The Collapse of the Weimar Republic : Political Economy and Crisis (Historical Materialism)

The Collapse of the Weimar Republic analyzes the complex political economy of inter-war Germany. David Abraham examines how and why the country’s economic and political leaders turned away from social democracy and international integration, choosing instead to support the Nazi party to preserve their dominance. Theoretically sophisticated within a Marxist tradition and deeply researched in both public and private archives, the book sets out to answer key questions about capitalism and democracy. How did Weimar Germany, one of the first modern welfare states, balance the interests of working people and economic elites? What leads elites to undermine democracy, and what happens when they do? And what, ultimately, enables a liberal democracy to survive in a capitalist society?