The Weimar Republic, 1919-33

Description

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.

"Henig approaches the problem from the opposite perspective and makes analysis and interpretation the driving motor behind her narrative of the republic. The republic was an extraordinarly complex entity, and Henig succeeds impressively in capturing the multiple levels of causality at play in ever major development and in integrating these levels to provide a compelling explanation of the political dynamics of the republic. In the crowded political landscape of the time, Henig has an unerring ability to identify the decisive events, explain why they were important, and illustrate how they affected later developments.."