Government and Opposition: 1924-1929

Question 1

What was the economic impact of the occupation of the Ruhr?

Answer 1

• hyperinflation
• collapse of the Mark

Question 2

What were the specific economic issues were caused by the occupation of the Ruhr?

Answer 2

loss of tax revenues and export earnings added to the pressures already on the Republic’s finances

Question 3

What was the Republic’s solution to the pressure on its finances?

Answer 3

print more money

Question 4

What was the social impact of the occupation of the Ruhr?

Answer 4

angered and outraged public opinion

Question 5

Who became chancellor in 1923?

Answer 5

Gustav Stresemann

Question 6

What did Stresemann do in order to deal with Germany’s international problems and the issues caused by the Ruhr invasion?

Answer 6

formed a coalition with Zentrum and the SPD parties - as he was leader of the DVP (right wing) to create a firm base

Question 7

What happened to Stresemann’s coalition?

Answer 7

fell apart due to the withdrawal of the SPD

Question 8

What policy aligned with Stresemann’s aim?

Answer 8

fulfilment

Question 9

What is fulfilment?

Answer 9

cooperation with the treaty of Versailles terms

Question 10

What were Stresemann’s main measures?

Answer 10

• end passive resistance in the Ruhr
• reduction in public expenditure
• recommencement of reparations payments
• acceptance into the League of Nations

Question 11

Who was a main figure into solving the economic crisis appointed by Stresemann?

Answer 11

Hjalmar Schacht

Question 12

Who is Hjalmar Schacht?

Answer 12

appointed as Reich Currency Commissioner and introduced a new currency and brought down inflation

Question 13

What are the two plans negotiated by Stresemann?

Answer 13

Dawes Plan (1924) and Young Plan (1929)

Question 14

What was the purpose of the Dawes Plan?

Answer 14

to scale down the reparations payments and arrangement of American loans

Question 15

What type of people disliked the Dawes Plan (and why)?

Answer 15

right wingers such as Nazi’s as they felt they should not be reliant on America a country that wronged them so harshly in the treaty of Versailles

Question 16

What was the purpose of the Young Plan?

Answer 16

to reduce the total reparations payments by 75% and lessen the annual payments

Question 17

What treaty did Stresemann negotiate in 1925?

Answer 17

Locarno Treaties

Question 18

What was the purpose of the Locarno Treaties?

Answer 18

promises to respect the Western frontier and keep troops out of the demilitarised Rhineland (ToV terms)

Question 19

What negotiation in 1926 confirmed the treaty of Rapallo with the USSR?

Answer 19

Treaty of Berlin

Question 20

What Pact was negotiated in 1928?

Answer 20

Kellogg Briand Pact

Question 21

What was the purpose of the Kellogg Briand Pact?

Answer 21

condemned recourse to war as a means of solving international disputes

Question 22

What were the political changes due to the improved economic climate in 1924?

Answer 22

extremism on both the left and right decreased and pro-Republican parties such as the SPD began to rise again - Nazi vote also fell by 3%

Question 23

Who was president Ebert’s successor?

Answer 23

Hindenburg (1925)

Question 24

What was Hindenburg like as a leader?

Answer 24

old, renowned for military leadership, strongly conservative, nationalist views, openly disliked democracy & was intolerant of the modernism of the Weimar Years

Question 25

Why was Hindenburg also a good candidate?

Answer 25

helped to reconcile those on the right

Question 26

What was the National Socialist party like in 1924?

Answer 26

• Hitler out of prison (put there due to Beer Hall Putsch)
• SA led by Ernst Rohm adopted brown shirts (possibly reflective of Russia’s black shirts)
• SS developed under Heinrich Himmler as Hitler’s elite bodyguard
• Joseph Goebbels put in charge of propaganda

Question 27

What were the years 1924-29 often referred to as in Germany?

Answer 27

Golden Age of Weimar Germany