KQ2 - The Stresemann Years Flashcards
When was the Dawes Plan created?
August 1924
State the terms of the Dawes Plan
Loans to Germany.
Reparations made manageable.
Reichsbank reorganised under Allied supervision.
Ruhr to be evacuated (1925)
Give the Stats for loans made under the Dawes Plan
Initial loan of 800 million marks. Over the next 6 years, Us banks and businesses have loans of nearly $3000 million
When was the Rentenmark created?
November 1923
When was the Young Plan
1929
What were the terms of the Young Plan?
Reparations reduced from £6600 million to £1850 million. Repayment period extended to 59 years (1988)
General positive of Economic Recovery
Public Works: new Stadiums, apartments and opera houses built
How did Big Businesses benefit during this period
Benefited from hyperinflation of 1923 as they were able to pay debts.
Experienced period of industrial growth
Benefits relating to workers during Stresemann Years
Wages increased whilst average working day remained at 8 hrs.
State Arbitration took middle lines in disputes from 1924 - fewer strikes + good relations.
Unemployment figures during the golden years
Risen to 9 million by 1926, fell to
6 million mark over the following 2 years
Groups that didn’t recover well
Industrial workers
Farmers
Lower Middle Class
.
Why did industrial workers struggle?
Increasing wage was not much above rising cost of living
Why did farmers struggle?
Experienced problems throughout 1920s (particularly after 1927)
Worldwide depression in agriculture created need to modernise but lack of profit and debt discouraged investment in new machinery.
1929, industrial production returned to pre-war levels but agriculture was still 74% of its pre-war levels
How did the lower middle class struggle?
Did not fully recover from hyperinflation.
Felt their interests were being ignored by the Weimar Republic which seemed to favour big businesses.
When was the Locarno Pact?
1925
Who did the Locarno Pact include?
Germany, Britain, France and Italy
What were the terms of the Locarno Pact?
Agreed to keep existing borders.
What was the effect of the Locarno Pact?
Marked Germany’s return to the European international scene
Began a period of co-operation between these countries known as the ‘Locarno Honeymoon’
When Germany allowed to rejoin the League of Nations?
September 1926
When was the Kellog-Briand Pact?
1928
Who signed the Kellog-Brian’s Pact?
Germany and 64 countries
What were the terms of the Kellog-Briand Pact?
Armies to be for ‘self-defense’
Promised to solve international disputes by ‘peaceful means’
How was the role of Stresemann?
He played leading roles in all the pacts/plans.
In 1927, Allied troops withdrew from the West Bank of the Rhine 5 years before the original schedule of 1933
What were the Successes Abroad?
Locarno Pact (1925)
Entry into League of Nations
Kellog-Brian’s Pact (1928)
(Dawes and Young Plans)
What were the political developments of this period?
Political Stability in Reichstag.
Political Figures (Stresemann and Hindenburg)
Stats to show that parties supporting Weimar did well and extremists did bad
May 1924, Social Democrats is on 100 seats, rising to 153 in May 1928.
May 1924, Nazis won 32 seats falling to only 12 seats in May 1928
What did Hindenburg becoming President show?
He was one of Germany’s war leaders 1914-18.
In 1925, he was elected president showing how the old conservative order now accepted the a Republic.
What were the social developments?
Wages
Housing
Unemployment Insurance
The Position of Women
Stat to show improvement in wages
By 1928, there had been an increase in real wage of over 10% making German workers some of the best paid in Europe
Why did the lower middle class not benefit from the increase in wages?
Little benefit to middle class which had been bankrupted by hyperinflation
Stats on housing
1924-31, more than 2 million houses built
By 1924, state was spending 33 times more on housing than 1913
By 1928, homelessness was reduced by more than 60%
When was the Unemployment Insurance Law passed?
1927
What was the Unemployment Insurance Law?
Required workers and employers to make contributions to a national scheme for unemployment welfare.
The extent of recovery regarding Unemployment
While Unemployment generally fell, it remained high in professions of lawyers, civil servants and teachers.
April 1928, 184000 middle-class workers were seeking employment whilst half didn’t qualify for unemployment relief
The position of women topic points.
Equality given by Constitution
Social life
How were women given equality?
Equality in education.
Equal opportunity in civil service
Equal pay
Stat to show women in jobs
By 1933, 100 000 women teachers and 3000 doctors
What was the social life of women?
- unescorted
- smoked in public
- drank
- fashion conscious (short skirts and make-up)
What were the Cultural Changes topics?
Art
Architecture
Film
Literature
Cultural Changes in art
‘Neue Sachlichkeit’ (New objectivity) was a new approach where artists tried to portray society in an objective way.
Famous artists include George Gorsz and Otto Dix
Cultural Changes in Architecture
Bauhaus or ‘School of Building’
Slogan was ‘Art and Technology - a new unity’
Their approach was very different from the decorative style of pre-war Germany
Cultural Changes in Film
Director Fritz Lang produces Metropolis in 1927 which was acclaimed as the most technically advance film of the decade.
Cultural Changes in Literature
Right-wing writers (such as, Arthur Möller and Oswald Spengler) we’re highly critical of German democracy and instead glorified experiences of WW1
On the opposite, others (such as Erich Remarque and Ludwig Renn) we’re very anti-war. Remarque wrote ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’
