Germany 1923 : hyperinflation, Hitler's putsch, and democracy in crisis

Zusammenfassung: Volker Ullrich draws on letters, memoirs, newspaper articles, and other sources from the time to present a captivating new history of these explosive twelve months. The crisis began when the French invaded the Ruhr Valley in January to force Germany to pay the reparations it owed under the Treaty of Versailles, which had ended the Great War. For years, German leaders had embraced inflationary policies to finance the costs of defeat, and, as Ullrich demonstrates, the invasion utterly destroyed the value of the German mark. Facing the abyss, many ordinary Germans called for a national messiah. Among the figures to vie for that role was Hitler, a thirty-four-year-old veteran who possessed a uniquely malevolent personal magnetism. Although the Nazi coup in November was put down and Hitler arrested, the putsch showed just how tenuous the first German democracy, the Weimar Republic, was at its core. Other Germans responded to the successive crises by launching a cultural revolution: 1923 witnessed the emergence of a multitude of new movements, from Dada to Bauhaus, and of such iconoclasts as Bertolt Brecht, George Grosz, and Franz Kafka. Yet most observers were amazed that the Weimar Republic was able to survive, and the more astute realized that the feral undercurrents unleashed could lead to much worse.

Object Details

• Alternative title: Deutschland 1923
• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• ISBN: 9781324093466 ; 1324093463
• Dimensions: 24 cm
• Extent: xiv, 432 Seiten
• Language: Englisch
• Notes: Illustrationen

Classification and Topics

• Keyword: Geschichte 1923 ; Deutschland

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (where): New York, NY
• (who): Liverlight Publishing Corporation
• (when): [2023]
• Creator: Ullrich, Volker
• Contributor: Chase, Jefferson S.

Further information

• Table of contents: https://d-nb.info/1315797321/04
• Rights: Bei diesem Objekt liegt nur das Inhaltsverzeichnis digital vor. Der Zugriff darauf ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 11.06.2025, 2:15 PM CEST