The rise and fall of Weimar democracy / Hans Mommsen. Translated by Elborg Forster and Larry Eugene Jones

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Intro -- Contents -- Preface -- Abbreviations -- 1. The Fall of the German Empire -- 2. The German Revolution -- 3. Founding a Democracy -- 4. The Inner Rejection of the Peace -- 5. Saving the Parliamentary System -- 6. Reconstruction at Home and Abroad -- 7. The Extraparliamentary Offensive -- 8. Dissolution of the Parliamentary System -- 9. The Nazi Breakthrough -- 10. Government in Crisis -- 11. The Road to Presidential Dictatorship -- 12. Government by the Threat of Coup d ' Etat -- 13. From Authoritarian to Fascist Dictatorship -- Select Bibliography -- Abbreviations -- Bibliographical Aids -- Document Collections and Documentary Aids -- Memoirs and Biographical Studies -- General Histories of the Period -- Essay Collections and Statistical Overviews -- The German Revolution -- Armistice and Versailles Peace Treaty -- The Weimar Constitution, Federalism, and Domestic Policy -- Political Parties and Interest Organizations -- Organized Workers' Movements -- Political Catholicism -- Bourgeois Parties and Interest Organizations -- Paramilitary and Patriotic Associations -- Social Policy and Industrial Relations -- Economic and Financial Policy -- Agrarian Policy and Eastern Relief -- Foreign Policy and the Reparations Question -- Military and Armament Policies -- Cultural Life and Political Culture -- The Jewish Population and Anti-Semitism -- Rise of the NSDAP -- Politics of the Presidential Regime -- Index -- A-B -- C -- D-E -- F-G -- H -- I-J -- K-L -- M -- N -- O-P -- Q-R -- S -- T -- U-W -- Y-Z.

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. European History.