Weimar and the Rise of Hitler, The making of the twentieth century

This book is an introduction to the political history of the Weimar Republic. The failure, in the years after the First World War, of German democracy was of crucial importance to the world as a whole. Very often the causes of this failure haven been sought in the national character of the Germans, in their historical development, in the nature of Western capitalism, in the weaknesses of the Weimar constitution and sometimes in the hypnotic power of Adolf Hilter. While some of these exppanations are more respectable than others, none alone can satisfy any serious enquiry. The book begins with the German defeat in 1918 and teh revolutionary disturbances which followed the collapse of Kaiwer Wilhem. It goes on to describe the structure of the new Republic, it points to the strengths and weaknesses of the new regime and to the stresses put upon it as a result of Germany's position as a defeated nation.