ABSTRACT

This important addition to modern German studies treats the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich as a continuum, exploring its themes through the 1920s and 1930s without artificial breaks. John Hiden looks at key issues in political, social and economic history, and in international relations. He highlights Germany's potentially constructive role in Europe before Hitler; analyses the country's structural problems; considers the importance of personalities and personal responsibility in the period; and examines the legacy of the Third Reich to postwar Germany. Filled with energy and ideas, the book has an intellectual substance far beyond its relatively modest length.

chapter |10 pages

Introduction

chapter Chapter One|28 pages

Policy for the sake of the Republic

chapter Chapter Two|8 pages

Democratic Prospects

chapter Chapter Three|33 pages

The Parties

chapter Chapter Four|18 pages

The Practice of Parliament

chapter Chapter Five|14 pages

Governmental Plurality in the ‘Single-Party State’

chapter Chapter Six|24 pages

Life at the Top; State Economic Policy and Big Business

chapter Chapter Eight|15 pages

Feeding the Reich; Farmers and Politics

chapter Chapter Nine|12 pages

The Middle Classes; Angst and Reality

chapter Chapter Ten|20 pages

Policing the ‘People’s Community’

chapter Chapter Eleven|17 pages

The ‘Racial War’ and its Legacy

chapter Chapter Twelve|30 pages

The Quest for German Hegemony in Europe