Hyperinflation Flashcards
How many marks was a dollar worth in january 1923?
18 thousand marks
How many marks was a dollar worth in November 1923?
4.2 billion marks
How many marks to buy a dollar through 1919 when the germany started paying reparations payments to November 1923?
1919: 19 marks –> Jan 1923:18 thousand marks –> November 1923: 4.2 billion marks
how many paper mills and printing shops dedicated to printing money?
300 paper mills and 200 printing shops
Solutions to the hyperinflation crisis?
rentenmark - new currency worth 10 trillion of the old. was derived strictly from the land cost and production in Germany at the time and the printing of it was tightly controlled
Causes of hyperinflation?
Troops were not removed until the signing of the dawes plan in 1925
Germany was delinquent on multiple reparations installments by january 1923 - the income of the german was only 1/4 of what it needed to be.
the french retaliated by invading the industrial heartland of germany the ruhr
french and belgian troops invaded the ruhr in hopes of taking industrial products instead of cash payment
German government was angered but could not retaliate in a military fashion. So it encouraged workers in the ruhr to go on strikes as a way of passive resistance. the workers stopped producing products that the french could seize
How many marks to buy a loaf of bread?
Jan 1923: 250 marks –> Nov 1923: 201 billion
Causes of hyperinflation
invasion of the ruhr
reparations payments under the treaty of versailles
spartacist uprising
Jan 1919 - after the abdication of the kaiser, germany’s communist party called spartacist league organised a revolt to set up a communist government
german government had difficulty handling the revolt –> freikorps were asked by the government to suppress the uprising which they did
kapp putsch
freikorps are ex-military troops removed from the army under the terms of the treaty of versailles to reduce the army to 100 thousand strong who volunteer to join these units
they were extremely nationalist
in 1920, ebert tried to disband freikorp units –> resulted in freikorps marching through berlin and declaring Dr kapp who was an extreme nationalist as the leader of germany
the army did not stop the revolution because it felt sympathy for the putsch
ebert moved the government out of the city
ebert encouraged people to go on general strike to stop the revolution which resulted in the cutting of supplies like gas –> the city was unable to function
Kapp realised he did not have the support to govern germany and fled
freikorps were disbanded upon ebert moving the government back in the city
factors in hitler becoming the chancellor
hitler’s image and appeal
the effect of the SA
use of propaganda
hitler’s appeal during election campaigns between 1930-32?
presented as strong leader needed by germany
he was shown as superhuman in posters
his personal style and oration skills persuaded the masses
