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The Weimar Republic

Overview

  • Credit value: 15 credits at Level 5
  • Convenor: Dr Eckard Michels
  • Assessment: a 2000-word essay and a two-hour examination

Module description

In this module we provide you with an overview of the history of the first German democracy which lasted from 1918 to 1933. The Weimar Republic will be put into the wider context of nineteenth- and twentieth-century German history. We will cover political, social, economic and diplomatic aspects using a variety of written and visual sources from the Weimar period.  

Indicative syllabus

  • The First World War and the collapse of Imperial Germany
  • The Revolution of 1918/19
  • The constitution of the Weimar Republic
  • Parties and elections in Weimar Germany
  • Weimar Germany's economy
  • The foreign policy of Weimar Germany
  • Right-wing opposition to the Weimar Republic
  • Women in Weimar Germany
  • The Weimar Republic as a social welfare state
  • From republic to dictatorship: Weimar Germany's last years