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nazis; the golden age of the weimar republic > economic developments > Flashcards

economic developments Flashcards

1
Q

When did Cuno’s government collapse and who replaced him?

A

August 1923.

He was replaced by Gustav Stresemann.

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2
Q

What was the nickname for Stresemann’s coalition?

A

The ‘great coalition’.

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3
Q

What was unique about the great coalition?

A

It was the first in the history of the Weimar Republic to include both parties from the left and the right.

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4
Q

What was Stresemann’s own party and who were they in a coalition?

A

He was apart of the DVP, sharing power with the Centre Party, the Socialists and the DDP.

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5
Q

How long was Stresemann Chancellor for?

A

Just 103 days.

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6
Q

What was Stresemann’s priority as Chancellor?

A

To bring inflation under control.

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7
Q

What were Stresemann’s 3 key steps to bring inflation under control?

A
  • The end of passive resistance
  • The issuing of a new currency
  • Balancing the budget
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8
Q

When was passive resistance called off?

A

September 1923.

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9
Q

What did the calling off of passive resistance cause?

A

The attempted Beer Hall Putsch in Munich.

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10
Q

Why did Stresemann have no option but to call off passive resistance?

A

Because Germany’s economy was beginning to grind to a halt and inflation was wildly out of control.

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11
Q

When and what was the new currency introduced?

A

The Rentenmark was introduced in November 1923, replacing the old and worthless Reichsmark.

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12
Q

How was the Rentenmark exchanged?

A

On the basis that one Rentenmark was worth a trillion old marks.

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13
Q

What was the Rentenmark backed by?

A

A mortgage on all industrial and agricultural land due to Germany not having sufficient gold reserves.

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14
Q

When did the Reichsmark replace the Rentenmark?

A

In August 1924, after the old and inflated marks were gradually cashed in.

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15
Q

How was the new Reichsmark backed?

A

By the German gold reserves which had to be maintained at 30% of the value of the Reichsmarks in circulation.

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16
Q

Who directed the introduction of the new currency?

A

Hjalmar Schacht.

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17
Q

What did Stresemann’s government do to balance the budget?

A

Cut expenditure and raised taxes.

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18
Q

How many civil servants lost their jobs under Stresemann’s government?

A

300,000.

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19
Q

What happened to businesses when Stresemann’s key steps were implemented?

A

Well-managed businesses that were careful not to build up excessive debt continued to prosper, where as the weaker companies that were heavily reliant on loans crumbled.

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20
Q

How many companies went bankrupt in Germany in 1924 compared to 1923?

A

1924: over 6000
1923: 233

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21
Q

What was the stabilisation of Germany’s economy dependant upon?

A

Settling the reparations dispute.

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22
Q

What did Stresemann as the Allies’ Reparations Committee to set up in November 1923?

A

A committee of financial experts to address Germany’s repayment concerns.

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23
Q

Why did the USA have a vested interest in getting Germany into a position to pay reparations to France?

A

Because it meant that much of the money given to France would be passed onto the US in order to repay loans.

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24
Q

Who acted as the Committee of financial experts’ chairman?

A

Charles Dawes.

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25
Q

What did the Dawes Plan recommend?

A

That the amount paid each year by Germany should be reduced until 1929 where their situation would be reassessed.

That Germany should being their repayments at 1000 million marks and this sum should be raised in annual increments by 2500 million marks per year.

Germany should receive a large loan of 800 million marks from the USA to help get the plan started and to allow investment in German infrastructure.

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26
Q

What was Stresemann’s opinion on the Dawes Plan?

A

He didn’t believe in the plan and saw it as no more than an economic armistice.

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27
Q

Who attacked the Dawes Plan?

A

The so-called ‘national opposition’ (mainly the DNVP but also the Nazi movement) bitterly attacked the policy of compromise.

They believed that they should refuse to pay reparations altogether.

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28
Q

When was the Dawes Plan agreed and accepted?

A

In July 1924.

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29
Q

What benefits did the Dawes Plan bring to Germany?

A
  • Allies accepted their problems with the payment of reparations
  • Loans were granted which helped to build the German economy.
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30
Q

When did the French leave the Ruhr?

A

Gradually between 1924-25 once it ha become clear that Germany was going to restart paying reparations and the occupation was no longer justified.

31
Q

When did Germany begin to appear more stable?

A

By 1925.

32
Q

Why should the extent of the boom not be exaggerated?

A

Growth rates were still unsteady and Germany’s industrial output did not reach 1913 levels until 1929.

33
Q

What industries were developing in 1925?

A

The car and aeroplane industries, but cars were still too expensive for the average German.

34
Q

What was the inflation rate like in Germany 1925?

A

Close to zero.

35
Q

What did the USA loans help to do in Germany?

A

Finance the building of housing, schools, town buildings, roads and public works.

36
Q

What had the massive population growth in the early twentieth century caused in Germany?

A

A housing shortage.

37
Q

What had been linked to political instability?

A

Overcrowding and insanitary conditions of working-class city accommodation.

38
Q

What state initiative was of great importance in 1925?

A

The provision of affordable homes.

39
Q

How many dwellings had there been built in 1925?

A

178,930. This was over 70,000 more than the previous year.

40
Q

Why did the number of strikes in German industry decline between 1924 and 1928?

A

Due to the new system of compulsory arbitration, meaning an arbitrator had to come in by law to settle industrial disputes.

