Summary 4: A Golden Era (2) ?

Question 1

What years were politically calmer ?

Answer 1

1924-29

Question 2

What does Reichstag elections/votes show about 1924-29 ?

Answer 2

• much more support for pro-weimar parties and RW parties vote decreasing
  ❗️ SPD: May 24 (20.5%) May 28 (29.8%)
  ❗️ DNVP: May 24 (19.5%) May 2 (14.2%)

Question 3

How many coalition govts were there between Nov 23 and Mar 1930 ?

Answer 3

6 coalition govts (only two had majority support in the Reichstag) ➡️ shows the lack of improvement on stable govt as govts did little to plan for the long term, the problem being the number of workable combinations of parties were limited (eg. SPD and DNVP would not serve in the same cabinet)

Question 4

What was the ‘Grand Coalition’ ?

Answer 4

• under Muller (SPD) lasted from Jun 28 to Sept 30 ➡️ one of the few to have majority (best potential for stable govt?)
• HOWEVER still took over 6 months to agree on overall govt policies and numerous disputes over foreign policy and the budget

Question 5

What were the political issues for pro-Weimar parties (1924-29) ?

Answer 5

pro-Weimar parties to establish more support for a democratic system but they failed:
1. PR system meant there was no direct connection between deputies and constituencies ➡️ do politicians not influential in local areas
2. deputies controlled by parties in Reichstag and expected to tow the line, again little connection to the ordinary voter
3. party leaders tended to act in interest of the party or their own narrow interest group rather than the wider national interest

Question 6

SPD (1924-29) ?

Answer 6

• largest party in the Reichstag
• leading roe in establishing of the WR but only participated in 1/6 coalitions
• its revolutionary LW past made it inflexible and unwilling to compromise (a prerequisite for participation in coalition govt)

Question 7

Centre Party (Z) (1924-29) ?

Answer 7

• strong links to Catholic Church and had so had cross class appeal
• participated in all coalitions
• in 1928 began to drift more to the right with leadership of Bruning (less committed to democracy)

Question 8

DDP (1924-29) ?

Answer 8

• liberal party in decline by mid 20s as it had internal disputes + failed to articulate what it stood for
• tented to be popular with academics and professionals
• committed to democracy and participated in all coalitions

Question 9

DVP (1924-29) ?

Answer 9

• conservative (mild RW)
• committed to democracy and participated in all coalitions
• main support from industrialists
• Stresemann’s party but after his death 1929 it increasingly drifted to the right and became a party of narrow big business interests

Question 10

DNVP (1924-29) ?

Answer 10

• anti-democratic and nationalist
• main RW party of 20s
• wanted to restore monarchy and dismantle TofV
• refused to join coalitions but changed approach in 1925 and 1927 (playing a part in coalitions)
• appealed to landowners/middle class/professionals
• after elections of Hugenberg as leader in 1928 ➡️ drifted to right and returned to anti-democratic stance
• allied with Nazis in campaign against Young Plan

Question 11

NSDAP (1924-29) ?

Answer 11

• period of decline after Munich Putsch but also reorganised
• while in prison Hitler decided the route to power was through elections not violence
• when released Nazis hampered by ban on SA and ban on Hitler speaking publicly till 1927 ➡️ took time to reorganise
• signs of revival by 1928 after decision to focus on rural Protestant areas
  🔔 Nationally, overall vote low but in rural areas as high as 18% (agricultural depression??)

Question 12

KPD (1924-29) ?

Answer 12

• key support from working class in industrial areas
• dedicated to overthrow democracy but had a notable presence in the Reichstag throughout the period
• received instructions from Moscow who insisted KPD focussed on attacking SPD (betrayer of LW)
• meant they did not focus on countering the Nazis who were to see growing vote among working class

Question 13

What happened in the presidential election 1925 ?

