Ein bankrottes Deutschland hat die Nazis nicht geschaffen | Zwischen 2 Kriegen | 1928 Teil 1 von 1 - YouTube (2)

embodying democratic values, was elected as president in 1925 suggests that there is little

commitment to Weimar's ideals among the general population.

Growing cultural conservativism, in part a reaction to the increasingly socially liberal

times, also threatens the republic. Women have also become a potent symbol used by conservatives

to show the degeneracy of the republic. Many have enjoyed unprecedented freedom, and their

sporting of new American fashions and access to contraception has led conservative and

religious groups to decry the decadence of urban life and loss of pure German morality.

It is of course, easy to look at all this and see an inevitable collapse of Weimar democracy.

But there is a lot that appears to be going well with the country. Many people are much

better off than they were before as they enjoy an unprecedented range of freedom and leisure

options. Commitment to the values of the Republic are maybe a little thin on the ground, but

political participation is still undoubtedly high with up to 80% of the population often

voting in elections. And it says something that the largest paramilitary group in this

time, the 3 million-strong Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold, is committed to defending parliamentary democracy,

suggesting that a great number of people are in fact willing to fight for the Republic.

Also, though he is hardly the embodiment of its values, Hindenburg is a potentially stabilizing

figure for Weimar, providing continuity between the imperial past and the republican present.

Thus, in everything from economics to politics to society, the ‘golden years' of Weimar

Germany are defined by its contradictions. Economic modernization and economic stagnation;

relative political stability and a crisis of legitimacy; cultural change and cultural

conservativism; are all the orders of the day and it isn't clear which side will win

out.

If you want to learn more about the times when Germany was still suffering from hyperinflation

and it did in fact almost bring the Nazis to power, watch our epode about the Hitler

Putsch here. Our TimeGhost Army member of the week is Sebastian Räihä - do like Sebastian

and join us on Patreon or TimeGhost.tv - that is the only thing keeping these golden episodes

coming. Prost!