Cabaret

The Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given to Germany during the
years between the end of WWI (Germany bearing the brunt of
the loss to the Allies) and the ascension of Hitler. The Social
Democratic Republic created a constitution that was signed in the
city of Weimar. Under the Weimar Constitution, Germany was
divided into 19 states. All citizens had the right to vote, electing
members of the Reichstag or German Parliament and the
President. The President appointed a chancellor and cabinet
members. As many historians have noted on paper the Weimar
Constitution was a brilliant document, and Germany under the
Weimar Republic was a true democracy.
However, even from the start, the Weimar Republic was deeply
troubled. When the constitution was first established, many
Germans were suspicious of the new government. Extremists on
the left and right rejected the authority of the Weimar Republic.
The Weimar Republic also faced serious financial challenges.
Inflation skyrocketed in the 1920s, and at one point, six million
Germans were unemployed.
Chancellor Stresemann’s death complicated the power hierarchy
of the Weimar Republic. The stock market crash in late October
1929 affected the entire world. Germany had lived off foreign aid
far more than many Germans knew or were willing to admit.
Exports dwindled, foreign loans were not renewed, tax income
dropped, bankruptcies multiplied, and unemployment grew
inexorably. It was the extreme right alone that benefited from the
condition of Weimar Germany.
September 14, 1930 marked the death of the Republic. Through
1931, Paul von Hindenberg, second President of Germany, signed
one emergency decree after another, controlling the price of food,
regulating bank payments, reducing unemployment compensation.
When three lieutenants were tried for treason—they had sought to
enlist fellow officers in the Nazi cause—Hitler testified for them
and predicted that if his movement was victorious, then “heads
will roll in the sand.” Nazis began vandalizing Jewish stores and
properties, often burning them to the ground and raping and
killing Jewish citizens. The Nazi press, skillfully led by Goebbels,
preached action against republicans, democrats, Jews,
Communists, etc. In the 1930 elections, The Nazi Party won 107
seats in the Reichstag.
Between the elections of 1930 and 1932, Germany’s politics
were full of under-the-table dealings and secret ploys. The
1932 elections ended in a stunning victory for the Nazis: they
got over 13.5 million votes and 230 seats in the Reichstag.
The opposition to the Nazis remained numerous but
disunited; the Nazi leadership was confident. On January 30,
1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany.
Adolf Hitler took advantage of the social discontent once he was
sworn in as Chancellor on 30 January 1933. Less than a month
later, the Reichstag building was gutted by a fire of mysterious
origin, and Hitler effectively took control, suppressing
oppositional political parties under the guise of public safety.
The Reichstag
Flag of Weimar Republic
Map of Weimar
Nazi Party propaganda posters
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