Glossary of the Weimar Republic
Encyclopedia
These are terms, concepts and ideas that are useful to understanding the political situation in the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...

. Some are particular to the period and government, while others were just in common usage but have a bearing on the Weimar milieu and political maneuvering.
  • Agrarian Bolshevism — an idea by several political parties, involving the expropriation of large estates (mostly those of junker
    Junker
    A Junker was a member of the landed nobility of Prussia and eastern Germany. These families were mostly part of the German Uradel and carried on the colonization and Christianization of the northeastern European territories during the medieval Ostsiedlung. The abbreviation of Junker is Jkr...

    s in Prussia) and passing them out to peasants.
  • Angestellte — White-collar employees
  • Barmat Scandal
    Barmat Scandal
    The Barmat Scandal in 1924 and 1925 in Weimar Republic implicated the Social Democratic Party of Germany in Germany in charges of corruption, war profiteering, fraud, bribery and financial misdeeds. The scandal provided right-wing political forces within Germany with a basis with which to attack...

     — brothers Julius, Herschel, Solomon and Isaak, who owned a huge conglomerate of businesses and overextended themselves. Their bankruptcy involved millions of dollars and they bribed politicians on all levels of the Social Democratic party. It was a factor in the rise of Nazism.
    • Barmat Committee — The Prussian Landtag set up a special fact-finding commission.
  • Beamte — civil service employees
  • Best proclamation — the SA
    Sturmabteilung
    The Sturmabteilung functioned as a paramilitary organization of the National Socialist German Workers' Party . It played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s...

     draft proclamation for the exigency when and if the communists would revolt after a Nazi electoral victory; found in the house of Dr. Werner Best, legal advisor to the Nazi Party; became a major embarrassment for Hitler.
  • Black Reichswehr — another name for the Freikorps system
    • 'black' soldiers — the ex-soldiers involved in Freikorps units
  • Bonzen — bosses; slang term for the Weimar system and those who enriched themselves at the expense of the workers.
  • Conservative Revolutionary movement
    Conservative Revolutionary movement
    The Conservative Revolutionary movement was a German national conservative movement, prominent in the years following the First World War. The Conservative Revolutionary school of thought advocated a "new" conservatism and nationalism that was specifically German, or Prussian in particular...

     — a German
    Germany
    Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

     nationalist literary youth movement, prominent in the years following World War I
    World War I
    World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

    .
  • der eiserne Hindenburg — the Iron Hindenburg; Hindenburg was the epitome for solidness
  • der Krieg nach dem Krieg — "the war after the war"; the civil war that erupted in Germany after World War I; the turmoil of the Weimar Republic.
  • Dolchstoßlegende — "Stab in the back" legend; the idea that the German Army was betrayed by subversive elements at home; i.e. the socialists, pacifists, liberals and Jews.
  • Einwohnerwehren — civil guards; small civilian units established by General Maercker for the purpose of urban combat against communist revolutionaries; these civil units grew into the Orgesch.
  • Ernährungsautarkie — agricultural self-sufficiency
  • freebooters — the men of the Freikorps
  • Freikorps
    Freikorps
    Freikorps are German volunteer military or paramilitary units. The term was originally applied to voluntary armies formed in German lands from the middle of the 18th century onwards. Between World War I and World War II the term was also used for the paramilitary organizations that arose during...

    free corps; far-right paramilitary organizations made up of disillusioned World War I soldiers that sprung up around Germany as soldiers returned in defeat from World War I. They were frequently involved in political brawls, especially against the communists.
  • Friedenssturm — Peace Offensive; term given by General Ludendorff to the last great offensive of World War I hoping to break Allied resolve.
  • Froschperspektive — frog's-eye view; the German ex-soldier's outlook of World War I; categorization of ex-soldiers' memoirs.
  • Honoratioren — important community leaders such as the major and village priest.
  • industrial rationalization — the furious pace of major technological, financial, and economic reorganization that German industry underwent between 1924 and 1929.
  • Inheritance
    • Partible inheritance
      Partible inheritance
      Partible inheritance is a general term applied to systems of inheritance in which property may be apportioned among heirs. It contrasts in particular with primogeniture, which requires that the whole inheritance passes to the eldest son, and with agnatic seniority where the succession passes to...

