Lately I've been reading a bit about how and why the Weimar Republic fell, and I'm looking for more insight into it than just skimming the Wiki pages. I have a pretty solid surface understanding of the economic and post-war causes; however, I'm more interested in the political landscape of Weimar before it's fall, how the other parties tried/failed to stop the fascist takeover of Germany, and how the NSDAP used political violence and rhetoric to take control. If you have recommendations for videos/books/documentaries I'd greatly appreciate it.
Hi there, while you wait for answers from other users, you may also be interested in this section of our Books and Resources list.
Ben Hett’s book Death of Democracy really does an excellent job of covering this topic concisely but thoroughly. I’ve read a lot of material on this subject, but Hett’s synthesis updates things substantially and also ties the fall of Weimar to today’s struggles over democracy vs authoritarianism. I strongly recommend it.
You may be interested in reading The Last Winter of the Weimar Republic. The authors are journalists, not academic historians, but the book is well-sourced to provide a day-by-day account of the period between the November 1932 German election and the end of January 1933 when Hitler was named Chancellor, from the viewpoints of different key actors and observers in Berlin during the time period.
I just finished it and it's a very engrossing read; once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down, and I ended up reading it cover-to-cover over the course of two 2-hour flights this past weekend.