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HIS32950

Academic Year 2026/2027

Weimar Germany (HIS32950)

Subject:
History
College:
Arts & Humanities
School:
History
Level:
3 (Degree)
Credits:
10
Module Coordinator:
Assoc Professor Mark Jones
Trimester:
Autumn
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

This course covers the rise and fall of Germany’s first democracy: the Weimar Republic (1918-1933). The Republic was born of a revolution that saw the parties of liberal democracy taking 75% of the vote in elections in January 1919. Within a year the constitution they created was among the most modern in the world. Women could vote equally with men regardless of age or property. Workers could negotiate wages with employers and their exploitation appeared at an end. The leaders of Germany’s gay rights movement believed that the new Republic would give them a chance to obtain legal equality and end discrimination. Within 15 years the optimism of the Republic’s beginnings was gone. Nazism replaced liberalism. Germany was transformed from an advanced prototype of modern democracy to a uniquely brutal authoritarian dictatorship. Germany’s first democratic experiment was dead.

This course examines the lessons of the Weimar Republic from the perspectives of politics and culture. It introduces students to key political situations and cultural movements in the short life of the Weimar Republic. Each week’s topic is first explored from the perspective of historical writing with a focus upon politics, elections, economics and law. Topics studied include revolution and the legacies of the First World War; economic chaos and the conservative backlash against liberalism; expressionism, modernist art and cinema, foreign policy, authoritarianism, political violence and the backlash against democracy. At the end of the course, students will have a better understanding of the challenges that faced Weimar democracy and of how politics and culture are intertwined with art and creativity. This historical understanding will help to inform analysis of the challenges facing democracies face today.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this module, students

Will be able to analyze and evaluate conflicting historical interpretations of Modern German History

Will have acquired basic knowledge and understanding of some of the key historiographical debates about the Weimar Republic

Will have familiarized themselves with some of the most important concepts and methodological approaches to the history of art, politics and culture

Will have a fuller understanding of the rich secondary literature on the period.

Will have improved their ability to interpret primary sources

Will be able to relate the history of Weimar Germany to challenges facing contemporary democracies

Indicative Module Content:

Weekly topic list:

Week 1: creating the Republic 1: the end of the war and the revolution of 1918-19


Week 2: creating the Republic 2: 1919 the National Assembly and the Weimar Constitution


Week 3: Creating the Republic 3: international relations/foreign policy in 1919; the Versailles Treaty and the long end of the First World War


Week 4: the world upturned 1: from the Kapp Putsch to the Rathenau murder (1920-1922) – focus on political crises, political violence, revolutionary aftershocks, the murders of Erzberger/Rathenau, the Organization Consul, the law for the protection of the Republic


Week 5: the world upturned 2: 1923 (1) The French occupation of the Ruhr and the acceleration of economic crisis / end of money


Week 6: the world upturned (3): 1923 Bavaria versus Germany: separatist politics and the Beer Hall Putsch.


Week 7: the Republic stabilized 1. Weimar politics after 1923 – the Republic’s ‘Golden years’, the politics of Gustav Stresemann.


Week 8: the Republic stabilized 2: The Presidential election of 1925.


Week 9: the Republic stabilized 3: anti-Republican thought during the years of stability: Hans Grimm and a People without space (Volk ohne Raum first published in 1926)


Week 10: The end of the Weimar experiment 1. The breakdown of the Weimar coalition: the 1929 economic crisis, the end of the Muller government, the start of the Bruning Chancellorship.


Week 11: The end of the Weimar experiment 2: The end of the Bruning Chancellorship, the course of the Papen and Schleicher governments – street fighting, foreign policy, currency policy.

Week 12: Weimar after Weimar – the long life of ‘Germany’s first democracy.’ ‘Weimar’ as a site of memory and a source of political mobilization in the Third Reich, East and West-Germany, and Weimar today – a lesson against populism.

