"The System" ( German: ''Das System'') was a derogatory term used by the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

to denote contemptuously the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

, whose official name was

German Reich German ''Reich'' (, from ) was the constitutional name for the German nation state that existed from 1871 to 1945. The ''Reich'' became understood as deriving its authority and sovereignty entirely from a continuing unitary German ''Volk'' ("na ...

(Deutsches Reich), and its institutions.Cornelia Schmitz-Berning: ''Vokabular des Nationalsozialismus.'' 2. durchges. u. überarb, Aufl. Berlin 2007, , pp. 597-598. In

Nazi propaganda Propaganda was a tool of the Nazi Party in Germany from its earliest days to the end of the regime in May 1945 at the end of World War II. As the party gained power, the scope and efficacy of its propaganda grew and permeated an increasing amou ...

, the word was used in a number of compounds: for example, the period from the

German Revolution of 1918–1919 German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

to the ''

Machtergreifung The rise to power of Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919, when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He quickly rose t ...

'' in 1933 was called "The time of the System" (German: ''Systemzeit'') and political opponents of the Nazis from this period were called "System parties", "System politicians" or the "System press". After 1933, the term was quickly adopted to everyday use.

Victor Klemperer Victor Klemperer (9 October 188111 February 1960) was a German literary scholar and diarist. His journals, published posthumously in Germany in 1995, detailed his life under the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, the fascist Nazi Germany, Third ...

(2006), ''LTI, Lingua Tertii Imperii: a philologist's notebook'', Continuum International Publishing Group, , p. 91 Another Nazi phrase used for the republic and its politicians was "the November criminals" or "the regime of the November criminals" (German: ''November-Verbrecher''), referring to the month the republic was founded in (November 1918).Richard Wires (1985), ''Terminology of the Third Reich'', Ball State University, p. 44 This term was used also by other nationalistic groups.

References

External links

''Bring Down the System!''
Campaign pamphlet for the 1932 Reichstag election
Election poster: ''Germans, give the System your answer! Vote for Hitler!''
Nazi terminology Politics of the Weimar Republic {{Nazi-stub