Weimar economy Flashcards
what is the balck market
illegal trade during the war. The black market developed as inflation shot up and goods became scarse
what is social welfare
government set up retrainig schemes and provided loans to those leaving the army. Set up pensions for widows , orphans and the wounded
what are reperations
laid down in the ToV put the republic into even deeper debt. Gov borrowed and printed money to pay back. Talks were held about the amount and how it should be paid
what is emergency decree
10th august 1923 benafitted gustav stressmann as the gov could delay reichstag meetings, this allowed the gov to act quickly as there was no debates.
who was gustav stressmann
chancellor in 1923 and as foreign minister from 1925 to 1929.
who was Hjamalar Schacht
co-founder of the german democratic party and served as president of the reichbank under the weimar and nazi
what was the rentenmark
took over as germanys currency in november 1923 and it helped to restore faith in the germany cureency both home and abroad
what is the reichmark
augist 1924 took over from the rentenmark as germanys offical currency
what was the dawes plan
1924 ended the occupation of the rhur and created a staggered payment plan to pay german reperations
what was the young plan
1929 cut german reparation payments from 6.6 billion to 2 billion and gave Germany 59 years to pay it back
what are cartels
a group of businesses that made agreement to set prices. the surviving big businesses did this to stabilise the economy. the biggest being IG Farben
what were the living standard like between 1918 - 1932
during the war the country found it hard to farm as the hourses were required for the front. the weimar republic did impliment social welfare schmes such as benafits and pensions which meant that living standards improved. however many lived in poverty in cramped houses and huge amounts of people faced unemployment so much so it was one of the nazis main policies when they first entered power
wht happened to the gold resereves during the war
the government had spent all of the gold reserves in the war making germany a poor nation
what was the situation with currency and inflation after the war
inflation had made the mark virtually worthless and people were starving. in june 1914 there were just over 200 million marks in circulaton by December 1918 this had riesn to 6,600 million. there were also 150 printing firms with 2000 printing presses working day and night t produce bank notes. people lost jobs
what happened when the production of war good stopped
people in factories lost jobs, farms production dropped by 20% and industrial output had almost halved
what happened to land after the war
direct result of the Tov which caused loss of land in both the agriculture sector and industrial sector which lowed the economy
what happened to the black market mean after the war
during the war a black market had developed as inflation shot up and goods became scarce. After the turmoil of strikes and political unrest and changes to the gov and the economy spiralled out of control
what were the economic crises faced by the weimar
- social welfare
- debt and reperations
- the Rhur
- hyper inflation
what was the social welfare crisis
after the war the gov set up retraining schemes for those who had fought in the war and provided loans to help those leaving the army until they could find work. it also set up pensons for the wounded, widows and orphan. Both the federal Gov and lander provided layers of support, there was an estimated 1,537,000 disabled veterans. The Gov looked after them with a mixturenof lumps sum payments and pensions. by 1924 the Gov was supporting about 781,000 veterans, 420,000 widows and 190,000 parents of dead soldiers. 10% of the populatiobn recieved payments and many more were on regional poor relief. The Gov went into massive debt to pay them.
what was the debt and reperations crisis
The Gov had borrowed heavily during the war by 1918 it owed about 150 billions marks, reperations laid down in the ToV put the Gov into even deeper debt. At first the Gov tried to pay back by printing and borrowing money. From 1921 the Gov was entngled in negotiations on how much it should pay and how. Germanys economy was in problems but so was the rest of the world so until 1924 reperatioins were paid in kind eg/wood, coal and oil.
what was the rhur crisis
In January 1923 Germany failed to achieve its reperations payments in full. The London ultimatum of the allies had been that payments should be met or the rhur would be occupied, which was vital from the German economy because of its coal and industrial base there. In 1923 French troops did just that with the aid of belgium troops. The Gov instantly stopped all payments to france (not the other allies) and told all german workers not to exept rders from non-germans and urged passive resistance. The French repilled by cutting the rhur off from the rest of Germany by setting up, patrolles by armed froces and taking control of the telegram services. Neither France nor Germany benafiited from the situation. In 1923 the new coaltion gov called a stop to passive resistance tactics and began negotiations (the dawes plan) with the French.
what was the hyperinflatin crisis
the crisis in the rhur escalted inflation into hyperinflation on the 1st of May 1922 a slice of bread cost 1 mark by 1st of September 1923 100,000 and by 1st December 700 billion. people lost complete faith in currency and began to rely on bartering and those with goods to sell on the black market made huge profits. Aswell as towns, regions and businesses began to issue their own Notsgeld ‘emergency money’. there was mass unemployment and even the gov cut back on staff
what were the policies to recovery
- making money work
- recovery of business
- trade recovery
- agriculture
- Gov spending
what was the making money work policy
Stressmann’s first policy was to regain control of money. In October 1925 the mark was withdrawn and as a temperary measure the rentenmark took its place. Savers objected as it was worth less than one gold mark. Various other forms of currecny was banned ‘notsgeld’. The transactions was monitored by Hjlamar Schlatt. The currency change restored faith in currency and the economy. The Gov also used emergency powers to control rent, wages and prices. Schlatt also oversaw the change to the reichmark in August 1924.
