20th Century
The short 20th century
Now we have come to the last chapter in the history of our region, it covers the period from the Great War to the “Bonn years” of the Federal Republic of Germany.
20th Century
20th Century
The Great War
At the beginning of the 20th century, two blocks all armed to a maximum stood against each other. England, France and Russia („Triple Entente“) on one side, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy („Dreibund“) on the other. Austria-Hungary, the Habsburg Empire, the multi-ethnic-state, was quite an anachronism, and about to fall apart.
Revolution and Rhineland Occupation
German Revolution
Germany, 1918/1919. The world after the Great War was a different one. Millions of soldiers had perished in battle. In Russia, the Bolsheviks had seized power and finally killed the Tsar and his family,. The multi-ethnic Austria-Hungary was falling apart. In Germany, the mood swung against the Kaiser.
Revolution and Rhineland Occupation
Occupation of the Rhineland
Rhineland, November 1918. The armistice put a temporary end to the fighting in the Great War. However, martial law remained in force, and the British fleet maintained its naval blockade.
Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic – Years of crisis
This chapter if about the first German republic, named after the city of Weimar where the national assembly met in 1919, to decide about a constitution and to form a new government. However, the young Weimar Republican had to struggle from its start.
Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic – Golden Era
After the Weimar Republic had survived the year of crisis 1923, a short time of economic recovery and political stability began. These were the “Golden Twenties”. However, the German democracy was shaky. Already in the middle of the twenties, the parties of the center and center-left lost many votes whereas […]
Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic – Depression and decline
Foreign loans had helped Germany to recover economically and get back on her feet again. But then the “Black Thursday” in New York changed everything. The stock market into widened into a global crisis, sent the USA into the Great Depressing. The Weimar Republic faced another devastating crisis.
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
On January 30, 1933, pressured by former Chancellor Franz von Papen and other staunch conservatives, President Hindenburg had finally appointed Hitler Chancellor. Within only a few month, Germany became a totalitarian state.
Nazi Germany
World War II
The Second World War began, and it would be even more devastating than the first. It raged between 1939 and 1945 and affected the civilians more than any war before. .
20th Century
Federal Republic
The last chapter deals with the democratic new beginning after the Second World War, the “Bonn years” of the Federal Republic and the state guests on Mount Petersberg.