UNESCO highlights a set of key competencies that support individuals in their development and support society in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UCD has adapted these competencies and is combining them with others to form a general framework of learning competencies. This module will help you develop the competencies below to the levels specified. 
Learning Competency Additional Information Level

Collaboration

 The ability to learn from others; to understand and respect the needs, perspectives and actions of others (empathy); to understand, relate to and be sensitive to others (empathic leadership); to deal with conflicts in a group; and to facilitate collaborative and participatory problem solving. Competent

Critical Thinking

 The ability to question norms, practices and opinions; to reflect on one’s own values, perceptions and actions. Competent

Systems Thinking

 The ability to recognize and understand relationships; to analyse complex systems; to think of how systems are embedded within different domains and different scales; and to deal with uncertainty. Advanced Beginner

Strategic

 The ability to collectively develop and implement innovative actions that further sustainability at the local level and further afield. Not addressed

Integrated Problem Solving

 The overarching ability to apply different problem-solving frameworks to complex sustainability problems and develop viable, inclusive and equitable solution options that promote sustainable development, integrating the competencies in this list. Advanced Beginner

Self-awareness

 The ability to reflect on one’s own role in the local community and (global) society; to continually evaluate and further motivate one’s actions; and to deal with one’s feelings and desires. Competent

Normative

 The ability to understand and reflect on the norms and values that underlie one’s actions; and to negotiate values, principles, goals, and targets, in a context of conflicts of interest and trade-offs, uncertain knowledge and contradictions. Competent

Anticipatory

 The ability to understand and evaluate multiple scenarios for the future – possible, probable and desirable; to create one’s own visions for the future; to apply the precautionary principle; to assess the consequences of actions; and to deal with risks and changes. Competent

Digital Literacy and Judgement

 The ability to access, evaluate, create and communicate information in digital environments; to engage critically, ethically and responsibly with digital technologies and digital information; to understand their opportunities, limitations, risks and impact on individual’s digital identities; and to exercise informed judgement in digital participation and decision-making. Competent

AI Literacy & Agency

 The ability to understand, critically evaluate and responsibly engage with artificial intelligence; to recognise how AI systems are shaped by human values; to assess their ethical, social and environmental implications; and to exercise human judgement, agency and accountability in AI-related contexts. Competent

Wellbeing

 Wellbeing is having the resources and skills to meet life's challenges, including attributes such as personal development skills, resilience, stress management, strengths, lifestyle skills, nutrition, physical activity, sleep, alcohol/substance use, academic skills, time management, goal setting, interpersonal skills, group work, communication. Competent

The United Nations identified seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as core to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and UCD contributes in general to SDG 4 Quality Education. Further SDGs explored within this module if relevant are listed below. A scale of 1 - 5 indicates the extent to which the SDG is covered.


Goal Name Description Coverage

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all 1
 

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Specified Learning Activities

95
Autonomous Student Learning

95
Lectures

11
Seminar (or Webinar)

22
Total

223

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
This is a 10 credit module.

Students will attend a weekly lecture, and a weekly seminar.

Students will learn by readings, in class discussion, and the completion of an in-class presentation.

The sources available for students included primary texts such as novels and political speeches, as well as film.

Generative AI is not permitted for use in this module.

A proportion of written assignments in each module in the School of History are subject to moderation, meaning they undergo a second layer of review by another grader. This can include oral moderation meetings where the student is invited in for a short meeting with the module coordinator to discuss the assignment. Moderation contributes to better informed marking.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Assignment(Including Essay): 40% of the final grade is for combined in class presentation and 1,500 word literature analysis. Week 8 Graded No
40
 No
Assignment(Including Essay): 40% of the final grade is for a 4,000 word end of term paper. Week 12 Graded No
40
 No
Participation in Learning Activities: 20% of the final grade is for active participation in class. Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11, Week 12 Graded No
20
 No

As part of UCD's student support, under the Additional Consideration policy, extensions may be available for the following assessments in the module: Assignment (including essay/poster), Portfolio, Reflective Assignment, Report(s), and Individual Project.


Carry forward of passed components
No
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

You will receive feedback throughout the semester. This will include feedback on your contributions to in class discussions; you will receive instructions upon how to prepare for and deliver your presentation and literature review; and you will receive instructions and feedback upon how to use your presentation and literature review as a part of the preparation for your final essay.

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Autumn Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 Mon 11:00 - 11:50
Autumn Seminar Offering 1 Week(s) - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 Tues 09:00 - 10:50
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