weimarization

/ˌvaɪmɑːɹaɪˈzeɪʃ(ə)n/

Etymology

From Weimar (city in Thuringia, Germany) + -ization. On 11 August 1919, the national assembly of the German state met in Weimar to adopt a new constitution (the Weimar Constitution), leading to the formation of the Weimar Republic which proved to be a time of economic and political upheaval.

Why this word is great

WEIMARIZATION — [Noun] A state of economic crisis leading to political upheaval and extremism, reminiscent of the Weimar Republic's instability. From Weimar (city in Thuringia, Germany, where the Weimar Republic was established in 1919) + -ization (suffix denoting the process of becoming or causing to be). Unlike "hyperinflation" (which narrows to currency collapse) or "radicalization" (which fixates on ideological drift), Weimarization is the whole theater of decay: the hollowed-out middle class trading heirlooms for bread, the newspapers printing billion-mark notes like carnival tickets, the beer-hall demagogues rising like smoke from the wreckage of rational governance. It is the moment when a society’s foundations buckle not from invasion, but from within—a slow-motion unraveling that leaves only the question of what grotesque new shape will fill the void.

noun

A state of economic crisis leading to political upheaval and extremism.“In a last frantic move, the Peronist government again turned to a stringent stabilization plan (i.e. another 100 per cent peso devaluation, 90 per cent increases in publicly-controlled prices, coupled with a meagre 20 per cent increase in nominal wages). […] Some idea of this incredibly rapid ‘Weimarization’ of Argentine politics can be gleaned from an extrapolation of the first quarter’s inflatio”