The Weimar Republic: The Crisis of Classical Modernity

Peukert, Detlev; Deveson, Richard

doi:10.2307/20045357

Cited by 41 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…Beyond some important differences, these two parties shared not only a common political tone but also key nationalist ideas and objectives (see Peukert 2001;Hochman 2021, 73). 3 This common view facilitated cooperation between DNVP and NSDAP: in 1929, representatives of both parties organized a referendum against war reparations scheduled by the Young Plan, and in 1931, the two parties established a shortlived united national front against the democratic system (Alcalde 2017, 204, 225).…”

Section: Historical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Explanations for the electoral success of these nationalist parties, in particular of the NSDAP, have highlighted the role of social capital (Satyanath, Voigtländer, and Voth 2017), the fallout from the economic crisis and the government's reaction (Doerr et al 2022), and the appeal of the NSDAP to young voters who felt neglected by the political and economic institutions of the Weimar Republic (Peukert 2001). Scholars have also emphasized the role of WW1 as an important background condition (Abel 1938).…”

Section: Historical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

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War and Nationalism: How WW1 Battle Deaths Fueled Civilians’ Support for the Nazi Party

et al. 2023

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Can wars breed nationalism? We argue that civilians’ indirect exposure to war fatalities can trigger psychological processes that increase identification with their nation and ultimately strengthen support for nationalist parties. We test this argument in the context of the rise of the Nazi Party after World War 1 (WW1). To measure localized war exposure, we machine-coded information on 7.5 million German soldiers who were wounded or died in WW1. Our empirical strategy leverages battlefield dynamics that cause plausibly exogenous variation in the county-level casualty fatality rate—the share of dead soldiers among all casualties. We find that throughout the interwar period, electoral support for right-wing nationalist parties, including the Nazi Party, was 2.6 percentage points higher in counties with above-median casualty fatality rates. Consistent with our proposed mechanism, we find that this effect was driven by civilians rather than veterans and areas with a preexisting tradition of collective war commemoration.

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Section: Historical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Historical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

War and Nationalism: How WW1 Battle Deaths Fueled Civilians’ Support for the Nazi Party

et al. 2023

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“…A nuanced examination of the Weimar Republic's 'Golden Years' from 1924 to 1929 reveals a period of superficial stability, underscored by historian Detlev Peukert. The illusory prosperity, predicated on short-term foreign loans and speculative investments, collapsed with the Wall Street Crash of 1929, leaving the German economy in a state even more dire than the hyperinflationary crisis (Peukert, 1992).…”

Section: Origins Of Turmoil: An Examination Of the Weimar Republic's ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Historian Detlev Peukert contends that this period was characterized by superficial growth, founded on a shaky bedrock of short-term foreign loans and speculative investments. Consequently, when the global financial markets plunged in 1929, Germany found itself once again ensnared in an economic crisis of unparalleled magnitude (Peukert, 1992).…”

Section: Origins Of Turmoil: An Examination Of the Weimar Republic's ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

From Crisis to Consolidation: Hyperinflation’s Role in Hitler’s Rise and Germany’s Economic Resurgence

Yang

2023

J Stud Res

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The economic trajectory of Germany, transitioning from the Weimar Republic to Nazi dominance, starkly highlights the intimate nexus between political events and economic paradigms. The Weimar Republic, once a beacon of post-war resurgence, grappled with a storm of hyperinflation, misguided economic choices, and the crippling Treaty of Versailles, creating an environment rife with unemployment, social discord, and dwindling trust in governance. This tumultuous backdrop paved the way for Adolf Hitler, whose ascent wasn’t solely a product of charisma but also his pledges of economic rejuvenation and nationalistic fervor. Hitler’s economic overhaul was immediate and transformative: Hjalmar Schacht’s innovative MEFO bills, designed to invigorate the economy without triggering inflation, and the Four-Year Plan, underscoring German autarky, showcased a nation intent on self-sustenance and industrial fortification. Yet, the crux of Hitler’s economic vision lay in a robust rearmament program. While ostensibly an avenue for job creation and industrial revival, this program was unmistakably a blueprint for Hitler’s expansive European ambitions. This narrative encapsulates a rollercoaster journey from the Weimar’s chaotic economic downfall, through Hitler’s opportunistic rise amidst despair, to the Nazi regime’s intricate economic strategies, culminating in a rearmament policy that, while promising prosperity, ominously heralded global conflict. Through this lens, we gain insights into the complex economic machinations that influenced one of history’s most defining epochs.

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“…However, the seminal works on media, arts, and literature during the "crisis of classical modernity" have largely focused on either political conflicts or cultural and artistic innovations. 10 The resulting conclusions on Weimar, therefore, have often been presented as bipolar images of "promise and tragedy" [Weitz] or "glitter and doom". 11 Consequently, the evolution of Nazism is often de-coupled from the dynamic cultural and social history of the interwar period.…”

Section: Electoral Research and The Sociology Of Nazi Leadersmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Social Backgrounds of Nazi Leaders: A Statistical Analysis of Political Elites in Weimar Germany, 1918–1933

Unger‐Alvi

2022

J Historical Sociology

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This article compares the social backgrounds of Nazi leaders and representatives of democratic parties in the Weimar Republic. It does not advance any overarching new narrative on Nazism’s social origins, but rather aims to present a nuanced statistical picture of Weimar’s political elites. The results of this analysis are derived from an index of German members of parliament and from a new dataset, which has recently been collected from the Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB), Germany’s largest biographical encyclopaedia. Together, these two samples cover more than 2000 German politicians, industrialists, diplomats, political writers, academics, high state officials, and important journalists. This article reveals sociological differences between the politicians who led the Nazi party in parliament and those elites that promoted Nazism in the media, in academia, or within the German civil service. While Nazi politicians in the Reichstag were recruited from a variety of social classes, ranging from industrial workers to members of the aristocracy, National Socialist elites outside the parliament typically belonged to the Bildungsbürgertum and sociologically resembled the highly educated members of democratic and liberal parties. Overall, the picture of a generation of Nazi leaders emerges that was sociologically far more heterogeneous than is often recognized by historians.

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The Weimar Republic: The Crisis of Classical Modernity

Cited by 41 publications

References 0 publications

War and Nationalism: How WW1 Battle Deaths Fueled Civilians’ Support for the Nazi Party

War and Nationalism: How WW1 Battle Deaths Fueled Civilians’ Support for the Nazi Party

From Crisis to Consolidation: Hyperinflation’s Role in Hitler’s Rise and Germany’s Economic Resurgence

The Social Backgrounds of Nazi Leaders: A Statistical Analysis of Political Elites in Weimar Germany, 1918–1933

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