Weimar Republic (Weimarer Republik) (nov 9, 1918 – mar 23, 1933)

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The Weimar Republic (German: Weimarer Republik [ˈvaɪmaʁɐ ʁepuˈbliːk]) was the German state from 1918 to 1933, as it existed as a federal constitutional republic. The state was officially the German Reich (Deutsches Reich), and was also referred to as the German Republic (Deutsche Republik). The term "Weimar Republic" refers to the city of Weimar, where the republic's constituent assembly first took place. In English the country was usually simply called "Germany"; the term "Weimar Republic" did not become common in English until the 1930s.

Under the Locarno Treaties, signed in 1925, Germany moved toward normalising relations with its neighbours. Germany recognised the western borders that had been established through the Versailles Treaty, but its eastern borders remained subject to possible revisions. In 1926, Germany joined the League of Nations.

From 1930 onwards, President Paul von Hindenburg used emergency powers to back Chancellors Heinrich Brüning, Franz von Papen and General Kurt von Schleicher. The Great Depression, exacerbated by Brüning's policy of deflation, led to a surge in unemployment.[8] On 30 January 1933, Hindenburg appointed Hitler as Chancellor at the head of a coalition government. Hitler's Nazi Party held two out of ten cabinet seats. Von Papen as Vice-Chancellor was intended to be the "éminence grise" who would keep Hitler under control, using his close personal connection to Hindenburg. These intentions badly underestimated Hitler's political abilities.

By the end of March, the Reichstag Fire Decree and the Enabling Act of 1933 had used the perceived state of emergency to grant Hitler as Chancellor broad power to act outside parliamentary control, which he used to thwart constitutional governance and civil liberties. Hitler's seizure of power (Machtergreifung) thus ended the republic. Democracy collapsed, and the creation of a single-party state began the dictatorship of the Nazi era.

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