SEMINAR STUDIES IN HISTORYEdited by Roger Lockyer(Emeritus Reader in History in the University of London)This famous series examines key themes in British, European and World history in short, succinct volumes. The text is supported by primary material in a Documents section, a full bibliography and an index; where appropriate there are maps, chronologies and glossaries. All the books in the series are written by experts in the field who are not only familiar with the latest research but have often contributed to it. Works of scholarship in their own right, the books also provide a survey of current historical interpretations. Longman has now inaugurated a major programme of renewal and expansion for Seminar Studies, with many new titles and new editions in the pipeline. Existing books are being re-presented in a larger, more reader-friendly format as they reprint; and new books and new editions are being reset into an entirely new page design. The Weimar Republic came into existence in the aftermath of the First World War and finally collapsed in 1933 when Hitler came to power.
More often than not it is assumed that, thanks to the harsh terms of the postwar Versailles Settlement, the Weimar Republic was doomed from the outset and that Hitler's rise to power was an inevitable consequence of this. In this succinct Seminar Study Professor John Hiden seeks to dispel this simplistic view. He examines the fundamental problems of the new state but also argues that it did make some progress in tackling the major political, social and economic problems facing it in the 1920s, despite reparations and the unresolved social and structural problems it had inherited from prewar imperial Germany. The author concludes his study by examing the final years of crisis between 1929 and 1933, showing how it was a complex interaction of many factors which finally brought Hitler to power.First published in 1974 Professor Hiden's study of the Weimar Republic has proved to be enormously popular. Now, over twenty years on, John Hiden has revisited his original text and rewritten it in the light of the latest historiography. The expanded and up-dated bibliography reflects the huge amount of work which has been done on the period since the book first appeared.
There is no doubt that succeeding generations will continue to be grateful for this clear and balanced introduction to a complex period of German history.John Hiden is Professor of Modern European History, University of Bradford.Cover: 'Go the right way!' - German Democratic Party poster, 1930. Reproduced courtesy of the Weimar Archive.LongmanLogo
