Delivered in Berlin on October 13, 1922, the speech was a direct response to the rising tide of political violence, most notably the assassination of democratic statesman Walter Rathenau.
To the German right, who had lionized Mann for his anti-democratic wartime writings, this speech felt like "throwing an incendiary bomb into his own house". Tomas Man – O Nemačkoj republici
Mann didn't just adopt liberal talking points; he tried to prove that democracy was actually a deeply German ideal by linking it to traditional Romanticism. What Is German? - The Atlantic Delivered in Berlin on October 13, 1922, the
For Mann, it was a necessary step to protect the German "humanity" from the "brutal and vulgar" forces that would eventually lead to Nazism. The Argument: Marrying Tradition with Democracy Delivered in Berlin on October 13