Germany’s defeat in WW I caused a profound social and political change in the country, starting with sailor mutinies in Wilhelmshaven and Kiel — the German Supreme Command, in charge of the land forces, had all but surrendered, while the Naval Command was preparing its men for a last-ditch suicidal charge at the British fleet. That spirit of rebellion, magnified by hopes from the Communist revolution in Russia, inspired the formation of a new republic, called Weimar, for the city in which its founders met.

On this day, August 11, in 1919 the Weimar Republic constitution was adopted, to hold until Chancellor Adolf Hitler and his Nationalist-Socialist party would transform it into a tyrannical regime.

After the sham democracy of Kaiser Wilhelm II, the new constitution was a established a true democracy, which turned out to be its biggest achilles heel. With broad inclusiveness, the Weimar system of government allowed even minor political parties to hold up procedures and government acts, making the ruling party seem incapable of governing. Hitler’s Nazi party used this to their advantage.