"The System" (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

: ''Das System'') was a

derogatory term A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...

used by the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

to denote contemptuously the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is ...

, whose official name was

German Reich German ''Reich'' (lit. German Realm, German Empire, from german: Deutsches Reich, ) 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 ...

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

Nazi propaganda The propaganda used by the German Nazi Party in the years leading up to and during Adolf Hitler's dictatorship of Germany from 1933 to 1945 was a crucial instrument for acquiring and maintaining power, and for the implementation of Nazi polici ...

, the word was used in a number of compounds: for example, the period from the German Revolution of 1918–1919 to the '' Machtergreifung'' 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 scholar who also became known as a diarist. His journals, published in Germany in 1995, detailed his life under the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich, and the Germa ...

(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 The stab-in-the-back myth (, , ) was an antisemitic conspiracy theory that was widely believed and promulgated in Germany after 1918. It maintained that the Imperial German Army did not lose World War I on the battlefield, but was instead b ...

" 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!''
{{DEFAULTSORT:System, The Nazi terminology Politics of the Weimar Republic