From the Weimar Republic to Today: Made in Germany

In the early 1920s, after the Great War, the German people overthrew the imperial government. After such an extended and horrible conflict, this political overhaul was relatively painless; however, the resulting Weimar Republic was too weak to support an unstable, losing Germany. During the decade-long attempt at a German democracy, hyperinflation plagued the economy as well as the $33 billion war debt. (The economy seemed to improve for a short period of time, then a state of financial crisis in 1930 caused the Weimar Republic to implode, unable to function because of severe debt.) The humiliation of having lost a war caused the German people to become embittered, blaming the failure of their armies on the plotting of minority groups such as the Jews and socialists. Thus, nationalism became militant.



Now, Germany is experiencing similar economic troubles. Thankfully, militant nationalism is not driving the country toward extremism as it once had; instead, stimulus packages are being distributed in an attempt to jump-start the economy. However, the economic hardship parallels that of the Great Depression in a rather disturbing way. This is the insider's view from Deutsche Welle's Made in Germany. (I would post a RAI Italia video about the present economy in Italy, but Silvio Berlusconi regrettably owns that TV station.)