Heinrich Bruning and the Dissolution of the Weimar Republic

Scholars have long debated whether Heinrich Brüning, head of the German government from 1930 to 1932, was the 'last democratic chancellor'of the Weimar Republic or the trailblazer of the Nazi dictatorship. His memoirs (published in 1970) damaged his reputation badly by terming the restoration of monarchy the 'crux' of his policies. This 1998 book is the first scholarly biography of Bruning in any language and offers a systematic analysis of the economic, social, foreign, and military policies of his cabinet as it sought to cope with the Great Depression. With the help of newly available sources, it clarifies the peculiar distortions in the memoirs, showing that Chancellor Brüning intended to restore parliamentary democracy intact when the economic crisis passed. He was curbing the Nazi menace successfully when President Hindenburg, reactionary landowners, and army generals eager for massive rearmament made the disastrously misguided decision to topple him.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments; Introduction: Brüning and the Prussian tradition; 1. Brüning's political apprenticeship; 2. The establishment of semi-parlimentary government; 3. Foreign policy and the 'National Opposition'; 4. Economics and politics in the shadow of the bank crisis; 5. Brüning's fall; 6. The destruction of the rule of law; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

Review :
"...Patch has written a thoughtful biographical study that dispels many of the misconceptions, some fostered in later years by BrUning himself, surrounding Weimar's 'last democratic Chancellor.'" Choice "...Patch's sifting of both primary materials and secondary accounts is remarkably sensible, fair and balanced. As a reliable compendium of the evidence that adds new levels of subtlety and complexity to our knowledge of an important figure, this fine book should serve as the standard account for some time." Canadian Journal of History "As a work of empirical history, Patch's book leaves the reader with yet another impression, namely, that Weimar politics had become chaotic and meandering in the early 1930s. One is almost overwhelmed by the detailed descriptions of political moves and countermoves, of schemes and counterschemes, of intrigues and counterintrigues. It is in this maze of tactical maneuvering by many other individuals that not only Br^D"uningbut also larger strategic questions become miniaturized. Maybe some day historians will go back to the bold structuralism of Bracher or - dare I mention the name? - of David Abraham. Until then Patch's important book stands as an impressive achievement in political history of the most meticulous kind." Journal of Modern History