1.9 Flashcards
Economic: When did Wall Street crash? Why was Germant hit harder than the rest of Europe?
-Crashed in Oct 1929.
-The German economic recovery from 1924-8 had been predominantly financed by American loans.
-So when depression hit, these American loans dried up, and many of the American banks that had given them short-term loans demanded immediate repayment
-This meant that, in a time when they needed investment, money was being withdrawn.
-USA had been Germany’s biggest overseas market, and so between 1929-32, trade fell by 61% & industrial production by 58%, compared to Britain’s 11%.
Economic: What did the depression mean for German workers/companies? How did banks fair?
-Foreign trade & prices collapsed, leaving many companies with no choice but to make workers redundant.
-Even companies that survived had to cut their workforce & wages/hours.
-People began quickly withdrawing money from banks, and outstanding loans were unpaid. After an Austrian bank collapsed in 1931, the German Banking System was plunged into crisis.
-In July 1931, the gov closed banks & the stock exchange for two days.
Economic: What was unemployment like? Is this accurate?
-By 1932, 1/3 of all German workers were unemployed.
-However, only those who had registered as unemployed were counted in this, so many redundant (particularly female) workers were not included in this figure.
-Realistically, by Jan 1933, the figure was closer to 8 million.
Economic: Which areas were hit worst by the Depression? Discuss the example of Brand-Erbisdorff.
-Big industrial cities, like the Ruhr, Silesia, and Hamburg, were typically the worst affected.
-Farming, too, was badly hit, as prices collapsed, and exports of agricultural goods declined. This implies that more rural were areas also impacted.
-Some small towns were also devastated. Brand-Erbisdorff, which had been a centre of glass-making, was devastated when the local glassworks was closed in April 1931. This resulted in nearly half its pop. recieving welfar.
-However, since most unemployed had been out of work for at least 2 years, they no longer qualified for state benefits, and had to rely of their local authority.
Economic: Give some more stats about the economic impact.
-Germany experienced a 39% drop in national income between 1929-32. Britain and France only suffered 15-16%. USA suffered 40%.
-In 1933, the ratio of unemployed was 1 in 3 in Germany which was even worse that the American 1 in 4.
-In 1913 gov expenditure on welfare had been 20m, in 1932 it was 106m.
Social: What happened to welfare as a result of the depression? Were any people worse off in regards to benefits?
-Despite the well-developed system, the sheer quanitity of unemployed people meant that the welfare budget had been overwhelmed by 1930.
-The unemployed were, therefore, only entitled for a fixed period, after which they had to apply to local authorities for benefits, which were less generous & strictly means-tested.
-Women recieved less benefits than men, and young people less than adults.
Social: What was the impact on the unemployed?
-Diseases linked to poor nutrition/living conditions (like tuberculosis & rickets) rose. This was due to poverty diets. Hubert Knickerbocker reported that an average family’s daily meal consisted of six small potatoes, five slices of bread, a small cabbage, and a knob of margarine.
-There was an increase in the numbers of cases of malnutrition among children.
-Suicide rates increased.
-Tent cities & Shanty towns began to appear at the edges of large cities.
Social: What was the impact on young people? Consider unemployment, crime, and political extremism
-Unemployment for 14-25 year olds was 39% for men and 25.2% for women.
-There was an increase in youth involvement with gangs & crime, with many being drawn into political extremism.
-In Hamburg, 1929, 600+ juveniles were accused of crimes, in 1930 it was 700+ & in 1932 it was just under 1000. However, the overall rate of juvenile convictions did not increase.
-The number of men charged with theft, offences against the state, and assault grew.
-The KPD recruited working-class youths to join political demonstrations & street battle.
-Organisations like Hitler Youth & the SA offered unemployed boys food, uniforms, and shelter, as well as the excitment of fighting. However, the majority of young males had little-no contact with these orgs.
Social: What schemes were there to help the young & unemployed? Were they effective?
-Government prioritised keeping control over expenditure & to lessen the effects of damage of unemployment on the youth.
-They established day centres for young people where they could particpate in work-related activities & socialise.
-There were also compulsory emergency labour schemes where young people undertook unskilled manual labour, and received wages below the national minimum.
-These were very unpopular, and resulted in strikes for higher wages in Oct 1930 & June 1932. They were largely ineffective and did not help increase the prospect of finding employment.
Social: What was the impact on women?
-The female proportion of the total workforce actually increased during the depression.
-However, a debate was sparked about whether married women should continue to be employed whilst males were out of work.
This campaign was led by right-wing parties against the ‘double-earners’. It received some success when a law was passed in May 1932, which allowed married female civil servants to be dismissed.
-Despite this law being confined to central government, it set a precedent about the role of married women in the workforce. After the law, 1000 married women were dismissed for the Reich Postal Service.
Political: What were the main political consequences of the Depression?
-Caused the collapse of the Grand Coalition.
-Provided an opportunity for extremist parties to gain support, and undermine the democratic system.
-Intensified political violence.
Political: What evidence is there that there was a decrease in democracy during the depression?
-In 1930, there had been 5 presidential decrees. In 1932 there were 66.
-The Reichstag passed 98 laws in 1930, but only 5 in 1932.
-There were 94 sitting days of the Reichstag in 1930, and only 13 in 1932.
-This, firstly, indicates that Parliamentary democracy had collapsed BEFORE Hitler, and also shows that the Reichstag had become ineffective, and was essentially replaced with the President.
Political: What was the Grand Coalition? Who was in it? Why did it fall?
-Formed in Jun 1928, and led by Hermann Muller of the SPD.
-Made up of the SPD, Z, DDP, DVP, & BVP.
-Essentially, it was comprised of 5 parties from across the entire political spectrum. This gave it a broad political spread.
-However, as unemployment soared & the cost of benefits rocketed, the government were under severe strain. The GC could not come to a consensus about how to handle this situation (DVP wanted to reduce benefits, while SPD wanted to raise taxes), and so the coalition collapsed in March 1930 with Muller’s resignation.
Political: Who succeeded Muller? Who was in the new coalition?
-Bruning, leader of Z, was appointed by Hindenburg, though the decision had been heavily influenced by General Groener (defence minister since 1928) and General Kurt von Schleicher (Groener’s political advisor).
-This indicates how influential the army was in politics. Both were opposed to Parliamentary democracy, and took the opportunity to begin to impose an authoritarian style of government.
-The new coalition excluded the SPD, the largest party in the Reichstag, which meant that they did not have enough support to pass laws. This resulted in the increased reliance on Hindenburg to pass decrees.
Political: How did Bruning attempt to deal with the depression? What did this result in?
-Bruning decided to cut expenditure, and raise taxes in an attempt to balance the budget. He, lacking parliamentary support, persuaded Hindenburg to pass the budget as a presidential decree.
-This sparked outrage, since article 48 was only supposed to be used in an emergency, not for the conduct of normal political business.
-The SPD won reichstag support for the motion to be withdrawn, and Bruning dissolved the Reichstag & called for an election in 1930.
