The 'Golden Age' of Weimar: Economic developments Flashcards
When did Chancellor Cuno’s gov collapse and who was he replaced with?
august 1923
Stresemann
What was Stresemann’s coalition named and why ?
‘the great coalition’
it was the first coalition to contain parties from the left and right
What were stresemann’s three steps to bringing inflation under control :
- ending passive resistance
- issuing a new currency
- balancing the budget
What new currency did Stresemann put in place and when ?
the rentenmark in November 1923
How much was one retenmark worth in reichmarks ?
one trillion old marks
What was the rentenmark supported by ?
mortgage on all industrial and agricultural land as Germany didn’t have sufficient gold reserves
When was the retenmark fully introduced by ?
august 1924
How did Stresemann balance the budget ?
cut expenditures and rose taxes
- around 300,000 civil servants lost their jobs
Difference of numbers of companies that went bankrupt in 1923 and 1924 ?
in 1923 233 companies went bankrupt and it 1924 over 6000 companies did
What was the Dawes Plan ?
it was finalised in april 1924 and accepted in july after Stresemann’s gov had fallen and it despite confirming the original reparation figure of 6.6 billion made payments more managable
How did the Dawes Plan make payments more managable ?
- amount payed each year by Germany should be reduced until 1929, when the situation would be re assessed
-Germany should receive a loan of 800 million marks from US to help get plan started and allow for investment in German infrastructure
What did the Dawes plan lead the French to do ?
gradually leave the Ruhr in 1924-25 as they believed Germany was going to start paying
contributed to German optimism
When did industrial output reach 1913 levels again ?
1929
Figures that prove economic growth rates were unsteady ?
1924-25 and 27 were good years but economy shrank in 1928 and 29.
investment in new machineary/factories falling by 1929
What was population growth in the golden age attributed to ?
overcrowding and insanitary conditions of working class which can be linked to political instability
How many more houses were built in 1925 compared to 1924 ?
70,000
What percentage had real wages increased by 1928 since 1924 ?
21%
Was unemployment still an issue in the Golden Age ?
yes by the end of 1925 unemployment was at one million and by March 1926 it was over three million
Who didn’t gain from Weimar’s ‘golden age’ ?
the mittlestand did not gain as they were bankrupted by the 1923 hyper inflation
white collar workers also didn’t enjoy pay rises of the industrial sector
farmers gained little as despite the gov making it easy for them to take out loans they became saddled with debt when prices were falling. additionally paying for welfare benefits was seen as an unfair burden on farmers
What happened to industrial sector wages by late 1920s ?
they had draw level with middle class wages sometimes exceeding them
Farmers during late 1920s :
- increase in bankruptcies
- many lost land trying to repay loans
- 1928 - series of small scale riots ‘farmers revenge’ protesting against foreclosure and low market prices
By 1929 what was agricultural production at ?
less than 3/4 of pre-war levels
What is foreclosure ?
taking possession of mortgaged property when someone fails to keep up repayments
What did the Young Plan state ?
- it obliged Germany to keep on paying reparations until 1988
- total bill reduced to 1.8 billion from 6.5 billion but annual payment required increased
- responsibility of repayment placed solely on Germany
- Britian and France agreed to withdraw all troops from Rhineland by June 1930
When was the Young Plan produced ?
1929
What was a consequence of signing the Young Plan ?
DNVP leader Hugenberg launched a nationwide campaign against it with Hitler in a leading role.
He did this by drawing up a ‘freedom law’ which required gov to reject the war guilt clause of TOV, demanded evacuation of occupied areas and declared any minister involved in TOV would be tried for treason
What was the reaction to the ‘freedom law’ ?
it was defeated and rejected in the referendum despite this 13.8% or 5,825,000 still voted for it showing a deep support for right-wing nationalism
