Weimar Republic
Post-Kaiser German state
The Weimar Republic was the German democratic government established after World War I, lasting from 1919 to 1933.
Named for the city where its constitution was drafted, it became synonymous with political instability, hyperinflation, and cultural experimentation before collapsing with Hitler's rise to power.
The term now evokes fragile democracies vulnerable to extremism: Commentators draw Weimar comparisons whenever populism surges.
Extreme rapid price escalation
- wheelbarrowsOne-wheeled manual carts
- devaluationLowering of currency worth
- currency collapseRapid devaluation of money
- reparationsCompensation for historical wrongs
unemployment · Great Depression · bank failures · austerity · economic instability · food shortages · strikes · social unrest
German parliamentary assembly
- chancellorSenior administrative official
- coalitionTemporary alliance for action
- constitutionInherent physical or structural makeup
- proportional representationSeats allocated by vote share
political parties · cabinet · federalism · parliament · legislature · suffrage · electorate · voting
Influential modernist design school
- DadaismAbsurdist artistic rebellion
- cabaretLive entertainment venue
- MetropolisHero's fictional American city
- Threepenny OperaWeimar-era satirical stage work
Bertolt Brecht · Marlene Dietrich · Fritz Lang · silent film · avant-garde
WWI peace settlement
- reparationsCompensation for historical wrongs
- armisticeAgreement to cease hostilities
- National AssemblyA nation's legislative body
- revolutionViolent governmental overthrow
proclamation · 1918 · 1919 · Rhineland
Force for political ends
- assassinationsMurders of important people
- paramilitaryUnofficial armed organization
- street fightingUnregulated urban combat
- emergency decreesUrgent executive orders
presidential rule · fragmentation · extremism · polarization
Early twentieth-century international body
- war debtsMoney owed from conflict
- international recognitionAcceptance by world community
- disarmamentReducing or eliminating weapons
- foreign policyInternational relations strategy
hyperinflation
Extreme rapid price escalation
- wheelbarrowsOne-wheeled manual carts
- devaluationLowering of currency worth
- currency collapseRapid devaluation of money
reparations · unemployment · Great Depression · bank failures · austerity · economic instability · food shortages · strikes · social unrest
Reichstag
German parliamentary assembly
- chancellorSenior administrative official
- coalitionTemporary alliance for action
- constitutionInherent physical or structural makeup
proportional representation · political parties · cabinet · federalism · parliament · legislature · suffrage · electorate · voting · governance
Bauhaus
Influential modernist design school
- DadaismAbsurdist artistic rebellion
- cabaretLive entertainment venue
- MetropolisHero's fictional American city
Bertolt Brecht · Marlene Dietrich · Fritz Lang · Threepenny Opera · silent film · avant-garde
Versailles Treaty
WWI peace settlement
- reparationsCompensation for historical wrongs
- armisticeAgreement to cease hostilities
- National AssemblyA nation's legislative body
revolution · proclamation · 1918 · 1919 · Rhineland
political violence
Force for political ends
- assassinationsMurders of important people
- paramilitaryUnofficial armed organization
- street fightingUnregulated urban combat
emergency decrees · presidential rule · fragmentation · extremism · polarization
League of Nations
Early twentieth-century international body
- war debtsMoney owed from conflict
- international recognitionAcceptance by world community
- disarmamentReducing or eliminating weapons
- 20th Century HistoryWorld War I, WWI, Great Depression, Russian Revolution, Bolshevik Revolution
- European HistoryFrench Revolution, Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Holy Roman Empire, Industrial Revolution
- GermanyBerlin, Munich, Hamburg, Germany, German
- Former StatesPrussia, Czechoslovakia, Austria-Hungary, Soviet Union, Byzantine Empire
- historical erasStone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Middle Ages, Renaissance
- German HistoryNazi, Prussia, Saxony, Reichstag, Napoleonic Wars
Weimar RepublicThird Reich
Hitler's totalitarian German state
Nazi Germany · German Empire · East Germany · DDR · German Democratic Republic
Weimar RepublicVictorian Britain
1837-1901 United Kingdom
West Germany · Pax Americana · postwar Germany · modern Germany · political order
republic, republican, republics, republicanism, Weimaraner, Weimar