TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2023//
TI  - Loose cannons: war veterans and the erosion of democracy in Weimar Germany
JO  - Journal of economic history
A1  - Koenig, Christoph
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - This article shows that democracy in Weimar Germany was eroded by the political legacy of WWI. Using novel data on WWI veterans and an election panel from 1893-1933, I find that former soldiers are associated with a sizeable, persistent, and momentous shift in political preferences from left to right. I provide suggestive evidence that war participation made veterans highly receptive to nationalism and Anti-Communism. This alienated them from leftwing parties and drove the majority toward the political right. Contrary to historical accounts, veterans' shifts in political preferences cannot be explained by exposure to violence or other polarizing post-war events.     Far more [German WWI] veterans managed subsequently to lead unremarkable humdrum lives than sought refuge in a life of violence. (…) Yet, they did vote.   --Richard Bessel (1995)<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0022-0507
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0022050722000523
ID  - ref1
ER  -