Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy, Weimar Centennial Edition

Eric D. Weitz has written a great book about a very important subject. He examines the political, social and cultural aspects of the Weimar Republic so that we can compare and contrast them with our own. Weimar Germany was born from the ashes of World War One, and was troubled by inherent problems right from the beginning. Weitz identifies the main weakness of the Weimar Republic as right wing elements such as the Junkers, the officer class and big business. He claims these elements never supported the idea of democracy and remained throughout the 15 years of its existence at best grudging, lukewarm supporters. He describes how the conservatives conspired to put Adolf Hitler in power in January, 1933, thinking they could control him. Needless to say, reality unfolded the other way around. Weitz describes how there were strong racist and anti-Semitic trends in Weimar Germany outside the Nazi Party, left over from Imperial Germany, and foreshadowing the Third Reich. There are illustrations of right wing, non-Nazi posters describing the horrors of French occupation and Bolshevism in blatantly racist images, for example. Weitz takes a really interesting look at the architecture, art and philosophy of Weimar, showing how trends in those fields both conformed to and led the worldwide trends. Weitz shows how democracy should have worked in Weimar: "Germans went to the polls on 31 July 1932. The Nazis received 37.3 percent of the vote, the highest they would ever achieve in a free election. They now became Germany's largest party and had 230 delegates sitting in the Reichstag. They celebrated their triumph, but it is worth underscoring the fact that they did not achieve, and never would achieve, a majority in a freely contested election. They received a very large chunk of the vote, more than one-third. But the German people never elected the Nazis to power. Nearly two-thirds of the electorate cast their votes against the Nazi Party." p. 356.

Weimar Germany is an interesting one. Weitz did an incredible job going through all categories of this book ranging from politics, romance, technology, people, architecture, etc! If you wanted to go look at just specific category, the chapters are there for that and it doesn’t affect the reading flow. I personally found the politics section fascinating. Weitz did an amazing job to make clear that Weimar Germany was a mess of politics. All ranging from the radical left and the extreme right. Weimar was not unified it was detached with its own people. Politics are their response to post WWI. In their search to find meaning, we see modernism erupt in to Berlin like never before! Germans trying to escape the poverty of inflation and those lost in the Great War are now spending their days and nights having an incredible time. Berlin is the city of music and lights and NO ONE rests! Jazz also became relevant in this time and sex became prominent. Weitz makes it known that Weimar was a completely new creation for its people. Feminism surged like never before, technology and the radio had been introduced, MEDIA began to play a role in politics for people to get their word around. And ARCHITECTURE was changing too. It now became more modern, convenient and easy to build. My only concern was that some chapters can be too long and thus tedious. It could be quite repetitive or carry on a subject too long. But I found that simply moving on to the next chapter did no harm. Overal, Weimar Germany by Weitz is a fascinating book on Germany’s response to the aftermaths of WWI and how each segment of life in Germany in the 20s will play a significant role to its near future.

Awesome History of the Weimar Republic Ch 1: A Troubled Beginning - Broad overview of the environment in Germany prior to the creation of the Weimar Republic in midsummer 1919. Ch 2: Walking the City - Interesting description of German society to include daily life, offices, hotels, cafes, entertainment, and the night life. Ch 3: Political Worlds - Discusses deep political divisions within Germany and shifting alliances among Social Democratic Party (SPD), German Democratic Party (DDP), and the Catholic Center Party (with interesting discussions about the rift between liberal-social reform and conservative authoritarian wings). Discusses the major parties on the right to include the German National People's Party (DNVP) and German People's Party (DVP) with a focus on pro-business, private property, and low taxes (versus the Marxist message of class struggle). Introduces the concepts of Jewish Bolshevism versus German National Socialism. The discussion of printing money, monetary inflation and hyperinflation has frightening parallels to the US Government today. Ch 4: A Turbulent Economy and an Anxious Society - Discusses postwar readjustment, inflation, hyperinflation and then the Great Depression to include printing too much money and introduction of new currency. Overview of German rationalization and the negative impact of German social welfare programs, and subsequent cuts to try to get their spending under control. Ch 5: Building a New Germany - a focus on architecture Ch 6: Sound and Image - focus on radio, photography and movies (great photos reprinted) Ch 7: Culture and Mass Society - discussion of German intellectuals, philosophers, and social theorists to include their preoccupation with the meaning of the "masses" and "mass society" Ch 8: Bodies and Sex - Eye opening description of social shifts in physical fitness and sexuality, to include Velde, who wrote "the key to enduring happiness in marriage lay in mutual, ongoing sexual pleasure" (p. 299). Discusses the "new woman" who emerged from the sexual revolution of the 1920s. Ch 9: Revolution and Counterrevolution from the Right - Powerful discussion on the melding of German nationalism and socialism, and the emergence of the Nazi Party. Superb historical analysis combined with an easy to read narrative and awesome photos. Five Stars! Dr. B. Leland Baker, author of "Tea Party Revival" Tea Party Revival: The Conscience of a Conservative Reborn: The Tea Party Revolt Against Unconstrained Spending and Growth of the Federal Government

