The process of democracy's collapse in the Weimar republic

The Weimar Republic was Germany's first real attempt at liberal democracy. Conceived in the final days of World War I, Weimar would only last a total of fourteen years before the attempt at democracy would be abandoned and a more authoritarian rule than that of Kaiser Wilhelm II would begin under the fascist dictatorship of Adolf Hitler. The question naturally arises as to what happened within German society that could, within such a short time span, prompt the German nation to move from a monarchy to democracy and then to a totalitarian regime. This essay attempts to answer that Question.