1923

1923 was one of the most remarkable years of modern European history. In January, France and Belgium militarily occupied Germanys economic heartland, the Ruhr triggering a series of crises that almost spiralled out of control. Hyperinflation plunged millions into poverty. The search for scapegoats empowered political extremes. Hitlers populism ascended to national prominence. Communists, Nazis, separatists all thought that they could use the crises to destroy democracy. None succeeded. 1923 was the year of Hitlers first victory - and his first defeat. Fanning the flames of instability, anti-government and antisemitic sentiment, the Nazis abortive yet pivotal putsch in a Munich beer hall failed when they were abandoned by their likeminded conservative allies. Drawing on previously unseen sources, Mark Jones weaves together a thrilling and resonant narrative of German lives in this turbulent time. Tracing Hitlers rise, we see how political pragmatism and international cooperation eventually steered the nation away from total insurrection. A decade later, when Weimar democracy eventually succumbed to tyranny, the warnings from 1923 - rising of nationalist rhetoric, fragile European consensus, and underestimation the of the enemies of liberalism - became only too apparent.

Powyższy opis pochodzi od wydawcy.