       — inheritances such as farms can be broken up amongst heirs; the culture of Catholic Bavaria
    • Impartible inheritance
      Fee tail
      At common law, fee tail or entail is an estate of inheritance in real property which cannot be sold, devised by will, or otherwise alienated by the owner, but which passes by operation of law to the owner's heirs upon his death...

       — inheritance passed only to the oldest son; family farmland prevented from being broken up amongst heirs.
  • Kapp Putsch
    Kapp Putsch
    The Kapp Putsch — or more accurately the Kapp-Lüttwitz Putsch — was a 1920 coup attempt during the German Revolution of 1918–1919 aimed at overthrowing the Weimar Republic...

     — (also Kapp-Lüttwitz Putsch) of March, 1920 was an attempted military coup of the extreme right-wing aimed at overthrowing the Weimar Republic. It was a direct result of the Weimar government's acceptance of the Treaty of Versailles
    Treaty of Versailles
    The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...

    . It failed when the army did not intervene and a general strike paralyzed the capital.
  • Kriegspiel — preliminary situation report; General von Schleicher made one about the military's incapability to meet civil unrest. This one convinced von Papen to resign.
  • Kriegserlebnis — (myth of the) war experience
  • Kuhhandel — cattle trading; German slang term for the political maneuverings in the parliament and in the Weimar government.
  • Kultur — culture
    Culture
    Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...

  • Landtag
    Landtag
    A Landtag is a representative assembly or parliament in German-speaking countries with some legislative authority.- Name :...

     — state legislature
  • Landespolizei — state police
    • Green police — another term for police (as opposed to the "police" of various paramilitary groups), because they wore green uniforms
  • London ultimatum — set the total sum of war damages to the Allies at 132 billion marks.
  • Lausanne Agreement
    Lausanne Conference of 1932
    The Lausanne Conference was a 1932 meeting of representatives from Great Britain, Germany, and France that resulted in an agreement to suspend World War I reparations payments imposed on the defeated countries by the Treaty of Versailles...

     — Allies in order to forestall a Nazi government practically abolished the German reparations burden; major foreign policy success for Chancellor von Papen; July 9, 1932.
  • Marstall — stables; ordered to be cleared during the Battle of the Schloss.
  • Ministeramt — ministerial office
  • Nahrungsfreiheit — self-sufficiency in nourishment.
  • New Middle Class — white collar workers; consisted of the service and clerical (bookkeeping) occupations for management, industry and government
  • Old Middle Class — consisted of self-employed farmers, shopkeepers, merchants and artisans
  • Orgesch — Organisation Escherich; the civil guards that grew into the reserve militia for the German Army under the command of Major Dr. Forstrat Georg Escherich.
  • Osthilfe — the 1931 government assistance programs for large eastern German estates. It made available 1.5 billion marks for farmers to make debt conversion and lowered local taxes and freight rates.
  • Quasselbude — "twaddling shop"; Nazi slang term given to the German parliament
  • Räterepublik — workers councils or "soviet" republics; the communist revolutions in Berlin and Munich
  • Red terror — violence of the communist uprisings (see also White Terror)
  • Reichsheer — = army of the Reichswehr
    Reichswehr
    The Reichswehr formed the military organisation of Germany from 1919 until 1935, when it was renamed the Wehrmacht ....

  • Reichswährungskommissar — national currency commissioner
  • Reichswehr
    Reichswehr
    The Reichswehr formed the military organisation of Germany from 1919 until 1935, when it was renamed the Wehrmacht ....

