The Weimar Republic, 1919-1933

This text presents a re-appraisal of Germany between the wars, examining the political, social and economic aims of the new democratic republic, its failure due to instability and lack of consensus; and how that led to Nazism and eventually World War II.

The author includes: an examination of the legacy of World War I and the Treaty of Versailles; discussion of the early years of crisis culminating in the Ruhr Invasion and the Dawes Settlement; assessment of the leadership of Stresemann and Bruning; exploration of the circumstances leading to the rise of Hitler; analysis of economic, social and cultural trends; and an outline of the historiography of, and the changing attitudes of historians to, the Weimar Republic.