chapter 9 - the impact of the depression of 1929 Flashcards
unemployment
1932 - 1/3 of all germans were unemployed
only recorded those who registered as unemployed
jan 1932 - true number of those unemployed = 8 million
farmers
prices collapsed
exports of agricultural produce declined
sales of food declined as germans had less money to spend
farmers gave up farmers banks demanded repayments of loans
unemployment rates among young people
in hamburg
aged 14-25
males = 39%
females = 25.2%
youth crime
fears that youth involvement in crime was increasing and young men were being drawn to extremist political organisations
political extremism - young people
kpd - recruit working class youths from wild cliques to join political demonstrations
right - paramilitary organisations set out to recruit unemployed youths
nazi - offered food, shelter, uniforms and excitement of fighting street battles
was youth membership stable?
youth membership was not stable and majority of young unemployed males still had little to no contact with political extremes
girls and young women = less involved
day centres
participate in work related activities and socialise
emergency labour schemes
undertake unskilled manual labour receiving wages that were below legal minimum
voluntary labour schemes
sent away from cities to residential work camps for periods of 6 months
date of Wall Street crash
29th October 1929
black thursday
24th october 1929
new york stock exchange experienced worst ever fall in shares
value of largest american companies fell by 10 billion dollars
decrease of germanys export trade
61%
decrease of germanys industrial production
58%
true number of unemployed in 1933
8 million
1932
1/3 of all germans were unemployed
consequences faced by companies during depression
shut down
bankrupt
cut down wages
redundancy
hours were cut
how long did the government close banks and stock exchange for?
2 days
industrial locations impacted heavily by depression
the ruhr, hamburg, silesia
how were farmers hit by the depression
banks asking for their loans back
falling prices of grain
decline of sales and food
how do we know that the schemes for unemployed young people were unpopular
two waves of strikes for higher wages
oct 1930
june 1932
purpose of schemes according to Minister of Labour
get young unemployed off the streets
law passed for women in may 1932
allowing married women civil servants to be dismissed
how many women did the reich postal service dismiss
1000
who led the grand coaliton
hermann muller
who did muller appoint as chancellor
heinrich bruning
how many votes did the NSDAP gain in 1928 and how many did they gain in September 1930
810,000
6.5 million / 107 seats
what months did the reichstag not meet
feb - oct 1931
what was banned in dec 1931
wearing of political uniforms
had little effect on Nazi SA as they continued to march wearing white shirts
number of members in SA by end of 1932
400,000
