An analysis of the role of long term factors for the the collapse of democracy in Weimar Germany and their legacy for the post Second World War Europe

The tragic fall of Weimar Germany was a momentous event not only for Germany but also for the entire Europe since the first German democracy was succeeded by one of the most brutal regimes in history which had led the entire continent in to abyss. This thesis tries to understand the long term causes of this fall by concentrating on the factors which had been crippling democratic prospects in Germany since the formation of the Second Reich. By concentrating on the continuities between the Kaiserreich and the Weimar Republic, it is trying to assert that Germany indeed had proceeded in a way unique to its own towards the dictatorship; the Nazi Third Reich. The conclusion part of this study discusses the lessons that have been drawn from the fall of first German democracy and hence shows the significance of the Weimar experience for the formation of a new political culture in the post Second World War Europe in general and Federal Republic of Germany in particular.