In this book Hans Mommsen addresses a major phenomenon in European history: the crisis of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Nazism. Beginning by focusing on the role of the bourgeoisie in late nineteenth–century Germany, he goes on to show how the collapse of expectations that had built up during the First World War led to resentment and revolt in the Weimar period. He shows how, paradoxically, the middle class began the opposition to the Republic they had created.
Issues of democracy and totalitarianism are discussed in detail, and throughout this work Mommsen suggests links between the crisis of the 1930s and political practices in contemporary Germany.