Answer 13

Feb 1925: Ebert died ➡️ new constitution required election of new President
Round 1: 7 candidates (incl. Nazi and KPD), no one won the required 50% of the vote so second round to be held
Round 2: von Hindenburg stood for right, Marx for the SPD, Thalmann for the KPD ➡️ left vote split ❗️ Hindenburg won by 48% to Marx’s 45% (if left worked together would have won)

Question 14

What impacts did the Hindenburg election have ?

Answer 14

• positive sign because he could potentially bring more right-wing support for the regime
• an ominous sign because he was uncommitted to democracy and could become a focus for powerful groups determined to undermine democracy

Question 15

What impacts did the Hindenburg election have ?

Answer 15

• positive sign because he could potentially bring more right-wing support for the regime
• an ominous sign because he was uncommitted to democracy and could become a focus for powerful groups determined to undermine democracy

Question 16

Political evidence for a golden era ?

Answer 16

• elections (May 24, Dec 24, May 28) showed increasing or steady support for moderate centre (democratic) parties (SPD/Z) + extremist made little gains (KPD around 10% of vote) and NSDAP (3%)
• coalitions were made of the centrist parties
• election turnouts remained relatively high ➡️ German people wanted to participate in democracy
• there were no attempted coups or uprising and no political assassinations
• election of Hindenburg as President (unifying figure)
• DNVP briefly appears to embrace democracy, participating in coalitions in 1925-27

Question 17

Political evidence of continuing weaknesses and problems ?

Answer 17

❗️6 coalition governments (only two could command a majority and many were short-lived) ➡️ German people saw weak and ineffective govt
- political violence continued ➡️ frequent flights between Nazi SA and KPD Red Fighting League (50 killed)
- loss of some centre ground: decline of DDP (liberals) and Z party moved to the right by the end of the period (advocating for a more authoritarian govt)
- DNVP returns to anti-democratic position after 1927 and new leadership of Alfred Hugenberg
- continue division of LW (illustrated by 1925 President election)
- PR meant voters voted for a list no an individual candidate) ➡️ no close relationship between voter and deputy
- growth of narrow interest parties (eg. party for compensation for losers from hyperinflation) only needed 60,000 voters to win a Reichstag seat (due to PR system) and so resulted in a more fragmented Reichstag (stable govt less likely)
- arguments of new Weimar flag illustrated Weimar govts failed to create emotive symbols/heroes for the regime that might have motivated support
- presidential Election 1925 saw Paul von Hindenburg elected (anti-democrat in the highest office)
- little change in the resentments and lack of support for the democratic regime amongst the elite- army leaders, judiciary and industrialists retained their distaste for democracy

Question 18

What was Stresemann’s policy of fulfilment ?

Answer 18

• conciliation with the Allies and mild pressure for change
• Germany would fulfil the terms of the TofV but encourage its revision

Question 19

What was Stresemann’s foreign policy aims ?

Answer 19

1. restore Germany’s great power status
2. achieve revisions to the TofV ➡️ through a pragmatic policy of co-operation, conciliation and mild pressure on other powers (Germany’s economic potential was to be used as a means of pressuring the allies for concessions) ➡️ particular focus was on revisions in: reparations + militarty occupation (Ruhr and Rhineland) + borders in the east

Question 20

How was Stresemann successful in reparations ?

Answer 20

• Dawes and Young Plan helped to reduce the reparations amount significantly to £1.8b

Question 21

What was the Locarno Pact (1925) and what did it achieve ?

Answer 21

a series of treaties signed with Britain, France, Belgium and Italy ➡️ importantly Germany negotiated as an equal rather than having the treaty dictate
- Germany accepted the Western borders (but not Eastern) set by TofV ➡️ gave France security as their border with Germany was now agreed and Germany confident the French would not repeat the Ruhr invasion + Germany agreed to keep troops out of the Rhineland
- France was reassured by guaranteed borders and Britain had agreed to intervene if Germany attacked
- HOWEVER Germany only agreed to not alter her Eastern borders by fore (effectively leaving a door open to negotiate those borders via diplomacy)

Question 22

How was Germany joining the League of Nations significant ?