    — the German armed forces 1921-1934
  • Rentenmark Miracle — Dr. Hjalmar Schacht
    Hjalmar Schacht
    Dr. Hjalmar Horace Greeley Schacht was a German economist, banker, liberal politician, and co-founder of the German Democratic Party. He served as the Currency Commissioner and President of the Reichsbank under the Weimar Republic...

     issued the Rentenmark which was pegged to the price of gold and had an exchange rate of 4.2 marks per dollar. It ushered in five years (1924–1929) of economic stability and a new period of prosperity for the Weimar Republic.
  • SaupreissPrussia
    Prussia
    Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

    n swine
    ; Bavaria
    Bavaria
    Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

    n slang term for Prussians because of their domination of German politics and culture.
  • Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten
    Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten
    The Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten also known in short form as Der Stahlhelm was one of the many paramilitary organizations that arose after the defeat of World War I in the Weimar Republic...

    — (Steel Helmet, League of Front Soldiers) ; the largest of the paramilitary Freikorps organizations that arose after World War I. It was an accumulation point for nationalistic and anti-Weimar Republic elements.
  • Schloss — castle
    • Battle of the Schloss — The Volksmarine Division led by Lt. Dorrenbach seized the Kaiser's castle and stables which defeated an army unit sent to dislodge them.
  • Vertrauensmann — low-level political agent; Reichwehr sent agents to infiltrate political parties; The Bavarian unit sent Hitler as a Vertrauensmann to the Deutsche Arbeiterpartei.
  • von
    Von
    In German, von is a preposition which approximately means of or from.When it is used as a part of a German family name, it is usually a nobiliary particle, like the French, Spanish and Portuguese "de". At certain times and places, it has been illegal for anyone who was not a member of the nobility...

     — an aristocratic appellation to German names, though it does not always signify that class.
  • Wahlkreise — Weimar electoral districts.
  • Wehrkreis — military districts within Weimar Germany
  • Weimar Coalition — the first solid majoritarian parties; the Social Democratic Party (37.9%), the Catholic Center Party (19.7%), the liberal Democratic Party (18.6%).
  • Wehrverbände — volunteer defense units
  • White terror — violence of the counter-revolutionary and anti-communist forces, i.e. the Freikorps. (see also Red Terror)
  • Young Plan — the new reparations agreement negotiated by Gustav Stresemann
    Gustav Stresemann
    was a German politician and statesman who served as Chancellor and Foreign Minister during the Weimar Republic. He was co-laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1926.Stresemann's politics defy easy categorization...

     at the Hague;
    • anti-Young coalition — Alfred Hugenberg
      Alfred Hugenberg
      Alfred Ernst Christian Alexander Hugenberg was an influential German businessman and politician. Hugenberg, a leading figure within nationalist politics in Germany for the first few decades of the twentieth century, became the country's leading media proprietor within the inter-war period...

       with the Nationalist Party; Stahlhelm; the Pan-German League and Dr. Schacht of the Reichsbank; the campaign began in September 1929.
  • Zusammenstösse — clashs, gang fights; the brawls between the various political paramilitary groups

See also

  • Weimar political parties
    Weimar political parties
    The Weimar Republic was in existence for thirteen years. In that time, some 40 parties were represented in the Reichstag. This fragmentation of political power was in part due to the peculiar parliamentary system of the Weimar Republic, and in part due to the many challenges facing German democracy...

  • Weimar paramilitary groups
    Weimar paramilitary groups
    Paramilitary groups were formed throughout the Weimar Republic in the wake of Germany's defeat in World War I and the ensuing German Revolution. Some were created by political parties to help in recruiting, discipline and in preparation for seizing power. Some were created before World War I....

  • Glossary of the Third Reich
    Glossary of the Third Reich
    This is a list of words, terms, concepts, and slogans that were specifically used in Nazi Germany.Some words were coined by Adolf Hitler and other Nazi Party members. Other words and concepts were borrowed and appropriated, and other terms were already in use during the Weimar Republic...

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