The Threepenny Opera

Though set in Victorian England, Bertolt Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera (1928) is embedded in the volatile political climate of the Weimar Republic, a period defined by economic crises, ideological struggles, and the erosion of democratic stability. Preceded by the German Empire, also called the Second Reich, the Weimar Republic was established after Germany’s defeat in World War I. On November 9, 1918, Philipp Scheidemann of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SDP) proclaimed the beginning of the Weimar Republic. Shortly after, Friedrich Ebert, the leader of the SDP, became the president of the republic. This was the first time in history that the whole German territory was united under one democratically elected government. The Weimar Republic would last from 1918 until the establishment of the Nazi dictatorship in 1933 (also called the Third Reich).

The years following World War I saw Germany in a difficult economic and geopolitical situation. The Treaty of Versailles (1919) imposed crushing reparations, which led to hyperinflation, mass unemployment, and widespread discontent. Political factions clashed across ideological lines. For example, on the left, the Marxist Spartacist League, led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, championed the working class, arguing that the new government was suppressing the proletariat revolution.