2.4A&B The Weimar Republic In Trouble

Question 1

Hyperinflation def

Answer 1

Sudden, dramatic increase in prices

Question 2

Passive resistance def

Answer 2

Protesting against government or laws using non violent acts

Question 3

When did hyperinflation occur?

Answer 3

1923

Question 4

What was the cause of Germany’s hyperinflation?

Answer 4

• Germany had to pay reparations for the next 66 years, it managed to scrape together its first instalment to give to France and Belgium in 1921
• it payed in gold but mostly in goods such as wood and coal
• it could not afford to pay the second instalment

Question 5

What happened when the Germans couldn’t pay the second instalment?

Answer 5

• France and Belgium didn’t believe them
• in 1923, 60,000 french and Belgian troupes marched into the Ruhr (industrial area of Germany)
• they took control of every factory, mine, and railway in the region, took food and goods from all the shops and arrested Germans who stood up to them

Question 6

What happened after the french and Belgian troupes took away what was owed to them?

Answer 6

• German government ordered workers not to fight back, but instead go on strike and not help the soldiers remove goods (passive resistance)
• french and Belgian soldiers killed 100 and 15000 people were thrown out of their homes as punishment
• German government continues to pay workers on strike
• Germany running short on money bc Ruhr wasn’t producing any goods (coal, iron, and steel) to sell to other nations

Question 7

How did the government pay for striking workers?

Answer 7

• they printed large amounts of money
• striking workers paid for not working, so shopkeepers began raising prices
• as shops raised prices all over Germany, the government responded by printing even more money
• the more money the government printed, the faster prices went up

Question 8

What happened when prices went up even more?

Answer 8

• the faster prices went up, the faster people spend their wages
• people were being paid twice a day
• people carried their wages in wheelbarrows and it wasn’t enough to buy a decent meal
• Weimar government lost support. People lost their life savings and were looking for someone to blame

Question 9

What was the result of the hyperinflation on the value of money?

Answer 9

• German money was worthless
• people started using money to light fires, make paper planes or kites
• for most Germans, 1923 was the worst day since WW1

Question 10

How were various people impacted by the hyperinflation?

Answer 10

• people with savings in the bank were the biggest losers - their life savings couldn’t buy them a loaf of bread
• elderly people who lived on fixed pensions found their income couldn’t buy what they needed
• many small businesses collapsed as normal trade became impossible due to daily price changes
• people who had borrowed money found it very easy to pay off their debts