The Golden Age (1920s) (Stresemann) - WR Flashcards
What were the signs of economic recovery?
By 1928 industrial production levels were higher than those of 1913 (before World War One).
Between 1925 and 1929 exports (sending
goods or services abroad) rose by 40 per cent.
Hourly wages rose every year from 1924 to 1929 and by 10 per cent in 1928 alone.
IG Farben, a German chemical manufacturing company, became the largest industrial company in Europe.
Generous pension, health and unemployment insurance schemes were introduced from 1927.
What were the signs of continued weakness in the economy?
Agricultural production did not recover to its pre-war levels.
It spent more on imports than it earned from exports, so Germany was losing money every year.
Unemployment did not fall below 1.3 million and in 1929 increased to 1.9 million.
The German industry became reliant on American loans.
The government ended up spending more than it received in taxes and so continued to run deficits from 1925 onwards.
How was cinema affected during the Golden Age?
Cinema was popular with Metropolic being a huge hit, directed by Fritz Lang.
Films often highlighted the struggles of workers.
German-born actress Marlene Deitrich became a global star, playing glamourous, strong-willed women. Before, women were very conservative and didn’t dress like she did.
Women were estimated to have made up around 75 per cent of cinema audiences during the 1920s. Films were cheap to watch, but only 2 per cent of small towns had a cinema so it was mainly urban women who benefitted from this.
How was architecture affected during the Golden Age?
The Bauhaus school was set up in Weimar in 1919 by architect Walter Gropius who wanted to bring together all the disciplines.
The school attracted many talented artists and designed and their ideas challenged traditional styles that had been popular before the war. Their approaches look more radical.
How was art affected during the Golden Age?
Avant-garde artists such as Otto Dix and George Grosz believed art should show reality of everyday life, and commented particularly the differences between social classes and problems within the German society. They tried to show what Germanny was actually like and used the style of work Expressionalism which tended to confront the disaster of WW1.
In design and architecture, a new group of designers known as Bauhaus believed in modern, practical designs.
How was jazz music and theatres affected during the Golden Age?
Germany became a centre for new plays, operas and shows.
Musicians performed vulgar songs about politicians.
Berlin was famous for its nightclubs.
Kurt Weill’s “The Threlpenny” was a hit.
Musicians in live bands played jazz music in the nightclubs.
How was literature affected during the Golden Age?
People had 120 newspapers and magazines to choose from, following the abolition of censorship, and many of these new publications were aimed specifically at women.
German anti-war novel “All Quiet on the Western Front” by Erich Remarque sold half a million copies in 3 months.
What were Germans’ reactions to the culture of the Golden Age?
Some wanted art, music and theatre to celebrate the older, traditional values of Germany.
Berlin was viewed as corrupt and sex-obsessed.
Some thought the new nightclubs and paintings were causing a moral decline.
The Nazis openly criticised nightclubs and art. When Hitler came to power, many artists and performers had to flee Germany.
What were the changes in the standard of living as a result of the Golden Age?
Hourly wages rose in real terms (ie above inflation) every year from 1924 to 1930, with a rise of 10 per cent in 1928 alone.
Pensions and sickness benefits schemes were introduced.
Compulsory unemployment insurance was introduced in 1927, which covered 17 million workers.
Government subsidies were provided for the building of local parks, schools and sports facilities, and there was a massive programme of council house construction.
Despite all of this, a large increase in the working age population during the mid-20s led to increasing unemployment, and farmers in particular suffered from declining incomes.
How did the role of women change in the Golden Age?
German women contributed massively to the war effort during World War One. However, after the war the government ordered women to return to their pre-war roles, either in low-skilled jobs or in the home, to allow returning soldiers to take up work:
Women experienced pressure to return to their ‘traditional’ role as wives and mothers.
However, attitudes towards women and work changed according to how well the economy did.
During times of economic crisis, such as the hyperinflation of 1923 and during the Great Depression, women returning home were seen as a solution to the problem of unemployment.
However, during the recovery of the mid-1920s women were welcomed into the workforce. The number of women in work was 1.7 million higher in 1925 than it had been in 1907.
Women were increasingly taking on white collar jobs, though these were mainly done by single women under 25.
Overall, the percentage of women in work only rose by less than 1 per cent between 1907 and 1925.
What changed in politics as a result of the Golden Age?
German women achieved the vote on an equal basis with men when the new German constitution was announced in August 1919, along with the right to be elected to the Reichstag and all other governmental bodies.
There is evidence that women’s roles in politics grew during the Weimar Republic, but there were also limitations to the progress they made:
-Women participated in democracy
-Women’s voting turnout in the elections for -the National Assembly in January 1919 was the same as men’s at 82 per cent.
-Politicians recognised women
-Political parties quickly realised the need to appeal to the women’s vote and much propaganda was directed towards them.
-Women became politicians
-Women were elected to local and regional assemblies all over Germany, and typically made up around eight per cent of the representatives in the Prussian Landtag, the most powerful regional parliament.
What DIDN’T change in politics as a result of the Golden Age?
-Not all women participated
-During the rest of the Weimar period women’s voting turnout was typically 5-10 per cent lower than that of men.
-Politicians stereotyped women
-Propaganda usually appealed to women as wives and mothers, rather than asking for their vote on the basis of improving their own lives.
-Women didn’t become very influential
-By 1933 women made up just 4.6 per cent of the representatives in parliament.
-No women held cabinet posts during the Weimar Republic’s 14 year existence and no women sat in the upper house of parliament, the Reichsrat.
-Women and men tended to vote for similar parties, although women were more likely to vote for religious parties, which tended to be more conservative.
