Following the German surrender in November 1918, the Empire experienced a brief but significant civil revolution. The German revolution lasted from the end of the war until August 1919. During this period, a national assembly was held in the city of Weimar where a new constitution was drawn up. A new federal republic (known as the Weimar Republic) was born, and a semi-presidential representative democracy overthrew the monarchy of Kaiser Wilhelm II. The new government immediately faced a multitude of problems including political instability, the re-establishment and maintenance of post-war international relations, and severe economic turbulence – most notably the period of hyperinflation that occurred in the early 1920s. Hyperinflation is an economic condition characterized by “a rapid increase in the general price level that continues for a significant period” and during this period the concept of inflation is essentially deprived of meaning (Kroon 90). The post-World War I German economy experienced a crippling period of hyperinflation that lasted nearly two years and had a huge impact on the economy. Hyperinflation began quietly as during the war years the inflation rate increased by only one or two percentage points per year. In the post-war period inflation began to rise and in the first half of 1922 inflation raged. During this period, businesses reached full operating capacity and unemployment almost disappeared. While nominal wages rose, real wages fell precipitously. Workers were paid two or three times a day and rushed home to pass the money to family members who could go and exchange the rapidly depreciating currency for real goods (clothing, food, etc.) before it became completely worthless. Prices rose so rapidly in the middle of the paper of many Germans in the Weimar Republic, perhaps even paving the way for the rise to power of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in the 1930s. , Adam. When Money Dies: The Nightmare of the Weimar Collapse. London: William Kimber, 1975. Print.Gavin, Philip. “End of hostilities and rise of Hitler”. True and clear story. np Nov. 12, 2013. Web. Nov. 14, 13. Hubbard, R. Glenn, and Anthony Patrick O'Brien. Macroeconomics. 4th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2013. Print.Kosares, Michael J. The Nightmare of German Inflation. Scientific analysis of the market. 1970. Print.Kroon, George E. Macroeconomics Made Easy. New York: Barron's Educational Series, Inc., 2007. Print.Rapten, Pema Dechen. “Stresemann era, 1923-29”. Mount Holyoke College. nd Web. November 1, 2013.Trueman, Chris. “Hyperinflation and Weimar Germany”. Site for learning history. np 2013. Web. 17 November. 2013.