41
Q

How did employers feel about the compulsory arbitration system?

A

That it was biased in the favour of unions and resented the state’s interference in their affairs.

42
Q

What happened in the iron and steel industry in the Ruhr in 1928?

A

There was a dispute which resulted in the arbitrator granting a small wage increase to the workers.

This resulted in the employers refusing to pay the increase and they locked out their workers for 4 weeks.

The workers, however, were backed by the government and paid by the state.

43
Q

How much had real wages increased by in 1927?

A

9%.

44
Q

How much had real wages increased by in 1928?

A

12%.

45
Q

What did Gustav Stresemann say in his speech shortly before his death in 1929?

A

That Germany’s economic position was only flourishing on the surface and that they were dancing on a volcano.

He stated that if the short-term loans were called in then a large section of the German economy would collapse.

46
Q

How many unemployed were there in Germany by the end of 1925?

A

1 million.

47
Q

How many unemployed were there in Germany by March 1926?

A

Over 3 million.

48
Q

Why was the unemployment rate growing in Germany?

A
  • More people were seeking out work
  • Public spending cuts had been made
  • Companies were reducing their workforces to make efficiency savings
49
Q

How many people had the mining companies cut from their workforce between 1922 and 1925, and then again between 1925 and 1929?

A

1922-1925: 136,000.
1925-1929: another 56,000

50
Q

Who didn’t benefit from the Weimar ‘economic miracle’?

A

The Mittelstand.

51
Q

Why hadn’t the Mittelstand gained much from the golden age?

A

They’d been bankrupted from the hyperinflation of 1923, and they did not enjoy the wage rises that the industrial sector did.

Sometimes the industrial sector wages would match theirs, or even exceed them.

52
Q

What had kept food prices low during the economic recovery?

A

A worldwide agricultural depression.

53
Q

What had farmers done during the inflation?

A

Large landowners and farmers borrowed money to buy new machinery and improve their farms.

Smaller peasant farmers had tended to hoard their money and their savings were wiped by the inflation.

54
Q

What did the government do for farmers in 1923 and what issues did this cause?

A

They’d made it easier for them to borrow money.

Farmers became saddled with debt at a time where they were struggling to make profit, and therefore could not keep up the repayments.

55
Q

What else had caused an ‘unfair burden’ upon farmers and landowners?

A

The increased taxes that had been brought in to pay for welfare benefits for the unemployed and the sick.

56
Q

How did the government try to fix the issue of farmers not being able to earn enough money?

A

They implemented high import tariffs on food products as well as introducing subsidies to farmers.

57
Q

How had the farmers’ problems worsened between 1925 and 1926?

A

Due to a global grain surplus and price slump.

58
Q

What had happened to farmers in the late 1920s?

A

There’d been an increase in bankruptcies among them, with many losing their land and banks demanding repayment of loans.

59
Q

What did farmers do in 1928?

A

Initiated small scale riots, known as the ‘farmers’ revenge’ in protest against the foreclosures and low market prices.

60
Q

What was the agricultural production level at by 1929?

A

Less than 3/4 of its pre-war levels.

61
Q

What conditions did the French have for removing their forces from the Rhineland?

A

They refused to do so until a final settlement was made on the reparations issue.

62
Q

What did Stresemann agree to do in terms of the reparations agreement?

A

That the issue should be considered by an international committee.

63
Q

Who headed the international committee that were considering the reparations?

A

American businessman Owen Young.

64
Q

When did the international reparations committee meet?

A

In Paris 1929.

65
Q

Who was Germany’s representative on the international reparations committee?

A

Hjalmar Schacht.

66
Q

What did the Young Plan oblige?

A
  • Germany would continue paying reparations until 1988
  • The total sum required would be reduced to £1.8 billion instead of £6.6
  • The annual repayments Germany was required to pay increased
  • All foreign control over reparations was removed and was placed solely on the German government
  • Britain and France agreed to withdraw all their troops from the Rhineland by June 1930
67
Q

What was the German population’s reaction to the Young Plan?

A

It inflamed nationalist opinion in Germany.

68
Q

What did Alfred Hugenberg do in response to the Young Plan?

A

Launched a nationwide campaign against the plan, involving other conservative groups including Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.

69
Q

What law did Hugenberg’s campaign draw up?

A

The so-called ‘freedom law’ which they demanded should be submitted to a national referendum.

70
Q

What did the ‘freedom law’ set forth?

A
  • Required the government to reject the war-guilt clause of the Treaty of Versailles
  • Demanded immediate evacuation of the occupied areas
  • Declared any minister who signed the treaty that involved acceptance of war guilt would be tried for treason
71
Q

How many signatures did Hugenberg’s campaign attract and what did this mean?

A

4,135,000.

It was enough to ensure that it would be debated by the Reichstag.

72
Q

What conclusion was come to in the Reichstag’s vote on the ‘freedom law’?

A

It was decisively defeated, and was also rejected in the referendum.

73
Q

How many people voted for the ‘freedom law’ and what did this show?

A

5,825,000 which was 13.8% of the vote.

This indicated the depth of support for right-wing nationalism.

74
Q

What did Adolf Hitler’s leading role in the freedom law campaign do for him?

A

Allowed him to make a decisive breakthrough as a national political figure.

nazis; the golden age of the weimar republic (6 decks)

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