Did the Weimar government overcome its problems? Flashcards
Could it have survived? For
1) Gustav Stresemann calls off passive resistance in the Ruhr helped Germany’s economy because goods were back into production. This meant the government could stop printing money to pay workers on strike.
2) He also promised that Germany would begin to pay reparation’s again, which made the French and the Belgians leave the Ruhr in 1925
3) He introduced a successful new currency called the Rentenmark which secured prices and prevented another hyperinflation crisis.
4) He also reduced government expenditure to minimize its budget deficit
5) He bettered relations with foreign countries who were in the newly formed League of Nations. he signed the Locarno treaties in 1925 to allow Germany a spot in the League come 1926.
6) Many extremist groups such as the Communist party and the Nazis lost support
7) An explosion in German culture was depicted as a result of no more censorship. Theatre, the arts, and music thrived in this time.
Could it have survived? Against
1) Germany’s recovery relied heavily on American loans such as the Dawes Plan of 1924 which could be withdrawn at any time.
2) Only certain financial demographics were benefiting from the recovery. For example, agricultural income from farmers actually decreased by 9% between 1925 and 1929.
3) Stresemann died in 1929 so Germany no longer had an economic mastermind to guide them.
3) The Weimar Republic’s foreign policy was criticized by many people
4) Political opposition form the right such as the Nazis were gaining popularity
5) Stresemann’s solutions were not universal
6) Many people distrusted the ‘decadent ‘modernism offered by the Weimar government before 1929
7) Democracy was only ‘skin-deep’. This is evidenced by Hitlers fascist dictatorship from 1933-1945
