German Reich Deutsches Reich (German) | |||||||||
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| 1918–1933[1][2][3] | |||||||||
.svg) Flag
(1919–1933)  Coat of arms
(1928–1935) | |||||||||
| Motto: Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit ("Unity and Justice and Freedom") | |||||||||
| Anthem: Das Lied der Deutschen "The Song of the Germans" (from 1922)[4] | |||||||||
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| Capital and largest city | Berlin 52°31′N 13°23′E / 52.517°N 13.383°E | ||||||||
| Official languages | German | ||||||||
| Common languages | Unofficial: | ||||||||
| Religion | 1925 census:[5]
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| Demonym(s) | German | ||||||||
| Government | Federal representative semi-presidential republic | ||||||||
| President | |||||||||
• 1919–1925 | Friedrich Ebert | ||||||||
• 1925–1933 | Paul von Hindenburg | ||||||||
| Chancellor | |||||||||
• 1919 (first) | Friedrich Ebert | ||||||||
• 1933 (last) | Adolf Hitler | ||||||||
| Legislature | Bicameral | ||||||||
| Reichsrat (de facto) | |||||||||
| Reichstag | |||||||||
| Historical era | Interwar period | ||||||||
• Established | 9 November 1918 | ||||||||
| 11 August 1919 | |||||||||
• Admitted to the League of Nations | 8 September 1926 | ||||||||
• Rule by decree begins | 29 March 1930[6] | ||||||||
• Hitler inaugurated Chancellor | 30 January 1933 | ||||||||
| 27 February 1933 | |||||||||
| 23 March 1933[1][2][3] | |||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
| 1925[7] | 468,787 km2 (181,000 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1925[7] | 62,411,000 | ||||||||
• Density | 133.129/km2 (344.8/sq mi) | ||||||||
| Currency |
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| Today part of | |||||||||
| History of Germany |
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The Weimar Republic,[d] officially known as the German Reich,[e] was a historical period of Germany from 9 November 1918 to 23 March 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclaimed itself, as the German Republic (or, simply the Republic).[f] (Until 1945, 'Deutsches Reich' continued to be the official name of Nazi Germany.) The period's informal name is derived from the city of Weimar, which hosted the constituent assembly that established its government. In English, the republic was usually simply called "Germany", with "Weimar Republic" (a term introduced by Adolf Hitler in 1929) not commonly used until the 1930s. The Weimar Republic had a semi-presidential system.
At the end of the First World War (1914–1918), Germany was exhausted and sued for peace in desperate circumstances. Awareness of imminent defeat sparked a revolution, the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II, formal surrender to the Allies, and the proclamation of the Weimar Republic on 9 November 1918.[8]
In its initial years, grave problems beset the Republic, such as hyperinflation and political extremism, including political murders and two attempted seizures of power by contending paramilitaries; internationally, it suffered isolation, reduced diplomatic standing and contentious relationships with the great powers. By 1924, a great deal of monetary and political stability was restored, and the republic enjoyed relative prosperity for the next five years; this period, sometimes known as the Golden Twenties, was characterised by significant cultural flourishing, social progress, and gradual improvement in foreign relations. Under the Locarno Treaties of 1925, Germany moved toward normalising relations with its neighbours, recognising most territorial changes under the 1919 Treaty of Versailles and committing never to go to war. The following year, it joined the League of Nations, which marked its reintegration into the international community.[g][9] Nevertheless, especially on the political right, there remained strong and widespread resentment against the treaty and those who had signed and supported it.
The Great Depression of October 1929 severely impacted Germany's tenuous progress; high unemployment and subsequent social and political unrest led to the collapse of Chancellor Hermann Müller's grand coalition and the beginning of the presidential cabinets. From March 1930 onwards, President Paul von Hindenburg used emergency powers to back Chancellors Heinrich Brüning, Franz von Papen and General Kurt von Schleicher. The Great Depression, exacerbated by Brüning's policy of deflation, led to a surge in unemployment.[10] On 30 January 1933, Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor to head a coalition government; Hitler's far-right Nazi Party held two out of ten cabinet seats. Von Papen, as Vice-Chancellor and Hindenburg's confidant, was to serve as the éminence grise who would keep Hitler under control; these intentions severely underestimated Hitler's political abilities. By the end of March 1933, the Reichstag Fire Decree and the Enabling Act of 1933 were used in the perceived state of emergency to effectively grant the new Chancellor broad power to act outside parliamentary control. Hitler promptly used these powers to thwart constitutional governance and suspend civil liberties, which brought about the swift collapse of democracy at the federal and state level, and the creation of a one-party dictatorship under his leadership.
Until the end of World War II in Europe in 1945, the Nazis governed Germany under the pretense that all the extraordinary measures and laws they implemented were constitutional; notably, there was never an attempt to replace or substantially amend the Weimar constitution. Nevertheless, Hitler's seizure of power (Machtergreifung) had effectively ended the republic, replacing its constitutional framework with Führerprinzip, the principle that "the Führer's word is above all written law".
- ^ Hosch, William L. (23 March 2007). "The Reichstag Fire and the Enabling Act of March 23, 1933". Britannica Blog. Archived from the original on 11 March 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
- ^ "The law that 'enabled' Hitler's dictatorship". DW.com. 23 March 2013. Archived from the original on 7 September 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
- ^ Mason, K. J. Republic to Reich: A History of Germany 1918–1945. McGraw-Hill.
- ^ Winfried Klein (14 September 2012). "Wer sind wir, und was wollen wir dazu singen?". FAZ.NET. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
- ^ Volume 6. Weimar Germany, 1918/19–1933 Population by Religious Denomination (1910–1939) Archived 9 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine Sozialgeschichtliches Arbeitsbuch, Volume III, Materialien zur Statistik des Deutschen Reiches 1914–1945, edited by Dietmar Petzina, Werner Abelshauser and Anselm Faust. Munich: Verlag C. H. Beck, 1978, p. 31. Translation: Fred Reuss.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:0was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b "Das Deutsche Reich im Überblick". Wahlen in der Weimarer Republik. Archived from the original on 21 November 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2007.
- ^ "Kaiser Wilhelm II". history.com. August 2019. Archived from the original on 10 October 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
- ^ Marks, Sally (1976). The Illusion of Peace: International Relations in Europe, 1918–1933, St. Martin's, New York, pp. 96–105.
- ^ Büttner, Ursula (2008). Weimar: die überforderte Republik [Weimar: The Overburdened Republic] (in German). Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta. p. 424. ISBN 978-3-608-94308-5.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).