HistoryHub
Connecting past and present
The murder of the Weimar Republic’s foreign minister in western Berlin in the summer of 1922 is understood as a sign of German democracy’s weakness. When it is told it is recalled as a part of the history of the rise of the Nazis. By remembering it this way we also forget that in the days after his murder, just over a decade before Hitler became Chancellor, there was a mass outpouring of support for democracy, condemnation of antisemitism, and sympathy with Rathenau himself.
Mark Jones is a Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Global History at University College Dublin.
A specialist in the history of political violence, war, and revolution, he is best known for his books Founding Weimar. Violence and the German Revolution of 1918-19 (Cambridge University Press, 2016) and Am Anfang war Gewalt (Propyläen, 2017).
A regular public speaker, Mark’s media credits include Deutschlandradio, Radio-Berlin-Brandenburg, BBC Radio 4, Newstalk FM as well the popular podcast ‘Second Captains.’ He has also published articles and opinion pieces in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Focus-Online, Zeit-Geschichte, and the Irish Independent.
His latest book is ‘1923: The Forgotten Crisis in the Year of Hitler’s Coup‘ (Basic Books, 2023).
About the book
1923 was one of the most remarkable years of modern European history. In January, France and Belgium militarily occupied Germany’s economic heartland, the Ruhr; triggering a series of crises that almost spiralled out of control. Hyperinflation plunged millions into poverty. The search for scapegoats empowered political extremes. Hitler’s populism ascended to national prominence. Communists, Nazis, separatists all thought that they could use the crises to destroy democracy.
None succeeded. 1923 was the year of Hitler’s first victory – and his first defeat. Fanning the flames of instability, anti-government and antisemitic sentiment, the Nazis’ abortive yet pivotal putsch in a Munich beer hall failed when they were abandoned by their likeminded conservative allies.
Drawing on previously unseen sources, Jones weaves together a thrilling and resonant narrative of German lives in this turbulent time. Tracing Hitler’s rise, we see how political pragmatism and international cooperation eventually steered the nation away from total insurrection. A decade later, when Weimar democracy eventually succumbed to tyranny, the warnings from 1923 – rising of nationalist rhetoric, fragile European consensus, and underestimation the of the enemies of liberalism – became only too apparent.
In 1922 Walther Rathenau was Foreign Minister of Germany. His killers assassinated him because they had a plan that was based on the hope, that in the aftermath of the assassination, they would destabilize the German Republic leading to uprisings that would end with its replacement by an authoritarian regime that was committed to a war of revenge against the French, but their plan triggered the exact opposite.
Some accounts even suggested that millions of Germans demonstrated in support of the Weimar Republic and it’s dead foreign minister.
– Mark Jones
This podcast – ‘The murder of Walter Rathenau and the survival of Weimar democracy. Mark Jones on the year 1923’ – is based on 1923: The Crisis of German Democracy in the Year of Hitler’s Putsch.
Listen via History Hub’s podcast channels on Soundcloud, Apple and Spotify.
UCD offers a variety of study options and entry pathways, ranging from full-time degrees to short-term courses for pure interest. Lifelong Learning offers all adult learners the opportunity to explore a subject of their choice without the pressure of an examination. Open Learning is a flexible way of studying part-time at UCD. Explore your history options for the coming year.
The first in-person meeting of the Military Welfare History Network took place in Sutherland School of Law, University College Dublin on 7 July 2023. The event, which was co-ordinated by Dr Paul Huddie, comprised two keynotes and four panels, totalling 14 speakers. Conference keynotes by Dr Matthew Neufeld (University of Saskatchewan) and Dr Ke-Chin Hsia (Indiana University Bloomington) were recorded and are now available to podcast.
In June 2023 Professor Caitríona Beaumont (LSBU / UCD) joined UCD historians Dr Mary McAuliffe and Dr Fionnuala Walsh to record a podcast on a new project: AFTERLIVES.
The aim of the project is to uncover the afterlives and trace the life stories of lesser known activist women. As Beaumont explains, the inspiration for the project came from a surprising discovery.
On 8 March 2023, UCD School of History hosted ‘Writing LGBTQ histories from the medieval to the modern’. This event featured UCD historians Dr Elva Johnston, Dr Mary McAuliffe and Dr Fionnuala Walsh (Chair).
