Economic Recovery

Question 1

agricultural problems

Answer 1

things that damaged farming

• poor weather
• global production
• tariffs
• severe price drops in 1925-26 for grain
• agricultural prices fell sharply between 1927 and 1929

Question 2

agriculture demonstrations

Answer 2

1928
farmers demonstrated about foreclosures and low prices
demonstrations frequently turned into riots

Question 3

agricultural output

Answer 3

by 1929, output was less than 75% of 1913 levels

Question 4

need for agricultural modernisation

Answer 4

food imports were too low for German farmers to compete

- needed to modernise, improve productivity and invest in machinery such as tractors

Question 5

outcome of modernisation

Answer 5

farms that modernised saw improved productivity
however, rural employment fell
many farmers borrowed to invest, but fell into debt when prices fell

Question 6

government agricultural policies

Answer 6

• subsidies for farmers, increasing government expenditure
• protectionist tariffs on imports, increasing price of food from other countries, which helped farmers but hindered consumers

Question 7

Growth of German industry

Answer 7

there was growth overall but it was not steady

• rationalisation -> making industry more efficient
• cartelisation -> merging of large firms into giant cartels, such as IG Farben

Question 8

Fall in demand

Answer 8

goods demand fell after inflation in the 1920s, which led to bankruptcies
fall in bank lending under Schacht contributed to this

Question 9

Increase in bankruptcies

Answer 9

due to inefficient firms costs being too high

Question 10

Rationalisation

Answer 10

firms which could afford loans rationalised, with new technology implemented to cut costs

Question 11

Wages - costs

Answer 11

wages were the largest cost to employers to firms saved money by laying people off
but unemployment didn’t fall

Question 12

Wages growth

Answer 12

real wages grew every year after 1924

• 1927 - by 9%
• 1928 - by 12%

Question 13

Key industrial firms

Answer 13

• IG Farben - formed by the merging of five of Germany’s largest chemical companies
• Krupp AG - one of Germany’s most important employers - produced arms in Sweden and Netherlands, as well as secretly supplying Germany army against Versailles
• Owners of Krupp AG didn’t support the Weimar Republic but worked with government

Question 14

Industrial opposition

Answer 14

trust in Weimar Republic was failing by the end of the 20s

employers in Ruhr ironworks dispute rejected ruling of arbitration

Question 15

8 hour day overruled

Answer 15

employers were able to end the 8 hour day which was brought in by the Weimar government

Question 16

Economic improvements

Answer 16

• industrial production grew between 1924 to 1929, with blip in 1926
• real wages and living standards grew for employed people
• economic production overall was slightly higher than the pre-war levels by 1929
• exports were increasing by 1929

Question 17

Economic failures

Answer 17

• unemployment rose, with spike in 1926 - didn’t fall below 6%
• bankruptcies rose, from 5700 in 1924 to 31,000 from 1925 to 1927
• the main competitors to Germany - UK, France, US - all grew more than Germany
• imports typically stayed above exports