Answer 22

• Germany allowed to join the LofN and was given great power status with a seat on the League council ➡️ a major victory in restoring Germany’s ‘great power’ status
• Germany no longer the international outcast (Stresemann received the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating Locarno and Germany’s entry into the League)

Question 23

What was the Treaty of Berlin (1926) ?

Answer 23

• in 1922 Germany and Russia had signed the Treaty of Rapallo which resumed economic and trade co-operation between the two outcasts of Europe ➡️ diplomatic relations were also restored
• the Treaty also implied that Russia and Germany both saw Poland as a threat to their security and France was angered by the suggestion that neither Germany nor Russia were guaranteeing their Polish borders
• the treaty added to the German-Russian relationship ➡️ Germany promised to remain neutral if Russia was involved in war (as long as Russia not the aggressor) ➡️ hinted that Germany would not resist revisions to Polish borders (and was still looking to revise her own eastern border)

Question 24

How was Stresemann successful with allied occupation ?

Answer 24

• by calling off passive resistance in the Ruhr, Stresemann persuaded the French to withdraw during 1924-25
• after Locarno the Allies left part of the Ruhr, as part of the Young Plan in 1929 the Allies agreed to end their occupation early (finally evacuated in 1930)

Question 25

How did Germany rearm ?

Answer 25

• Stresemann pushed for widespread disarmament (so other countries would reduce their militaries closer to the level of Germany’s) ➡️ little agreement on the issue
• Germany secretly rearmed beyond restriction of the TofV (submarines were built in Spain and tanks in Sweden) ➡️ this allowed Germany to at least keep up on technology (did not lead to major build up of arms)
• the army made sure there were plenty of well trained reservists (not full time military) and the army even had close ties with paramilitary

Question 26

Was the aim of the Great power status fulfilled ?

Answer 26

• Locarno ➡️ Germany negotiated as equal leads to…
• security council seat at LofN and close cooperation between USA/Ger/Br/Fr ➡️ gained Germany prestige and international goodwill (and could now play a part in influencing events)
• Kellog Briand ➡️ symbolic
• Dawes (negotiation not ultimatum) ➡️ Germany negotiating as an equal not being dictated to + USA $ and Allied recognition of Germany’s importance as an economic power (treated as an equal)
• Treaty of Berlin successfully put pressure on the West to concede- or see Germany become too close to Russia

Question 27

Was the aim of revising the TofV fulfilled ?

Answer 27

• Dawes: rescheduled payments (more affordable) + end Fr & Belgium occupation of the Ruhr
• Young: total reduced by 2/3rds + withdrawal of Rhineland Zones 2&3
• Locarno: Germany lost nothing by signing it (claim to Alsace Lorraine was very weak) but in return won the evacuation of the Rhineland Zone 1 + the removal of ‘outcast status’ and a place on the LofN council ➡️ could now focus on revisions in the East (however none achieved in Stresemann’s era)

Question 28

What evidence is there of weaknesses/problems in foreign policy ?

Answer 28

• very little of the hated TofV was actually revised (allied occupation/reparations)
• no territorial changes achieved or relaxation of militarty restrictions
• FP victories did not win greater support for the WR ➡️ the right saw fulfilment as a policy of capitulation (did not want Germany to have anything to do with the LofN, the enforcer of the TofV) + saw the Locarno as benefitting the French only + RW saw Germany still occupied and disarmed + Young plan actively opposed as Stresemann was still accepting that Germany had to pay reparations
• Young plan referendum forced by RW may have only seen 14% reject the plan but it gave important publicity to Hitler (his fierce condemnation of the Young Plane gave him a national prominence and helped secure an increased share of the vote for the Nazis in 1930)
• the ‘silent majority’ of Germans remained unimpressed (Stresemann’s achievements too subtle)
  🔔 = FP success not appreciated at home