CHAPTER 3, SECTION 9: Impact of the Depression Flashcards
ECONOMIC Impact of the 1929 Depression: Finance
*loans from USA stopped & outstanding loans had to be repaid quickly, unable to pay reparations
*by summer of 1931: German banking system = in crisis, following collapse of Austrian bank. Banks temporarily closed & taken under gov control - underlying problems NOT resolved
ECONOMIC Impact of the 1929 Depression: Industry
*1929-1932: industrial production fell by 58% of its 1928 level
*Prices fell, many companies made heavy losses, causing them to be bankrupt
*Germany’s main industrial areas (e.g. Ruhr) & port cities (e.g. Hamburg) badly hit by factory & mine closures & collapse of foreign trade.
ECONOMIC Impact of the 1929 Depression: Trade
*Had developed strong export trade (1924-1929) which had underpinned it’s economic recovery.
*Germany’s export trade declined by 61%.
ECONOMIC Impact of the 1929 Depression: Farming
*Prices of agricultural products fell & exports declined
*Farmers = heavily indebted to banks, who demanded loans to be repaid.
*Many farmers lost their farms.
SOCIAL Impact of the 1929 Depression: Unemployed & W/C
*Unemployment grew by 1932 approx 1/3 of German workers were registered as unemployed.
*Those who kept jobs suffered cuts to wages & reduction in working hours.
*Official figures did NOT recall accurate scale of unemployment (many redundant workers didn’t register) estimates in 1933 suggest around 8mil unemployed.
SOCIAL Impact of the 1929 Depression: Youth
*Unemployment rate for under 25 was particularly high
*Benefits for youth were less than adults
*Juvenile crime increased, young boys joined criminal gangs, & extremist political parties.
SOCIAL Impact of the 1929 Depression: Poverty
*Unemployment measures = subject to strict means tests & only provided for fixed periods
*Poverty & homelessness increased - shanty towns grew on the edges of cities.
*Disease linked to poor living conditions & malnutrition increased, especially in children.
SOCIAL Impact of the 1929 Depression: Unemployed & W/C
SOCIAL Impact of the 1929 Depression:
M/C
*Owners of businesses that went bankrupt lost their livelihoods & homes.
*Economic insecurity undermined confidence of M/C, raised fears they’d loose their status.
SOCIAL Impact of the 1929 Depression:
Women
*Female proportion of labour increased - usually cheaper to employ then men.
*Heightened hostility towards married women in employment - branded as “double-earners”.
*May 1932: new law allowed married female civil servants to be dismissed.
POLITICAL Impact of the 1929 Depression: March 1930
*Grand Coalition collapsed (over reducing unemployment benefits)
*Hburg appointed Brüning as Chancellor - DIDN’T have support form SPD so had to rely on Article48
*Brüning imposed cuts in employment & government worker’s wages & raised tax - “Hunger Chancellor”.
POLITICAL Impact of the 1929 Depression: September 1930
*Reichstag elections - Nazis made breakthrough, 2nd largest party.
*KPD gained lots of votes from SPD.
*Violence increased at street level, especially between Nazi Stormtroopers & Communist Red-Front Fighters’ League.
POLITICAL Impact of the 1929 Depression: April 1932
*Brüning banned SA to try reduce street violence. Ban = ineffective, SA continued to grow. Ban lost Brüning support from Schleicher, who thought this would cause a Nazi Uprising.
POLITICAL Impact of the 1929 Depression: May 1932
*Brüning’s gov collapsed & forced to resign (due to street violence & impact of depression).
*Hburg appointed Franz von Papen: gov was a “cabinet of barons”, mostly businessmen & army officers. Only support came from DNVP, so ruled by Article48. Gov FAILED to resolve political crisis.
POLITICAL Impact of the 1929 Depression: June 1932
*Papen lifted the ban on SA - provoked a new wave of street violence.
