chapter nine Flashcards
what happened on the 24th October 1929
the New York stock exchange experienced its worst ever fall in share prices , became known as Black Thursday
what happened to americas biggest companies on black thursday
the value of the largest American companies fell by ten billion dollars
what impact did black Thursday have on the wider population
millionaires lost their fortune
smaller investors lost all savings
many companies went bankrupt
workers lost their jobs
banks stopped lending
banks recalled pre existing loans
- causing a prolonged depression
since when had germanys economy been stagnating
1928 as investment decreased
between 1924-28 who financed germanys economic recovery
america by providing large loans
what type of loans were given to Germany
short term so america could demand immediate repayment , at a time where Germany economy needed more investment to stimulate the economy , money was being withdrawn
between 1929-32 germanys
export trade declined by …
and
its industrial production fell by …
61%
58% of its 1928 level
Germany suffered the most during the depression in comparison
Britains industrial production between 1929-32 fell …
11%
following the collapse of an austrian bank in 1931 the german banking system was plunged into crisis this led to in July 1931
the government closing banks and the stock exchange for two days to provide the financial system breathing space
by 1932 how many germans were registered unemployed
one third
however could be more due to the shame unemployment carried
it was estimated by January 1933 the real amount of unemployed was
eight million
where did the depression hit the worst in Germany
industrial areas
ie the ruhr
Silesia
the main port cities like Hamburg
what type of workers were badly effected by the depression
white collar workers
in the civil service there were several cuts in the workforce and reductions in salaries for those that remained
what industry was badly effected by the depression
agriculture/farmers
had already struggled during the so called golden age 1624/28 but the depression pushed many into severe difficulty
prices collapsed , exports of agricultural produce declined and sales of food fell as Germans had less money to spend .
many more farmers were forced to give up their farms as the banks demanded repayment of loans .
unemployment spread even to countryside as farm labourers lost their jobs .
mass unemployment had a corrosive effect on German society as it overwhelmed weimar as
the system of unemployment and welfare benefits got quickly overwhelmed and the budget could not cope
from 1930 there were moves to limit the amount of benefits getting paid
the unemployment were only entitled to benefits for so long after they had to reply to local authorities for relief and local benefits were less generous and strictly means tested .
women received less benefits than men
and young people less than adults
many indications that poverty was rising as a result of the depression
ie diseases that are linked closely to poor nutrition and living conditions increased
tuberculosis
rickets
- doctors also reported an increase of malnutrition amongst children
hubert knickerbocker reported sn average family diet
six small potatoes
five slices of bread
a small cabbage
a knob of margarine
herring 3 Sundays a month
rarely meat
was too little to live on but too much to die from
in hamburg in June 1933 the unemployment levels in the 14-25 age group was
males 39%
females 25.2%
such high levels of unemployment had consequences
young men joining gangs that often congregated too German towns and cities their presence causing a fear amongst the older middle class citizens
young men joining extremist political organisations
juvenile crime summarised
juvenile crime rates did not increase during the depression
the number of 14-25 accused of crime did increase
the number of young men charged with theft increased during the depression
significant increase in youths charged with offences agasint there state and with assault and offensive behaviour
ie violent disorder during political demonstrations
political extremism summarised
involvement of young men in extremist political organisations increased during the depression
KPD had some success in recruiting working class youth from wild cliques to join political demonstrations and engage in street battles with their opponent
parliamentary organisations of the nationalist right also set to recruit unemployed youths , hitler and his sa offered young men food uniforms shelter and excitement of fighting street battles
- majority of unemployed males had little or no contact with poetical extremes , girls and women even less involved
where did burnings government place their faith in …
what was burnings priority
in market forces to revive the economy at some time in the future however his main priority were to keep control over expenditure on unemployments benefits and lessen the damage of unemployment on youth
what did burning introduce for the unemployed youths
day centres where they could participate in work related activities and socialise .
what were emergency labour schemes
where unemployed youths would be required to to undertake unskilled manual labour whilst receiving wages below bare minimum
were emergency labour schemes popular amongst the youth
no
led to two waves of strikes for higher wage in October 1930 and June 1932
what were voluntary labour schemes
involved young unemployed people being sent away from the cities to residential work camps for periods of six months
few of the schemes offered any vocational training however fulfilled the minster of labours priority too ..
get the young unemployed “off the streets”
did the female proportion of the Toal workforce increase or decreased during the depression
increase
the depression reignited what dispute
wether married women should continue to be employed when males were out of work
“double earners” frowned upon
in may 1932 what what law was passed
allowing married women civil servants to be dismissed
- limited by the fact they could only be dismissed if their economic circumstances proved to be secure
how was the passing of the law in may 1932 a symbolic win
as those who believed married women should not be employed outside the home , got a victory
after the may 1932 law was passed what did the reich postal do
dismiss around 1000 married women from its employment
what did the may 1932 law show a set back for
equal rights for women
the strains on the political system caused by the depression had far reaching consequences
- caused the collapse of the grand coalition led by Muller in march 1930
- provided an oppurtunity for the parties of the extreme left and extreme right to gain support and undermine the democratic system
- led to an intensification of political violence
how many parties did the grand coalition represent
5
from the SPD on the left to the moderate right wing DVP
how did the wall st crash of oct 1929 affect the grand coalition
unemployment soared
rising cost of unemployment benefit
= severe strain on state finances
falling tax revenues
= state budget in deficit 1929
split the coalition
DVP the right wanted to reduce unemployment benefit
SPD the left wanted to ptoetect the level of benefits and raise tax
gov deadlock on issue = march 1930 muller resign
who was the new leader burning heavily influenced by
general groener , defence minster
and
general kurt von Schleicher , groeners political advisor
- both men were opposed to parliamentary democracy and saw the political crisis of march 1930 as a way to impose authoritarian style of gov
brunings coalition excluded the Spd the largest party in the reichstag which meant burnings gov did not have a majority
meaning they had to rely on ruling by presidential decree
brunings response to the depression was to cut expenditure and raise taxes to balance the budget . but had tor use by presidential decree = political crisis
caused a political crisis as article 48 was supposed to be used in emergency circumstances not for the conduct of political business
Spd won reichstag support for a motion demanding the decree be withdrawn this led to
bruning dissolving the reichstag and calling an election in septmeber 1930
what happened in the September 1930 election
the extremist parties of the left and the right gained the most
KPD gained over a million votes mostly from the SPD and got 77 seats in the reichstag
NSDAP gained nearly 6.5 million voters and 107 seats
what opportunity did the Nazi Party have with 107 seats in the reichstag
to disrupt its proceedings through chanting shouting an interrupting
the reichstag became unmanageable and its proceedings became increasingly irrelevant
it did not meet once between feb and oct 1931 and even after that its sessions became shorter and more infrequent
political power shifted from reichstag to the president and his circle of advisers but also the streets
the early years of weimar 1919-23 frequent riots potlical assasinations and political uprisings
during the years 1924-29 the violence had subsided but not completly
the nazis claimed 29 of their men had been killed in clashes with communists
while communists said that 92 of their supporters had been killed
nazis an communists (with their red front fighters league ) took their political struggles on to the streets
each side attempted to break up the potlical meetings of opponents and rival marches often generated into full scale riots
end of 1931 violence became so bad that burning decided to issue a decree stating that
did it have much effect on the sa
in December 1931
banning the wearing of political uniforms but the had little effect on the sa as they contained to march in white shirts
by the end of 1932 the sa was estimated to have how many members
400,000
in April 1932 what did hidenberg sign
a decree outlawing the sa but it still did not curb the activities of sa
