Delivered in Berlin on October 13, 1922, the speech was a direct response to the rising tide of political violence, most notably the assassination of democratic statesman Walter Rathenau.
To the German right, who had lionized Mann for his anti-democratic wartime writings, this speech felt like "throwing an incendiary bomb into his own house". Tomas Man – O Nemačkoj republici
Mann didn't just adopt liberal talking points; he tried to prove that democracy was actually a deeply German ideal by linking it to traditional Romanticism. What Is German? - The Atlantic Delivered in Berlin on October 13, 1922, the
For Mann, it was a necessary step to protect the German "humanity" from the "brutal and vulgar" forces that would eventually lead to Nazism. The Argument: Marrying Tradition with Democracy What Is German
In 1922, Thomas Mann —the former arch-conservative who once championed German "culture" against Western "civilization"—stunned his country by declaring his support for the fledgling Weimar Republic . His landmark speech and subsequent essay, ( Von deutscher Republik ), represents one of history's most famous political "conversions". The "Incendiary Bomb": Context & Impact