Rethinking The Weimar Republic: Authority And Authoritarianism, 1916-1936 Authority And Authoritarianism, 1916-1936 Weimar Republic

Anthony McElligott's new study challenges conventional approaches to the history of the Weimar Republic. Taking as its premise that neither 1918 nor 1933 constituted distinctive breaks in early twentieth-century German history, 'Rethinking the Weimar Republic' stretches the chronological-political parameters of the republic from 1916 to 1936. Cover-Page 1 Half-Title 2 Dedication 3 Title 4 Contents 5 List of Tables 6 List of Maps 7 Acknowledgements 8 1 Introduction: A Republic without Authority? 10 2 1916/19: The Antinomies of Authority 17 Introduction 17 War authoritarianism and the erosion of authority 19 Authority between reform and revolution 28 Reasserting authority in the revolution 38 Conclusion 43 3 Authority Revitalized: Weimar’s Foreign Policy 44 Introduction 44 From continental power to world pariah: The Versailles Treaty 48 Restoring authority: Locarno and the Rhineland 60 Revitalizing authority: Risk and geopolitics in Mitteleuropa 1930–1936 71 Conclusion 77 4 The Authority of Money 79 Introduction 79 The early parameters of authority: Inflation 80 The parameters of the social state: Stabilization, 1924–30 88 Deflation and the destruction of Weimar’s social authority 99 Conclusion 110 5 The Authority of Law: The Judiciary 111 Introduction 111 The judiciary: The caste of authority 113 Bulwarks of the Nation. The judiciary in war and inflation, 1916–1924 119 ‘The alien body in the social people’s state’. The judiciary and the authority of the republic, 1924–29 123 The republic as apocalypse: Crime and ‘shackled justice’ 130 ‘Fair Justice – Authoritarian Justice – People’s Justice’ 137 Conclusion 140 6 The Quest for Cultural Authority 143 Introduction 143 Culture and the authority of the state 145 Cultural authority through censorship 148 Cultural authority and the pedagogy of enactment 159 Conclusion 171 7 Renegade Authority: The Junker Landrat 173 Introduction 173 The Field Administration under the Republic 175 The province 182 Renegade authority: The ‘königliche Landrat’ 186 Conclusion 197 8 Authority Between Democracy and Dictatorship 198 Introduction 198 Discourses of authority 199 Dictatorship within the bounds of the constitution 202 Authoritarian democracy 207 In search of a Führer 214 Plebiscitary authority as generational revolt 217 Conclusion 225 9 Authority Unbound 1933–36 228 Introduction 228 Conclusion 240 Notes 243 Chapter 1 243 Chapter 2 246 Chapter 3 263 Chapter 4 280 Chapter 5 296 Chapter 6 313 Chapter 7 329 Chapter 8 340 Chapter 9 361 Selected Bibliography 370 Archives 370 Printed sources 371 Secondary literature 374 Index 410 Copyright 426 “McElligott's impressive mastery of an enormous body of research guides him on a distinctive path through the dense thickets of Weimar historiography to a provocative new interpretation of the nature of authority in Germany's first democracy.” Sir Ian Kershaw, Emeritus Professor of Modern History at the University of Sheffield, UK This study challenges conventional approaches to the history of the Weimar Republic by stretching its chronological-political parameters from 1916 to 1936, arguing that neither 1918 nor 1933 constituted distinctive breaks in early 20th-century German history. This book: - Covers all of the key debates such as inheritance of the past, the nature of authority and culture - Rethinks topics of traditional concern such as the economy, Article 48, the Nazi vote and political violence - Discusses hitherto neglected areas, such as provincial life and politics, the role of law and Republican cultural politics Anthony McElligott's study challenges conventional approaches to the history of the Weimar Republic. Taking as its premise that neither 1918 nor 1933 constituted distinctive breaks in early 20th century German history, Rethinking the Weimar Republic stretches the chronological-political parameters of the republic from 1916 to 1936. This longer period allows for a better understanding of the genesis of the politics of the republican state, the crises that it faced, and how these were eventually resolved under the Nazi-conservative collaboration from 1933. As well as rethinking t