Violence, inflation, extremism: 1923, the year that prepared the Germans for Hitler

France and Belgium militarily occupied the Ruhr basin on January 11, 1923 to collect the war reparations provided for in the Treaty of Versailles.

On April 20, the first issue of the anti-Semitic newspaper

, which would help to weaken the little support that the young Weimar Republic had.

On September 26, Chancellor Gustav Stresemann declared a state of emergency.

1923 was an extremely difficult year for the Germans, already shocked by the material and human costs of the First World War;

what was settled in it was not only the future of Germany, however, but that of all of Europe.

The “Spanish flu”—which, according to the most reliable data, caused some 260,000 deaths in that country—gave its last throes that winter.

Several cities became independent with French help, giving rise to a brief Rhenish Republic.

Bitterness, unemployment, scarcity and distrust of the authorities led to a spectacular growth in extremism of all kinds, in addition to political assassination,

riots, antisemitism.

“No other year prepared the Germans for Hitler as well as that one,” Stefan Zweig said soon after: On November 9, Bavarian police aborted a coup in Munich led by a rising politician whose name was precisely Adolf Hitler. .

More information

Why you have to remember the years of the Weimar Republic

LP Hartley once observed that "the past is a foreign country," adding: "Things are done differently there."

A new batch of books addressing 1923 does so not only because of the obvious importance of the events that took place in Germany that year, nor solely because of the indisputable commercial pull of anniversaries, but also because—in the manner of a rhyme in the song of history—inflation, fear of food shortages, the radicalization of political opinions, distrust of institutions, a pandemic and a war on European soil are also on the front pages of newspapers today.

Police officers take away the aristocrat Heinrich XIII, "Prince Heinrich", in custody and in handcuffs, on December 7, 2022. Boris Roessler (AP)

It is not the same, however.

The occupation of the Ruhr area and the riots that followed it led to the radicalization of essentialist and nationalist ideology groups such as

[Blood and Soil] who would eventually submit to Hitler's authority, but not There seems to be no figure at this time equally gifted for the exercise of charismatic leadership, to the point that the so-called “Prince Heinrich” —who last December tried to lead a coup d'état serious enough for the German police to stop his customary discretion around his counterterrorism operations aside — he was treated with scorn even by the Alternative for Germany (AfD), the country's far-right, denialist party.

Confidence in the authorities and the German political system is, moreover, according to polls, quite high.

And inflation, unlike in 1923, seems controlled.

That of that year, on the other hand, had a practically inconceivable dimension: at the time of the Armistice, the dollar cost 48 marks;

almost three years later, in the first half of 1921, 90;

six months later, 330, which dropped to 320 in the first half of 1922. In July of that year, however, the North American currency had already reached 1,000 marks, and in December it cost 7,400.

On November 7, 1923, almost a year later, the dollar was exchanged for 637,000 million marks.

Germany could not meet the debt acquired during the war or pay subsequent reparations,

so it continued to print money without backing, thus fueling inflation: at the end of 1922, a loaf of bread in Berlin cost 160 marks;

at the end of the following year, he 200,000 million of that currency.

As the usual denominations had become impractical, 1923 saw the circulation of a 5 million mark coin, as well as 50 million, 500 million and 50 million trillion mark notes.

The result was enormous social unrest and uncertainty that drove Germans into the arms of anyone who claimed to be able to bring order to the country's affairs.

As Christian Bommarius writes in

1923 saw the circulation of a 5 million mark coin, as well as 50 million, 500 million and 50 million trillion mark notes.

The result was enormous social unrest and uncertainty that drove Germans into the arms of anyone who claimed to be able to bring order to the country's affairs.

As Christian Bommarius writes in

1923 saw the circulation of a 5 million mark coin, as well as 50 million, 500 million and 50 million trillion mark notes.

The result was enormous social unrest and uncertainty that drove Germans into the arms of anyone who claimed to be able to bring order to the country's affairs.

As Christian Bommarius writes in

[

], “people experienced with a frenzied alienation the speed at which money was devalued.

It was a devastating time for the Germans.”

'Bildnis der Journalistin Sylvia von Harden' (Portrait of the Journalist Sylvia von Harden), by Otto Dix (1926).© Center Pompidou, MNAM-CCI / Dist. Rmn-Gp, © Adagp

Books like yours and like

(Out of control. Germany in 1923), by Peter Longerich;

(The salvation of the Republic? Germany in the crisis year of 1923);

by Peter Reichel, and

(Dance macabre. 1923 and its consequences), by Jutta Hoffritz —there is more:

by Mark Jones;

(Germany, 1923. The year in the abyss), by Volker Ullrich;

1923. Endstation (1923, end of tour), by Peter Süß…—, illuminate a year of contradictions, since 1923 was also the year in which Thomas Mann finished writing

, Franz Kafka fell in love with Dora Diamant, the Bauhaus held its first exhibition, and Bertolt Brecht premiered

.

Paul Klee, Otto Dix, Georg Grosz and Max Beckmann were in full creative maturity at the time, the film industry was thriving—in the 1920s and 1930s film production in Germany was equal to that of all other European countries combined—, jazz was playing in nightclubs, radio was starting up, women were cutting their hair and starting to drive and work, and so on.

1923 is also the year that currency reform stabilized the economy and saved democracy.

And the most interesting thing about all this is that the authors of these new titles all approach it differently.

Longerich attributes a good part of the problems of 1923 to the fact that Stresemann lost control of the situation, Reichel considers that the established political forces failed in their purpose of resolving the conflict through negotiation and the search for compromises and suggests that the Republic was saved Thanks to the efforts of President Friedrich Ebert, Hoffritz focuses on four exemplary lives—those of the dancer Anita Berber, the industrialist Hugo Stinnes, the economist Rudolf Havenstein, and the visual artist Käthe Kollwitz—, Bommarius highlights the artistic achievements of that year, and also has a fascinating archival work,

etc;

almost all of them try to answer the question of how the seeds of hatred could have been avoided in 1923, which —despite the “Goldene Zwanziger” or “golden twenties” between 1924 and 1929— would sprout in 1933 with the arrival of Nazism to the power.

Sören Kierkegaard wrote that “life can only be understood retrospectively, looking back;

but you live moving forward”.

All these authors are trying to find out if the pitfalls we will face in the coming years can be avoided by better understanding the past, before the future too seems like a foreign country to us.

between 1924 and 1929—would sprout in 1933 with the rise of Nazism to power.

Sören Kierkegaard wrote that “life can only be understood retrospectively, looking back;

but you live moving forward”.

All these authors are trying to find out if the pitfalls we will face in the coming years can be avoided by better understanding the past, before the future too seems like a foreign country to us.

between 1924 and 1929—would sprout in 1933 with the rise of Nazism to power.

Sören Kierkegaard wrote that “life can only be understood retrospectively, looking back;

but you live moving forward”.

All these authors are trying to find out if the pitfalls we will face in the coming years can be avoided by better understanding the past, before the future too seems like a foreign country to us.

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