Founding Weimar
Violence and the German Revolution of 1918–1919

The first study to reveal the key relationship between violence and fears of violence during the German Revolution of 1918–1919.

Mark Jones (Author)

9781107535527, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 22 November 2018

404 pages, 20 b/w illus. 4 maps
23 x 15.3 x 2.2 cm, 0.6 kg

'A major contribution to historiography … there are reasons to believe that it will be regarded as a turning point in the way in which historians explain post First World War revolutionary processes and political violence on the European continent … Original and well written, Founding Weimar is an innovative, intriguing, and persuasive analysis of violence during the German revolution of 1918–19. Mark Jones must be congratulated on his new and provocative contribution to the topic.' Ángel Alcalde, Reviews in History

The German Revolution of 1918–1919 was a transformative moment in modern European history. It was both the end of the German Empire and the First World War, as well as the birth of the Weimar Republic, the short-lived democracy that preceded the establishment of the Nazi dictatorship. A time of great political drama, the Revolution saw unprecedented levels of mass mobilisation and political violence, including the 'Spartacist Uprising' of January 1919, the murders of Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, and the violent suppression of strikes and the Munich Councils' Republic. Drawing upon the historiography of the French Revolution, Founding Weimar is the first study to place crowds and the politics of the streets at the heart of the Revolution's history. Carefully argued and meticulously researched, it will appeal to anyone with an interest in the relationship between violence, revolution, and state formation, as well as in the history of modern Germany.

List of illustrations
List of maps
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction
1. La grande peur of November 1918
2. Karl Liebknecht and the Spartacist threat
3. Terror and order
4. The edge of the abyss
5. The January uprising
6. Atrocities and remobilisation
7. Weimar's order to execute
8. Death in Munich
Conclusion
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: Revolutions, uprisings, rebellions [HBTV], Social & cultural history [HBTB], History: specific events & topics [HBT], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], European history [HBJD]