic was weakened by faults in the construction of its constitution. After the collapse of the US economy and the recent death of Gustav Stresemann there was no one to steer Germany out of troubled times. The Weimar Constitution did not create a strong government: Article 48 of the constitution gave the President sole power in ‘times of emergency’ – something he took often. The Weimar constitution provided for a popularly elected president who was given considerable power over foreign policy and the armed forces. It was undermined by right and left-wing extremists and the military. The Weimar Republic was Germany’s first experiment in democracy. Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution gave the President power ‘to take all necessary steps if public order and security are seriously disturbed or endangered’. It was founded after the aftermath of the German defeat in World War I. Although, militarism, authoritarianism and nationalism played a major part in the fall of the Republic there were many other factors that contributed as well. The Republic faced many challenges during its short life. The Weimar Constitution contained Article 48 which gave the President of Germany the right to issue emergency legislation. What problems faced the Weimar Government 1919–1923? Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution allowed the President of Germany to claim emergency powers without the agreement of the Reichstag (the legislative branch of the government). That power enabled him to suspend many Articles of the Constitution itself. The Weimar Republic was established as a representative democracy which aimed to give genuine power to all German adults. The system of proportional voting led to 28 parties. Unpopular economic policies, the rise of extremism and presidential rule (article 48) Why did presidential rule weaken the Weimar Republic? It showed that the chancellor was more concerned about the survival of his party than he was in helping Germany, and that the government was ineffective when things became bad. The two crucial problem areas were the dualism of the power of democracy and the power of the president and also Article 48. Although this was intended as an emergency clause, it was often used before 1933 to issue decrees without the support of Parliament and also made Gleichschaltung easier. I neffective Constitution. The Weimar Republic eventually fell as the Nazi’s popularity grew due to nationalism and Hitler was given chancellorship under Article 48. Many have seen the fall of the Weimar Republic as inevitable. The Weimar republic failed because the great depression had a huge impact on its economic stability. Although this was intended as an emergency clause, it was often used before 1933 to issue decrees without the support of Parliament and also made Gleichschaltung easier. The fathers of the Weimar Constitution intended the use of Article 48 only on rare occasions at the time of a real emergency such as an armed revolt.