The German democratic republic established after the First World War's defeat, named for the city where its constitution was written, that lasted fourteen years before being legally dissolved by Hitler's appointment as Chancellor — a democracy that failed under the combined weight of economic catastrophe, political polarization, institutional weakness, and the deliberate assault of its enemies.
The Weimar Republic was the most culturally brilliant and politically fragile democracy in modern history. It produced Brecht, Bauhaus, and Berlin cabaret. It also produced Hitler. The question of whether its failure was inevitable — or whether it could have survived with different choices at key moments — is one of the most important counterfactuals in modern history.