Theo Balderston, Economics and Politics in the Weimar Republic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. vii + 123 pp. $13 (paperback), ISBN: 0-521-77760-7; $35 (hardcover), ISBN: 0-521-58375-6.

Reviewed for EH.NET by Mark Spoerer, Department of Economic and Social Sciences, University of Hohenheim (Stuttgart, Germany).

The economic and political fate of the Weimar Republic (1918-1933) has always been seen as the prehistory of Hitler's rise to power, and still is seen this way. No other period of German economic history has inspired so much attention from both historians and economists. The two most outstanding issues that have sparked debates among them are the questions of whether and, if so, why the Weimar Republic suffered from structural problems already in her supposedly 'Golden Years' (1924-29), and whether Chancellor Heinrich Brüning had a feasible alternative to his pro-cyclical austerity policy from 1930 to 1932, which intensified the crisis in Germany. The latter issue is related to the former: If the Weimar economy was not ill, Brüning had more economic leeway for work creation programs and the like; and had he made use of it, Hitler possibly would not have been able to seize power in January 1933.

It was the German economic historian Knut Borchardt who questioned in the late 1970s the then orthodox view that Brüning's policy was a complete failure. Not only did Borchardt's hypothesis that Brüning did not have realistic alternatives to his policy provoke many historians and economists, but all the more his supply-side arguments. In essence, Borchardt saw the German economy of the late 1920s as one that was torn by distributional conflicts between labor and capital. The political revolution of 1918 soon lost its political impetus and faded to a wage movement. Pay increases that outweighed productivity increases constrained corporate profits and investment in the late 1920s, which in turn led to only moderate growth and budget deficits. In this pessimistic view, Brüning was a captive of circumstances that were beyond his control.[1]

To date there has not been a textbook that summarizes the arguments and evidence brought up in the academic debate, either in German or English. Now Theo Balderston, Senior Lecturer in Economic History at the University of Manchester, has written a small textbook that is published in the 'Economic and Social History' series of Cambridge University Press. Balderston is very well acquainted with the topic -- in 1993 he published a very detailed study on "The Origins and Course of the German Economic Crisis, November 1923 to May 1932" (Berlin, 1993).

Balderston has structured his text in a conventional chronological order: (1) Demobilisation and revolution, 1918-1919; (2) Treaty, reparations and 'capacity to pay'; (3) Inflation, 1918-1923; (4) Normalisation and stagnation?, 1924-1929; (5) The slump; (6) Epilogue. In his book, the author amply demonstrates that he is familiar with the vast literature on the subject, including even unpublished manuscripts of colleagues who work in the field. Balderston, however, does not get lost in the details. What I did appreciate is that Balderston, though not totally neutral, gives a balanced account of conflicting views. His readers are not faced with an authoritative story but are made familiar with different, often contradictory, explanations of various authors. History students and first- or second-year economics students will have difficulties with the underlying economic concepts, especially in chapters (2) and (3). Though very useful, the 'glossary of economic and political terms' will not spare the attentive reader from having to acquire some elementary economic knowledge.

To sum up: this booklet is a very useful introduction into the turbulent economic and political events that shaped the Weimar economy. As the reader soon will find out, this book does not offer simple answers to difficult questions.

[1] See for Borchardt's article, as well as others on the issue: Juergen von Kruedener (ed.), Economic Crisis and Political Collapse: The Weimar Republic 1924-33 (German Historical Perspectives, 5), New York et al.: Berg, 1990.

Mark Spoerer is Lecturer in the Department of Economic and Social Sciences, University of Hohenheim. Among his recent publications are "Forced Laborers in Nazi Germany: Categories, Numbers, and Survivors," Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 33 (2002), pp. 169-204 (with Jochen Fleischhacker); and "Economic Crises and the European Revolutions of 1848," Journal of Economic History, 61 (2001), pp. 293-326 (with Helge Berger).