republic · Germany and Central Europe
Weimar Republic
Origins
The German Empire collapsed in November 1918 with naval mutinies and revolution. On 9 November Philipp Scheidemann proclaimed a republic in Berlin as William II abdicated. A national assembly met in Weimar to avoid unrest in the capital and adopted a democratic constitution in August 1919, with Friedrich Ebert as president.
Rule and society
The republic faced the Treaty of Versailles, the Kapp Putsch, political murders and the hyperinflation of 1923, when the French occupied the Ruhr. Under Gustav Stresemann it stabilised, joined the League of Nations and saw a cultural flowering in Berlin, from the Bauhaus to cinema. The Great Depression brought mass unemployment and rule by emergency decree from 1930.
Decline and legacy
President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler chancellor on 30 January 1933. The Reichstag Fire Decree of February 1933 and the Enabling Act of March 1933 destroyed parliamentary rule, ending the republic and beginning Nazi Germany.
Lineage
On the connections map
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- Free State of Prussia was part of Weimar Republic1918 CE – 1933 CE
- Free State of Saxony was part of Weimar Republic1918 CE – 1933 CE
- Free State of Anhalt was part of Weimar Republic1918 CE – 1933 CE
- People's State of Hesse was part of Weimar Republic1918 CE – 1933 CE
- Free People's State of Württemberg was part of Weimar Republic1918 CE – 1933 CE
- Republic of Baden was part of Weimar Republic1918 CE – 1933 CE
- Free State of Brunswick was part of Weimar Republic1918 CE – 1933 CE
- Free State of Oldenburg was part of Weimar Republic1918 CE – 1933 CE
- Free State of Lippe was part of Weimar Republic1918 CE – 1933 CE
- Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe was part of Weimar Republic1918 CE – 1933 CE
- Free State of Waldeck was part of Weimar Republic1918 CE – 1929 CE
- Free State of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was part of Weimar Republic1918 CE – 1933 CE
- Free State of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was part of Weimar Republic1918 CE – 1933 CE
- Bavarian Soviet Republic was conquered by Weimar Republic1919 CE
- Free State of Bavaria was part of Weimar Republic1919 CE – 1933 CE
- People's State of Reuss was part of Weimar Republic1919 CE – 1920 CE
- Bremen Soviet Republic was conquered by Weimar Republic1919 CE
- Free State Bottleneck was part of Weimar Republic1919 CE – 1923 CE
- Free State of Thuringia was part of Weimar Republic1920 CE – 1933 CE
- Saar Territory split from Weimar Republic1920 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Weimar Republic. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/weimar-republic
- MLA
- “Weimar Republic.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/weimar-republic. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Weimar Republic.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/weimar-republic.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Weimar Republic’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/weimar-republic (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