This is a great book. It gives an excellent summary of the political background, and then goes into the cultural developments-- architechture, art, music, women's rights, sex and liturature-- all the while showing how everything was interrelated. The author's style is engaging and keeps you interested. I highly recommend the book.

This is great and detailed account of the German Weimar republic full of explanations of the good and the bad. Informationally, it is superior. So much went seriously wrong with Weimar that sometimes the author strains to convince the reader that the artistic and aesthetic accompaniments of the period somehow balance all the massive public misery and sad outcome. Certainly this is only a position that can be taken in hindsight. The author mixes writing styles throughout the book so it can be cumbersome reading in sections and he tends to jump back and forth in time. So some chapters are more straightforward in approach with greater clarity. All in all, a fascinating and informative read that certainly captures the volatility and intensity of this period but seems to have an agenda to promote the advancements that truly only benefited a small portion of the populus.

This part of history is important to write about, which is why I give the book at least a few stars for compiling the information together. And, given the politically sensitive nature of the time immediately after the period covered by the book, it is not that surprising that the book is left leaning. However, I have to say that I rolled my eyes with disgust in the Preface when the author faults Friedrich Ebert for being insufficiently Bolshevik, and not doing a "purge" of the "government, the ministries, army and bureaucracy, as well as the business class". The author doesn't consider any other possible counterfactuals, including the plenty of more moderate approaches that could have been taken - a clear sign of ideological bias. To put it simply, that is stupid. 3 stars.

Here is exactly what all history books should strive for: readability, particular fine-grained source material, and at once a wide-angle look and yet also very extreme close ups. The author connects the big-picture political turmoil of the Weimar period with the dynamic cultural expression. Of course, everyone knows that the Nazi's are the end of the story, but the author does not let that crowd out an account of a vibrant and troubled period. I read this cover to cover! In a word, AWESOME!

Bought this book in preparation for a trip to Berlin. Cannot be happier that I did so--provided excellent context and history of a turbulent time in Berlin and German history, in all its complexity. Provided much needed "backstory" and allowed me to engage more deeply with the excellent museums and memorials in Berlin.

Unter den englischsprachigen Gesamtdarstellungen der Weimarer Republik ist Eric Weitz' "Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy" ein Must-Read. Das Buch ist exzellent recherchiert, lebendig geschrieben und zeigt in jedem Satz die enge Verquickung von psychopolitischer Situation und historischer Entwicklung. Da Weitz Historiker und nicht Kulturwissenschaftler ist, konzentriert sich der Autor auf die Darstellung der vielen sehr unterschiedlichen und einander komplementierenden oder widersprechenden kulturellen Phänomene und erlaubt der Leserschaft, zum Teil eigene Analysen bzw. Deutungen zu ziehen. Der Detailreichtum ist fantastisch, allerdings finde zumindest ich, dass hier und da Kapitel von leichten Raffungen profitieren würden. Insgesamt ein ausgezeichnetes Buch, das sowohl Laien als auch Experten absolut zu empfehlen ist.

Very well researched book on how the Political era of Weimar was for citizens of Germany .

The book explores all aspects of life, culture, politics, and art that flourished in Weimar during those 15 frenetic years, with some interesting chapters about the political life, literature, the arts, and a very long one about architecture, which I found informative, but certainly not what I was expecting. The chapter about cinema, on the other hand, was shorter than I thought but mentioned two silent movies, Berlin: Symphony of a City and Menschen am Sonntag, by nonetheless than Billy Wilder, both available on YouTube, which I enjoyed and which gave me a real feeling for Weimar. It’s a very well-written book that tackles a difficult subject, all the more tragic because we know how it ended. As mentioned by the author, it did not necessarily have to go the Nazi way, but it did and there’s no way to change the past.

An excellent introduction to the Weimar Era. Covers all important aspects of Weimar, including music, art, literature and architecture.

Really enjoyed this review of Weimar Germany with its particular emphasis on architecture, which seems to be the writer's hobby