the-weimar-republic

On November 9, 1918, Emperor Wilhelm II abdicated after the Germans were defeated in World War I. Following the collapse of Germany in World War I, the Weimar Republic of Germany was proclaimed. From the article:

"The Weimar Republic is the name given to the German government between the end of the Imperial period (1918) and the beginning of Nazi Germany (1933).

The Weimar Republic (and period) draws its name from the town of Weimar in central Germany where the constitutional assembly met. Political turmoil and violence, economic hardship, and also new social freedoms and vibrant artistic movements characterized the complex Weimar period. Many of the challenges of this era set the stage for Hitler's rise to power, but it is only with hindsight that some say the Weimar Republic was doomed from the start.

End of the Second Reich
World War I left Germany a shattered nation. Two million young men had been killed and a further 4.2 million had been wounded; in all, 19% of the male population were casualties of the war. At home, the civilian population suffered from malnutrition as a result of the Allied blockade, with starvation a serious and often fatal outcome. Workers went on strike in attempts to gain better working conditions; in 1917 alone, there were 562 separate strikes. In short, Germany was coming apart. The government, centered on an ineffective Emperor, devolved into a military dictatorship incapable of reforming the system.

Thus, in August 1918, after it became clear that Germany's last gasp military offensives had failed, Generals Hindenburg and Ludendorff passed control of the government to Chancellor Max von Baden, a moderate, and two Social Democrats to enact reforms. This ending of the Second Reich would have far-reaching effects. Those most responsible for the war itself and the accompanying human and economic disasters handed their debacle to a new civilian government which then became responsible for conducting peace negotiations.

The Weimar Republic came to bear for many the humiliation of World War I and the blame for all its accompanying hardships. In many ways, it never shook this association, particularly from the clauses of the Versailles Treaty that reduced the once proud German military to practically nothing and placed all blame for the war on Germany."