Weimar - Economic Problems Flashcards
1
Q
Treaty of Versailles Reparations
A
132 billion marks
2
Q
Germany’s debt post-WW1
A
150 billion marks + ToV reparations
3
Q
Agricultural Crash
A
1922
- Farm production reduced by 20%
- Led to mass food shortages
4
Q
Ruhr Crisis
A
1923
- Triggered hyperinflation - key source of German steel
- Germans declare passive resistance against French
- German economy worsens as the Ruhr is isolated from Germany
5
Q
Dawes Plan
A
1924
- 800 million mark loan from USA
- Allies control Reichsbank, railways
- Helped Germany’s GDP reach its 1913 level
- Opponents to plan called it a “second Versailles”
6
Q
Young Plan
A
1929
- Reparations reduced to 50 million marks annually
- Annual reparations extended over 58 years
“Germany is dancing on a volcano” - Stresemann
7
Q
Great Depression
A
1929
- Wall Street crash and loans recalled
- Industrial production halved by 1932
- Value of German exports reduced 55% from 1929-31
- Foreign investors withdraw money
8
Q
Hyperinflation
A
1923
- Newspaper cost 700bn marks
- Increased black market activity
- Increased unemployment + impoverishment
- Led to system of governing by decree
9
Q
Schacht and Stresemann’s policies for recovery
A
1924-28
- Rentenmark introduced + emergency currency banned
- Deposits in German banks increase dramatically - increased confidence in German economy
- Growth in car + cinema industries
- Joined the League of Nations - increased investment confidence
10
Q
Impact of foreign capital
A
Youth Welfare Law (1922) - right to education
Unemployment Insurance Law (1927)
Homelessness reduced by 60%
Production levels reach pre-1913 levels (1928)
11
Q
Bruning’s economic policy after the Great Depression
A
Hunger Chancellor - extreme austerity
- Use of Article 48 extensively
- Cuts in social welfare, wages + higher taxes
