Editing Democratization (section)

=== Germany ===
Germany established its first democracy in 1919 with the creation of the [[Weimar Republic]], a parliamentary republic created following the [[German Empire]]'s defeat in [[World War I]]. The Weimar Republic lasted only 14 years before it collapsed and [[Adolf Hitler's rise to power|was replaced]] by [[Nazi Germany|Nazi dictatorship]].<ref name="Berger">Stefan Berger, "The Attempt at Democratization under Weimar" in ''European Democratization since 1800''. Eds. John Garrard, Vera Tolz & Ralph White (Springer, 2000), pp. 96–115.</ref> Historians continue to debate the reasons why the Weimar Republic's attempt at democratization failed.<ref name="Berger" /> After Germany [[End of World War II in Europe|was militarily defeated in World War II]], democracy was reestablished in [[West Germany]] during the [[Allied-occupied Germany|U.S.-led occupation]] which undertook the [[denazification]] of society.<ref>Richard L. Merritt, ''Democracy Imposed: U.S. Occupation Policy and the German Public, 1945–1949'' (Yale University Press, 1995).</ref>