Lessons

In Weimar Republic 2.0 (2022), I traced the threads linking the collapse of the Weimar Republic (1919‑1933) to the fraying edges of modern democracy. Weimar did not implode overnight; it came apart via a string of small, human‑sized mistakes, the kind that make history mutter, “Told you so,” under its breath. This post builds on that compass, first examining missteps that felled Weimar, then holding a wary mirror to today’s politics. Consider it a cautious projection, riddled with blind spots, like most maps drawn by people claiming omniscience. ...

The Weimar Republic, that plucky little democratic experiment that popped up in Germany after the Kaiser buggered off (finally, some good news) and everyone else was too busy starving to argue. It’s become the go-to historical analogy for every hand-wringer who spots a far-right meme in Brussels or a political tantrum in the US and immediately declares, “We’re doomed, repeat of the 1930s!” Really? Let’s pause a second: history doesn’t repeat. At best, it stumbles drunkenly into the same pub, orders the same terrible lager, and then vomits on the carpet, same general pattern, slightly different carpet, maybe a new stain this time. ...