ABSTRACT
In 1918, Germany’s defeat in the First World War gave the country its first opportunity since 1848 to devise a democratic system for a national state unencumbered by Prussian dominance and the Kleinstaaterei of the old monarchical system. This vision proved unattractive to the many Germans who resented what appeared to be the imposition of democracy as the price of peace by a victorious foe (America), and particularly to the many who had prospered under the Kaiserreich and feared the challenges of the republic. For their part, the republic’s supporters were not robust in their defence of democracy. In short, there is much truth in the old adage that post-1918 Germany was a democracy without democrats. However, Germany was not simply incapable of establishing a stable democracy, as the success of West Germany after the far greater defeat of 1945 demonstrates. Rather, the punitive peace settlement imposed upon Germany by the allies after 1918, coupled with the harsh economic climate, compounded the young republic’s difficulties and encouraged Germans to seek radical alternatives which would have disastrous consequences for themselves and the wider world.
