Stresemann 1924-1929

Question 1

Give the strengths of the Weimar economy during this period (5)

Answer 1

• industry grew due to large companies buying over smaller businesses (cartels)
• Overall by 1929, Germany was producing 33% more than in 1914 and German exports rose by 40%
• Banks invested heavily in Weimar
• wages increased and social benefits e.g sickness benefits, pensions were introduced
• by 1929 Stresemann had negotiated the Young Plan which reduced the total figure of reparations
• Heavy industry revived to almost pre-war levels of production. By 1927, steel production was up to 86% of these levels
• In 1927, an Unemployment Insurance Act made employers partly responsible for unemployment welfare, having to pay half the contributions

Question 2

Give the weaknesses of the Weimar economy (5)

Answer 2

• unemployment remained at just over a million people and increased towards the end of 1920s due to pre-WW1 baby boom
• agriculture output never really prospered
• Germany was stuck but as strong due to losing large amounts of mining and iron production due to TOV
• other countries protected their market by placing high tariffs on imported goods
• As savers lost so much during 1923 the Weimar Government could not use their money for investments, so became more dependent on foreign loans

Question 3

What was the Treaty of Rapallo?

Answer 3

An agreement signed 16th April 1922 between the German Republic and USSR, in which both countries agreed to renounce all territorial and financial claims against the other and to cooperate in mutual goodwill in meeting the economic needs of both countries

Question 4

How did the Treaty of Rapallo benefit Germany ?

Answer 4

This benefits Germany because it means that Germany doesn’t have to consider the economic strain of financial claims from the USSR in addition to the reparations set by TOV in summer 1921

Question 5

What was the Treaty of Berlin? (2)

Answer 5

• A Treaty signed on 24th April 1926, under which Germany and the USSR pledged neutrality in the event of an attack on the other country by a third party for the next five years.
• This also reaffirmed the Treaty of Rapallo, 1922

Question 6

How did the Treaty of Berlin benefit Germany ?

Answer 6

This benefitted Germany politically by improving relations with USSR but also economically in 1936, since the Treaty included that neither contracting Party should engage in an economic boycott of the other if conflict should arise with a third Power that involved one of the signatories

Question 7

For how long was Stresemann elected as Foreign Minister

Answer 7

1923-1929

Question 8

When did Ebert die ?

Answer 8

28th February 1925

Question 9

When did Germany join the League of Nations?

Answer 9

1926

Question 10

For how long was Stresemann elected as Foreign Minister

Answer 10

1923-1929

Question 11

When did Ebert die ?

Answer 11

28th February 1925

Question 12

When did Germany join the League of Nations?

Answer 12

1926

Question 13

For how long was Stresemann elected as Foreign Minister

Answer 13

1923-1929

Question 14

When did Ebert die ?

Answer 14

28th February 1925

Question 15

When did Germany join the League of Nations?

Answer 15

1926

Question 16

For how long was Stresemann elected as Foreign Minister

Answer 16

1923-1929

Question 17

When did Ebert die ?

Answer 17

28th February 1925

Question 18

When did Germany join the League of Nations?

Answer 18

1926

Question 19

For how long was Stresemann elected as Foreign Minister

Answer 19

1923-1929

Question 20

When did Ebert die ?

Answer 20

28th February 1925

Question 21

When did Germany join the League of Nations?

Answer 21

1926

Question 22

For how long was Stresemann elected as Foreign Minister

Answer 22

1923-1929

Question 23

When did Ebert die ?

Answer 23

28th February 1925

Question 24

When did Germany join the League of Nations?

Answer 24

1926

Question 25

For how long was Stresemann elected as Foreign Minister

Answer 25

1923-1929

Question 26

When did Ebert die ?

Answer 26

28th February 1925

Question 27

When did Germany join the League of Nations?

Answer 27

1926

Question 28

For how long was Stresemann elected as Foreign Minister

Answer 28

1923-1929

Question 29

When did Ebert die ?

Answer 29

28th February 1925

Question 30

When did Germany join the League of Nations?

Answer 30

1926

Question 31

For how long was Stresemann elected as Foreign Minister

Answer 31

1923-1929

Question 32

When did Ebert die ?

Answer 32

28th February 1925

Question 33

When did Germany join the League of Nations?

Answer 33

1926

Question 34

For how long was Stresemann elected as Foreign Minister

Answer 34

1923-1929

Question 35

When did Ebert die ?

Answer 35

28th February 1925

Question 36

When did Germany join the League of Nations?

Answer 36

1926

Question 37

Name three groups who benefited from the new social legislation (3)

Answer 37

• War victims : benefits and pensions for widows and the wounded were included from 1920 in the welfare scheme
• Youth : National Youth Welfare Law (1922) introduced programmes for the young from poor backgrounds as well as provision for youth clubs and sports facilities
• Unemployed : The Unemployment Insurance Law (1927) created a system covering 17 million workers which offered benefit at 75% of pay for 3/4 of a year

Question 38

Why was the German economy in a poor state before 1929? (3)

Answer 38

• Foreign loans made it liable to suffer from any problems that arose in the world economy
• Investment was too low to encourage growth
• The agricultural sector faced serious problems from the mid-1920s

Question 39

What were Weimar’s fundamental economic problems (4)

Answer 39

• Discouraged savings and investments
• Worrying government finances e.g the cost of welfare
• Changing balance of population
• Unfavourable world economic condition

Question 40

What was the Dawes plan 1924? (4)

Answer 40

• It establishes a new currency (Rentenkark) which was worth one billion of the old marks
• Establishing a German national bank, the Reichsbank, under Allied supervision
• An international loan of 800 million gold marks to aid German economic recovery (mainly financed by USA)
• New Arrangements for the payment of reparations (monthly instalments)

Question 41

Advantages of the Dawes Plan for Stresemann (3)

Answer 41

• Germany’s economic problems received international recognition
• Germany gained credit for the cash-starved German economy by means of the loan and subsequent investments
• It resulted in a French compromise to evacuate the Ruhr during 1925

Question 42

Give 2 advantages and 1 disadvantage to the Dawes Plan over a long period

Answer 42

• German economy was not weakened
• The regularly paid reparations contributed to the improved relations between France and Germany
• However the whole system depended on the continuation of US loans

Question 43

Why was the Locarno Pact signed and what did it mean? (5)

Answer 43

• Stresemann wanted to ease the concern of Anglo-French friendship leading to military alliance
• It was signed in October 1925.
• It meant a mutual guarantee agreement accepting the Franco-German and Belgian-German borders
• Demilitarisation of the Rhineland recognised as permanent
• Arbitration treaties between Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia agreed to settle future disputes peacefully

Question 44

What allowed Germany to be freed from its isolation by the Allies and treated as an equal partner?

Answer 44

Locarno Pact, October 1925

Question 45

What resulted in the Young Plan?

Answer 45

The Allies evacuating the Rhineland in 1929 in return for a final settlement of the reparations issue

Question 46

What was the Young Plan?

Answer 46

• Further revised the scheme of payments
• Germany agreed to continue to pay reparations until 1988
• The total reparations sum was reduced to £1.85 billion