chapter nine

Question 1

what happened on the 24th October 1929

Answer 1

the New York stock exchange experienced its worst ever fall in share prices , became known as Black Thursday

Question 2

what happened to americas biggest companies on black thursday

Answer 2

the value of the largest American companies fell by ten billion dollars

Question 3

what impact did black Thursday have on the wider population

Answer 3

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

Question 4

since when had germanys economy been stagnating

Answer 4

1928 as investment decreased

Question 5

between 1924-28 who financed germanys economic recovery

Answer 5

america by providing large loans

Question 6

what type of loans were given to Germany

Answer 6

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immediate repayment , at a time where Germany economy needed more investment to stimulate the economy , money was being withdrawn

Question 7

between 1929-32 germanys
export trade declined by …
and
its industrial production fell by …

Answer 7

61%
58% of its 1928 level

Question 8

Germany suffered the most during the depression in comparison
Britains industrial production between 1929-32 fell …

Answer 8

11%

Question 9

following the collapse of an austrian bank in 1931 the german banking system was plunged into crisis this led to in July 1931

Answer 9

the government closing banks and the stock exchange for two days to provide the financial system breathing space

Question 10

by 1932 how many germans were registered unemployed

Answer 10

one third
however could be more due to the shame unemployment carried

Question 11

it was estimated by January 1933 the real amount of unemployed was

Answer 11

eight million

Question 12

where did the depression hit the worst in Germany

Answer 12

industrial areas
ie the ruhr
Silesia
the main port cities like Hamburg

Question 13

what type of workers were badly effected by the depression

Answer 13

white collar workers
in the civil service there were several cuts in the workforce and reductions in salaries for those that remained

Question 14

what industry was badly effected by the depression

Answer 14

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 .

Question 15

mass unemployment had a corrosive effect on German society as it overwhelmed weimar as

Answer 15

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

Question 16

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 .

Answer 16

women received less benefits than men
and young people less than adults

Question 17

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

Answer 17

tuberculosis
rickets
- doctors also reported an increase of malnutrition amongst children

Question 18

hubert knickerbocker reported sn average family diet

Answer 18

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

Question 19

in hamburg in June 1933 the unemployment levels in the 14-25 age group was

Answer 19

males 39%
females 25.2%

Question 20

such high levels of unemployment had consequences

Answer 20

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

Question 21

juvenile crime summarised

Answer 21

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

Question 22

political extremism summarised

Answer 22

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

Question 23

where did burnings government place their faith in …
what was burnings priority

Answer 23

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

Question 24

what did burning introduce for the unemployed youths

Answer 24

day centres where they could participate in work related activities and socialise .

Question 25

what were emergency labour schemes

Answer 25

where unemployed youths would be required to to undertake unskilled manual labour whilst receiving wages below bare minimum

Question 26

were emergency labour schemes popular amongst the youth

Answer 26

no
led to two waves of strikes for higher wage in October 1930 and June 1932

Question 27

what were voluntary labour schemes

Answer 27

involved young unemployed people being sent away from the cities to residential work camps for periods of six months

Question 28

few of the schemes offered any vocational training however fulfilled the minster of labours priority too ..

Answer 28

get the young unemployed “off the streets”

Question 29

did the female proportion of the Toal workforce increase or decreased during the depression

Answer 29

increase

Question 30

the depression reignited what dispute

Answer 30

wether married women should continue to be employed when males were out of work
“double earners” frowned upon

Question 31

in may 1932 what what law was passed

Answer 31

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

Question 32

how was the passing of the law in may 1932 a symbolic win

Answer 32

as those who believed married women should not be employed outside the home , got a victory

Question 33

after the may 1932 law was passed what did the reich postal do

Answer 33

dismiss around 1000 married women from its employment

Question 34

what did the may 1932 law show a set back for

Answer 34

equal rights for women

Question 35

the strains on the political system caused by the depression had far reaching consequences

Answer 35

• 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

Question 36

how many parties did the grand coalition represent

Answer 36

5
from the SPD on the left to the moderate right wing DVP

Question 37

how did the wall st crash of oct 1929 affect the grand coalition

Answer 37

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

Question 38

who was the new leader burning heavily influenced by

Answer 38

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

Question 39

brunings coalition excluded the Spd the largest party in the reichstag which meant burnings gov did not have a majority

Answer 39

meaning they had to rely on ruling by presidential decree

Question 40

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

Answer 40

caused a political crisis as article 48 was supposed to be used in emergency circumstances not for the conduct of political business

Question 41

Spd won reichstag support for a motion demanding the decree be withdrawn this led to

Answer 41

bruning dissolving the reichstag and calling an election in septmeber 1930

Question 42

what happened in the September 1930 election

Answer 42

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

Question 43

what opportunity did the Nazi Party have with 107 seats in the reichstag

Answer 43

to disrupt its proceedings through chanting shouting an interrupting

Question 44

the reichstag became unmanageable and its proceedings became increasingly irrelevant

Answer 44

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

Question 45

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

Answer 45

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

Question 46

nazis an communists (with their red front fighters league ) took their political struggles on to the streets

Answer 46

each side attempted to break up the potlical meetings of opponents and rival marches often generated into full scale riots

Question 47

end of 1931 violence became so bad that burning decided to issue a decree stating that
did it have much effect on the sa

Answer 47

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

Question 48

by the end of 1932 the sa was estimated to have how many members

Answer 48

400,000

Question 49

in April 1932 what did hidenberg sign

Answer 49

a decree outlawing the sa but it still did not curb the activities of sa