Concept

Weimar Republic

Overview

The Weimar Republic was a historical period of the German state from 9 November 1918 to 23 March 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history. The state was officially named the German Reich, but was more commonly referred to, and unofficially proclaimed itself, as the German Republic. The period's informal name is derived from the city of Weimar,

where the republic's constituent assembly took place. During the interwar period in the Anglophone world, the republic was usually simply called "Germany", with "Weimar Republic" (a term introduced by Adolf Hitler in 1929) not commonly used until the 1930s. The Weimar Republic had a semi-presidential system.

At the end of the First World War (1914–1918), the German Empire was economically and militarily exhausted and sued the Allies for peace. Awareness of an imminent defeat sparked the German revolution, the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II, the collapse of the Empire and the proclamation of the Weimar Republic. Hostilities in the war formally ceased with the Armistice of 11 November 1918.

In its initial years, grave problems beset the Republic, such as hyperinflation and political extremism, including political murders and two attempted coups d'état by contending paramilitaries; internationally, it suffered isolation, reduced diplomatic standing and contentious relationships with the great powers. By 1924, a great deal of monetary and political stability was restored, and the republic enjoyed relative prosperity for the next five years; this period, sometimes known as the Golden Twenties, was characterized by significant cultural flourishing, social progress, and gradual improvement in foreign relations. Under the Locarno Treaties of 1925, Germany moved toward normalizing relations with its neighbors, recognizing most territorial changes under the 1919 Treaty of Versailles and committing never to go to war. The following year, it joined the League of Nations, which marked its reintegration into the international community. Nevertheless, especially on the political far-right, there remained strong and widespread resentment against the treaty and those who had signed and supported it.

The Great Depression of October 1929 severely affected Germany's tenuous progress; high unemployment and subsequent social and political unrest led to the collapse of Chancellor Hermann Müller's grand coalition and the beginning of the presidential cabinets. From March 1930 onwards, President Paul von Hindenburg used emergency powers to back chancellors Heinrich Brüning, Franz von Papen and Kurt von Schleicher. The Great Depression, exacerbated by Brüning's policy of deflation, led to a surge in unemployment. On 30 January 1933, Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler as chancellor to head a coalition government; his Nazi Party held two out of ten cabinet seats. Von Papen, as vice-chancellor and Hindenburg's confidant, was to serve as the éminence grise who would keep Hitler under control; these intentions severely underestimated Hitler's political ambitions. By the end of March 1933, the Reichstag Fire Decree and the Enabling Act of 1933 were used in the perceived state of emergency to effectively grant the new chancellor broad power to act outside parliamentary control. Hitler promptly used these powers to thwart constitutional governance and suspend civil liberties, which brought about the swift collapse of democracy at the federal and state level, and the creation of a one-party dictatorship under his leadership.

Until the end of World War II in Europe in 1945, the Nazis governed Germany under the pretense that all the extraordinary measures and laws they implemented were constitutional; notably, there was never an attempt to replace or substantially amend the Weimar Constitution. Nevertheless, Hitler's seizure of power (Machtergreifung) had effectively ended the republic, replacing its constitutional framework with Führerprinzip, the principle that "the Führer's word is above all written law".

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

Possible passages

Found by search and not yet checked by a person; they may only mention the idea in passing.

The summer he, for several years, continued still to spend in Jena; to which, especially its beautiful environs, he declared himself particularly attached. His little garden-house was still his place of study during summer; till at last he settled constantly at Weimar. Even then he used frequently to visit Jena; to which there was a fresh attraction in later years, when Goethe chose it for his residence, which, we…
Thomas Carlyle, The Life of Friedrich Schiller Comprehending an Examination of His Works
The author is tied to Weimar Republic in the knowledge graph.
Read the chapter · Open in the reader
Why should not all Nations subsist and flourish on Democracy, as America does? Of America it would ill beseem any Englishman, and me perhaps as little as another, to speak unkindly, to speak unpatriotically, if any of us even felt so. Sure enough, America is a great, and in many respects a blessed and hopeful phenomenon. Sure enough, these hardy millions of Anglo-Saxon men prove themselves worthy of their genealogy…
Thomas Carlyle, Latter-Day Pamphlets
The author is tied to Weimar Republic in the knowledge graph.
Read the chapter · Open in the reader
The first period, from February 24, or the downfall of Louis Philippe, to May 4, 1848, the date of the assembling of the constitutive assembly—the February period proper—may be designated as the prologue of the revolution. It officially expressed its own character in this, that the government which it improvised declared itself “provisional;” and, like the government, everything that was broached, attempted or…
Karl Marx, The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte
Close in meaning to Weimar Republic; the term itself is not named.
Read the chapter · Open in the reader

Weimar Republic

Overview

Possible passages

Philosophers who discussed Weimar Republic

Related ideas

Opposing perspectives

Place in the tradition