Weimar Economics Flashcards
Name 4 economic impacts of ww1?
- War debt .Borrowed almost 150 Billion marks - Reparations .6.6 Billion pounds - Loss of income .Lost saar land, which was a key coal producer and generated lots of money - Post war unemployment .1.1 Million people didn’t have jobs (7% of the workforce) .6 million soldiers needed jobs
What was the cause of hyper inflation 1921 - 1923
.Germany printed money to pay war loans and reparations
.Printed money flooded Germany without a rise in number of goods, causing inflation and de stabilisation
.France and Belgium send 60,000 troops to the Ruhr to seize the coal production in the region, in replacement for the missing payment
.They started a campaign of passive resistance where they supported the workers striking and payed them using printed money which caused more
hyperinflation
What where the effects of hyperinflation 1921 - 1923
.Middle class lost out the most as there savings were worthless, and they therefore were no better of than the
Working class
.Working class wages rose with the inflation so didn’t do to bad
.Upper class had money in assets so didn’t lose out as they could keep them with the same value.
.currency became worthless
.no faith from foreign investors in the German marks
What where living standards like 1924 - 1929.
.Urban areas were very prosperous with lots of disposable income
.Rural areas with lots of farmers didn’t enjoy any increases, in fact they now had to compete with cheap over seas
Competition.
.working class received lots of benefits from the government and a huge increase in wages.
.Middle class didn’t get a wage rise and could not pay back what they lost from hyperinflation
.also couldn’t get benefits even if unemployed
What where the causes of the Great Depression 1929 - 1932?
.Wallsteet crash
.American loans from Germany where now demanded to be payed back because of the crash
.This caused Germany to go into depression to pay it back
What where the effects of the Great Depression?
.Huge decline in industrial production
.between 1929 - 32 exports fell by 55%
.Unemployment rose - 1.8m in 1929, 5.6m in 1932
.Half of all young people between 16 and 30 were unemployed
.Collapse of 5 major banks in 1931 east 50,00 businesses went bankrupt
.State benefits ere reduced
.Widespread poverty
.Rise of extremism
Why had the German government debt grown to 144,000 million marks by the end of the war?
Took out loans to pay for the war - planned to make Russia and France pay it off once Germany had won
Reparations was finally set at 132 billion marks. When was the cost of reparations finally set?
1921
What was the name of the campaign started by the German government in opposition to the French and Belgian occupation of the Ruhr?
Passive resistance
Name two specific policies Stresemann used to solve the hyperinflationary crisis of 1923…
Fulfilment - meet the terms of the ToV
Deep cuts to public spending
Introduced the Rentenmark
The USA invested heavily in Germany from 1924 onwards.
Give an example of an agreement made to enable American financial aid. .
Dawes Plan 1924, Young Plan 1929
How many new homes were built by the German government to benefit the industrial working class between 1919-1928?
2.8 million.
From 1924 onwards what was the only year that Germany ran a balance of trade surplus (they exported more than they imported)?
1926
Unemployment was the main consequence of the Great Depression in Germany, what had it risen to by 1932?
5.6 million but accept 6 million as this is what some books say.
What happened in 1931 which led to many middle class Germans losing their jobs and businesses?
5 major banks collapsed
