Germany 1923

July 31, 2023
Historian Ullrich (Eight Days in May) argues in this comprehensive chronicle of a tumultuous year in German history that the Weimar Republic was “not condemned to failure from its onset.” Significant events came as a “deluge” in 1923, Ullrich points out, including the reoccupation of part of Germany by France and Belgium, severe hyperinflation, Soviet attempts to foment a communist revolution in Germany, and Hitler’s Beer Hall Putsch in Munich. Contesting a commonsense idea formed in the immediate aftermath of Hitler’s rise to power—and promoted by Thomas Mann, Stefan Zweig, and others—that the year’s suffering and uncertainty filled Germans with a bitterness that readied them to accept Nazi barbarity, Ullrich instead argues that the resilience the republic evinced in ’23 indicates that Germany might have been able—under a determined head of state, rather than the lackluster Hindenburg—to likewise weather the similarly difficult period of 1930–1932 that led to Hitler’s rise. However, Ullrich adds that had Hitler received the much lengthier prison sentence the putsch merited—the light sentence was considered outrageous by many at the time—it would have destroyed his political ambitions. That argument somewhat contradicts Ullrich’s concluding statement that “there was no direct line between the events of and Hitler being given power in Germany.” Still, this captivating account sheds much light on a complex and consequential era. WWII history buffs should take note.

Starred review from July 1, 2023
A fine history of a pivotal year in world history. "The year 1923 started with a bang," writes Ullrich, a prizewinning German historian and author of a widely acclaimed two-volume biography of Hitler, when French troops marched into the industrial Ruhr Valley. The author reminds readers that, after months of violence following its November 1918 surrender, Germany settled down under the democratic Weimar Republic. Poorer than in prewar years but physically undamaged (unlike France), it was obligated under the Treaty of Versailles to deliver enormous reparations in gold, industrial products, and resources such as coal and timber. To rebuild and to repay its war debt to the U.S., France demanded payment from Germany and sent in the army when it was slow arriving. This produced national outrage but little action besides passive resistance and strikes. Troops remained until 1925, and the occupation proved a crushing drain, with Germany losing production as well as revenue. Printing money was a poor substitute for taxes, so hyperinflation followed. By mid-April, the mark had dropped to 25,000 to the dollar; by the end of July, to 1 million. By August, when a new administration began banking reforms, $1 was worth 3.7 million marks. "Calls for a strongman, a savior to lift Germany out of misery and desperation," writes Ullrich, "had been constant since the collapse of the Wilhelmine German Empire in 1918," and "they grew louder...in the initial, chaotic postwar years." The author delivers a lively account of Hitler's unsuccessful Beer Hall Putsch, emphasizing that it was only one of many efforts by right-wing circles to "bring down the Weimar political system and institute an authoritarian regime." In addition, writes Ullrich, the fact that Weimar survived another decade is a good argument that it was not condemned to failure from its onset, although the events of 1923, especially the hyperinflation, poisoned the national spirit. An exemplary book of history with no lack of uncomfortable lessons for today.

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