"A prequel to McDonough's The Hitler Years, The Weimar Years is a vivid and compelling narrative that provides a dramatic year by year history of Germany from 1918 to 1933. "
From the moment I removed the packaging, this book screamed quality at me. Even as my eyes first scanned the jacket, my fingers flicked through the pages and I saw the incredible array of information and accompanying photographs, I knew I was in for a treat.
In many ways, the Weimar period could and, perhaps should have been a model for a successful modern democracy. Women had democratic rights; there was improved communication, radios, cars, cinemas and airplanes. Political infighting, inflation and deep societal division conspired, however, to shatter the dream and, as the author so correctly highlights, the clear parallels to modern democracies are disturbing, particularly given Germany’s spectacular fall from the heights of liberalism to the depths of Nazi tyranny in so short a period.
Two years before he was appointed Chancellor, Adolf Hitler declared the thirteen years of the first true German democracy following the conclusion of WWI to have been wasted, as unmitigated political and economic chaos. Like Putin's Russia, Germany allowed poor leadership to drift the country towards authoritarian rule. This book is a timely reminder to many Governments around the world that the consequences of populism, complacency and self-serving agendas can be considerable.
The Weimar Years has so many chilling resonances with our world today. It is a warning to us all and historical writing at its very best. I feel like I have learned so much.
Highly recommended.
| Primary Genre | History |
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Established in 1918-19, in the wake of Germany's catastrophic defeat in the First World War and the revolution that followed swiftly on its heels, the Weimar Republic ushered in widespread social reform, a radical cultural flowering and the most democratic conditions the German people had ever known.
At its beginning, Weimar held out the hope that democracy, stability and prosperity would take root in Germany, but it was beset by frequent changes of government, waves of economic upheaval and spasms of violence of increasing intensity between the forces of left and right. Agitation and assassination by rightwing nationalists - enraged by the severity of the Treaty of Versailles and the acceptance of its terms by liberal German politicians - formed a threatening descant to the conciliatory efforts of successive coalition governments. Ultimately, the instabilities of Weimar would lead to the appointment as German Chancellor of the Nazi Fu¨hrer Adolf Hitler, who created a one-party dictatorship that abandoned the rule of law, democracy and civil rights. In the words of Gustav Stresemann, Germany's Nobel Peace Prize-winning Foreign Minister from 1923 to 1929, Weimar democracy was 'dancing on a volcano'.
The Weimar Years is a vivid and compelling narrative of a dramatic period in German history. Year by year, from 1918 to 1933, Frank McDonough covers the major events in both domestic and foreign policy and the personalities who shaped them, together with developments in music, art, theatre and literature. McDonough places particular focus on the parliamentary history of Weimar, arguing that it was the failure of parliamentary democracy to bring stability that eroded public confidence and allowed the power of the elected Reichstag to gradually diminish, culminating in Hitler's accession to power in January 1933.
The Weimar Years is the tragic story of a rise and fall, as well as a warning of how, under poor leadership, economic pressure and unrelenting political volatility, a democracy can drift towards a form of authoritarian rule that eventually destroys it.
The Weimar Years features in the following genres: History, Non-Fiction Books of the Month, European history, Political structures: democracy, Social and cultural history, Far-right political ideologies and movements, Society and Social Sciences, Politics and government, Political ideologies and movements, Political structure and processes, History and Archaeology, History: specific events and topics, Recommendations
The Weimar Years is available in Paperback, Hardback
The Weimar Years was written by Frank McDonough and published by Head of Zeus
The Weimar Years has 592 pages
