Weimar Republic

The Weimar Republic (Weimarer Republik , IPAˈvaɪ̯marɐ repuˈbliːk]) or its official name German Reich (Deutsches Reich) governed Germany from 1919 to 1933. This period of German history is often called the Weimar period. The republic was named after the city of Weimar, where a national assembly convened to predict a new constitution (which became effective on August 11, 1919) for the German Reich following the nation's defeat in World War I.

Despite its political form, the new Republic was still officially known as the "Deutsches Reich" in German, while the half-translated term "German Reich" was officially used in English. However, the other name used for Germany prior to 1919, Deutsches Kaiserreich, or German Empire - one of the two names used by the German monarchy - was dropped completely. The name Weimar Republic is an invention of historians, and was not used officially during its existence. The Weimar Republic was established in February 1919 in defeated Germany and lasted until March 1933, when the state's interior was replaced with Hitler's so-called "Third Reich" (see Nazi Germany).

This first attempt to establish a liberal democracy in Germany happened during a time of civil conflict, and failed with the ascent of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Although technically the 1919 constitution was not invalidated until after World War II, the legal measures taken by the Nazi government in 1933 (commonly known as Gleichschaltung) destroyed the mechanisms of a typical democratic system, so that year is cited as the end of the Weimar Republic.