Recovery under Stresemann

Question 1

What was Stresemann’s policy of Erfüllungspolitik (fulfilment)​?

Answer 1

To fulfil the terms of the Treaty of Versailles to improve relations with the Allied countries and negotiate better terms

Question 2

What was the name of the bank Stresemann set up in November 1923?

Answer 2

The Rentenbank

Question 3

What was the name of the new temporary currency introduced by the Rentenbank?

Answer 3

The Rentenmark

Question 4

How many marks was one Rentenmark worth?

Answer 4

A thousand billion

Question 5

How many Rentenmarks was the supply limited to?

Answer 5

3,200 million Rentenmarks

Question 6

What was the value of the Rentenmark linked to?

Answer 6

The price of gold

Question 7

Who/what backed the Rentenmark, ensuring the currency had real value?

Answer 7

German industrial plants and agricultural land

Question 8

What happened to the price of the weekly newspaper, Berliner Illustreiter Zeitung, as a result of the introduction of the Rentenmark?

Answer 8

Went from 1 billion marks to 20 pfennigs (0.2 Rentenmarks)

Question 9

What was the name of the bank that was given control of the Rentenmark in August 1924?

Answer 9

The Reichsbank

Question 10

What did the Reichsbank rename the Rentenmark?

Answer 10

The Reichsmark

Question 11

What did the Reichsmark bring an end to?

Answer 11

Hyperinflation

Question 12

When was the Dawes Plan agreed?

Answer 12

April 1924

Question 13

What was the aim of the Dawes Plan?

Answer 13

To resolve Germany’s non-payment of reparations

Question 14

How much were reparations payments reduced to in the Dawes Plan?

Answer 14

£50m per year

Question 15

How much did US banks agree to loan to German industry between 1924 and 1930, as a result of the Dawes Plan?

Answer 15

$25 billion (800 million marks)

Question 16

What did the French do in response to the Dawes Plan?

Answer 16

Left the Ruhr

Question 17

What did the Dawes Plan state about sanctions for non-payment of reparations in the future?

Answer 17

They had to be agreed by all Allies, not France alone

Question 18

What happened to Germany’s industrial output between 1923 and 1928 as a result of the Dawes Plan?

Answer 18

It doubled (and passed pre-First World War levels)

Question 19

Why were the extreme political parties opposed to the Dawes Plan?

Answer 19

It meant Germany agreed to pay reparations (giving credibility to the hated Treaty of Versailles)

Question 20

Why did the Dawes Plan arguably lead to a fragile economic recovery?

Answer 20

It was dependent on American loans, which could be recalled at any time

Question 21

What two things did the Young Plan do to German reparations?

Answer 21

1) Reduced the total amount from £6.6 billion to £2 billion

2) Gave Germany a further 59 years to pay (until 1988)

Question 22

What impact did lower reparations payments have on the government?

Answer 22

Allowed them to lower taxes on ordinary Germans, giving them greater spending power

Question 23

Explain the ‘virtuous cycle’ of economic growth created by the Young Plan

Answer 23

Lower reparations payments = lower taxes = more spending power = German industry makes more money = more jobs available = more spending power etc.

Question 24

What did Adolf Hitler say about the Young Plan?

Answer 24

It was “passing on the penalty to the unborn”: future generations would pay for the mistakes made by previous ones

Question 25

What percentage of Germans voted in favour of the Young Plan in a referendum held in 1929?

Answer 25

85%

Question 26

Where did the French leave as a result of the Young Plan?

Answer 26

The Rhineland

Question 27

What agreement did Stresemann sign in October 1925?

Answer 27

The Locarno Pact

Question 28

What did Stresemann accept as part of the Locarno Pact?

Answer 28

Germany’s borders with France, including Alsace-Lorraine remaining French

Question 29

What was discussed for the first time during the Locarno Pact negotiations?

Answer 29

German membership of the League of Nations

Question 30

What did Stresemann receive in 1926 as a result of the Locarno Pact?

Answer 30

The Nobel Peace Prize

Question 31

What happened to Stresemann’s position in Germany as a result of the Locarno Pact?

Answer 31

It became stronger: more confidence of Germans in the moderate political parties

Question 32

Why did the Nazis oppose the Locarno Pact?

Answer 32

It confirmed the borders set out in the hated Treaty of Versailles

Question 33

Why did Stresemann think it necessary to sign the Locarno Pact?

Answer 33

By fulfilling the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, France would accept changes in reparations payments

Question 34

What was the League of Nations?

Answer 34

An international body set up after the First World War that discussed ways of solving the world’s problems without resorting to war

Question 35

When did Germany join the League of Nations?

Answer 35

September 1926

Question 36

As well as the League of Nations, what else did Germany join in September 1926?

Answer 36

The League of Nations Council, which took the most important decisions of the League

Question 37

What did joining the League of Nations mean for Germany’s international standing?

Answer 37

It improved - Germany was being treated as an equal partner in Europe

Question 38

Why did the Nazis oppose German membership of the League of Nations?

Answer 38

They saw it as a symbol of the Treaty of Versailles

Question 39

How many countries joined Germany in signing the Kellogg-Briand Pact in August 1928?

Answer 39

61

Question 40

What was the purpose of the Kellogg-Briand Pact?

Answer 40

States would not use war to achieve foreign policy aims

Question 41

Why did the USA help create the Kellogg-Briand Pact?

Answer 41

It was not in the League of Nations and saw this as a way of assisting peace in Europe