First few years the new German government

Question 1

What happened at the beginning of 1923? (January)

Answer 1

• Germany did not kept up with its reparations payments and the French were determined to make the Germans pay.
• France and Belgium decided to invade Germany in January 1923 and take the payment by force. They invaded the Ruhr, Germany’s main industrial area, to take goods, such as coal. This was legal under the treaty.
• The Germans reacted with passive resistance. They went on strike and refused to make the goods that the French and Belgians wanted. They sabotaged factories and flooded mines. However, this meant that Germany was now losing all the Ruhr would normally produce. Passive resistance was making Germany poorer.

Question 2

How did inflation worsen?

Answer 2

• In order for the government to keep on supporting the strikers, the had to print out more money as they did not have enough money to supply the strikers with. This had been happening since the Kaiser’s reign but got worse in 1923.
• When a government prints money , the value of money goes down and the prices go up. This was called hyperinflation.
• People did not blame the Kaiser’s government instead they blamed the Weimar constitution .

Question 3

What happened on September 1923?

Answer 3

On September 1923, the chancellor (Streseman) decided that Germany would have to give in to France . He ended the policy of passive resistance. To many right-wing extremists this was seen as an act of betrayal.

Question 4

What happened on the 8-9 of November?

Answer 4

Encouraged by the government of Bavaria (their base) they plotted a putsch against the Reich government. On 8-9 of November Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party launched an attempted revolution in Munich, the capital of Bavaria. It was easily crushed by the army and police bit it was yet another example of the violent political extremism .

Question 5

What was life like during the Great Inflation?

Answer 5

Old people living on fixed pensions or people who lived on their saving found that these were now worthless. Workers as long as they had their job were protected because the were paid higher and higher.
Unemployment benefit was increased weakly
Those who had debts benefited as the could pay the money back at a fraction of the real cost.
Many rich businessmen were able to take advantage if the situation by taking over small businesses.
Normal business and trade became impossible, this caused more unemployment.