The year 1923 is regarded as the crisis year of the Weimar Republic. Hyperinflation, economic hardship and hunger, the occupation of the Ruhr area by French and Belgian troops, and the subsequent passive resistance, attempts at a coup by communists in Hamburg, Saxony, and Thuringia, as well as the Hitler coup in November, violence on the streets, and a lack of political stability created a sense of insecurity and disorientation in society. Peter Tauber describes the struggles of the still young republic, which only found some calm when Hitler's first attempt to seize power failed on November 9, 1923. However, the consequences of the crisis year were never fully overcome.

The series "Wars of Modernity," published by the Center for Military History and Social Sciences of the Bundeswehr, presents the most significant military conflicts of the 19th and 20th centuries based on the latest scientific findings and explains their historical causes and political consequences.