SIEGFRIED KRACAUER, IN AN ESSAY INDie neue Rundschau in June 1931, identified a new type of writer in Germany, one no longer devoted to absolute values, who considered that the role of a writer was to be a social and political commentator. The writer Hans Fallada, whose Bauern, Bonzen und Bomben (Farmers, Functionaries, and Fireworks) had appeared in March of that year, was just such a writer.

Bauern, Bonzen und Bomben was the novel that established the literary reputation of Hans Fallada, the nom de plume adopted by Rudolf Ditzen (1893–1947). Thanks to the critical acclaim this work received, Ditzen was in such demand for short stories and reviews of contemporary literature that by September 1931 he was finally in a position to fulfill a lifelong ambition to become a full-time writer. Although not a great commercial success, Bauern, Bonzen und Bomben gave Ditzen sufficient financial security to enable him to pay off debts arising from activities that had twice landed him in jail on counts of embezzlement in the 1920s. In terms of style, themes, and characterization, this novel paved the way for Ditzen's subsequent literary success, notably with Kleiner Mann — was nun? (1932; Little Man — What Now? 1996). Günter Caspar, who edited Fallada's works for the Aufbau publishing house from 1964 to 1998, describes Bauern, Bonzen und Bomben as the best novel written about small-town life in Germany during the Weimar Republic.