The Rise and Fall of Weimar Democracy

Hans Mommsen, Elborg Forster, Larry Eugene Jones, Elborg Forster, Larry Eugene Jones

• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN:
  9780807847213
  9780807822494
• eBook ISBN:
  9780807876077
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: German History
• Index: History

In this definitive analysis of the Weimar Republic, Hans Mommsen surveys the political, social, and economic development of Germany between the end of World War I and the appointment of Adolf Hitler as chancellor in 1933. His assessment of the German experiment with democracy challenges many long-held assumptions about the course and character of German history. Mommsen argues persuasively that the rise of totalitarianism in Germany was not inevitable but was the result of a confluence of specific domestic and international forces. As long as France and Britain exerted pressure on the new Germany after World War I, the radical Right hesitated to overthrow the constitution. But as international scrutiny decreased with the recognition of the legitimacy of the Weimar regime, totalitarian elements were able to gain the upper hand. At the same time, the world economic crisis of the early 1930s, with its social and political ramifications, further destabilized German democracy. This translation of the original German edition (published in 1989) brings the work to an English-speaking audience for the first time. European History

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Preface
• Abbreviations
• Chapter One. The Fall of the German Empire
• Chapter Two. The German Revolution
• Chapter Three. Founding a Democracy
• Chapter Four. The Inner Rejection of the Peace
• Chapter Five. Saving the Parliamentary System
• Chapter Six. Reconstruction at Home and Abroad
• Chapter Seven. The Extraparliamentary Offensive
• Chapter Eight. Dissolution of the Parliamentary System
• Chapter Nine. The Nazi Breakthrough
• Chapter Ten. Government in Crisis
• Chapter Eleven. The Road to Presidential Dictatorship
• Chapter Twelve. Government by the Threat of Coup d’État
• Chapter Thirteen. From Authoritarian to Fascist Dictatorship
• Select Bibliography
• Index