Synopses & Reviews
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.
Review
"Mommsen has produced an impressive and important contribution to our understanding of this fateful period in modern history. The crucial argument is that the failure of Weimar was neither inevitable nor complete. The intense pressure of peculiar internal and international factors widened the cracks in the fragmented political culture of republican Germany, with devastating results. Mommsen wisely observes that Nazism was not the inevitable consequence of Weimarism, and further argues that the republican period produced positive results, even if these were later negated by the excesses of the succeeding regime." Reviewed by Daniel Weiss, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review)
Review
[M]asterful in the author's clear and powerful analysis and in its display of profound learning.
Central European History
Review
Covers a complex subject with admirable clarity and is certain to become a classic.
Library Journal
Review
Mommsen's work is now required reading for any serious student of German political history in the Weimar era.
Choice
Review
Weimar myths die harder than most, but Mommsen's demolition of them is superb.
ournal of Modern History
Review
[A] masterful history of the Weimar Republic.
Modern Europe
Synopsis
This definitive analysis of the Weimar Republic surveys the political, social, and economic development of Germany between WWI and the appointment of Adolph Hitler as chancellor in 1933.
Synopsis
The Rise & Fall Of Weimar Democracy, originally published in Germany in 1989, is the magnum opus of one of Germany's preeminent historians. The culmination of nearly forty years of research ad scholarship, Hans Mommsens definitive analysis of the Weimar Republic 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.
Synopsis
Weimar myths die harder than most, but Mommsen's demolition of them is superb.
ournal of Modern History [A] masterful history of the Weimar Republic.
Modern Europe [M]asterful in the author's clear and powerful analysis and in its display of profound learning.
Central European History Covers a complex subject with admirable clarity and is certain to become a classic.
Library Journal Mommsen's work is now required reading for any serious student of German political history in the Weimar era.
Choice
Table of Contents
Contents
Preface
Abbreviations
Chapter 1. The Fall of the German Empire
Chapter 2. The German Revolution
Chapter 3. Founding a Democracy
Chapter 4. The Inner Rejection of the Peace
Chapter 5. Saving the Parliamentary System
Chapter 6. Reconstruction at Home and Abroad
Chapter 7. The Extraparliamentary Offensive
Chapter 8. Dissolution of the Parliamentary System
Chapter 9. The Nazi Breakthrough
Chapter 10. Government in Crisis
Chapter 11. The Road to Presidential Dictatorship
Chapter 12. Government by the Threat of Coup d'êtat
Chapter 13. From Authoritarian to Fascist Dictatorship
Select Bibliography
Index