A Turning Point for the Weimar Republic
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1923 - A Turning Point for the Weimar Republic 1923 - A Turning Point for the Weimar Republic The Invasion of the Ruhr Following defeat in the First World War, Germany’s economy was in turmoil. However, in 1921 the allied powers decided – as required by the Treaty of Versailles – that the total sum of reparations to be paid by Germany would amount to 229 million Goldmarks, a sum that was to be changed later. Since Germany was not even close to being able to pay that sum, it was decided that the total had to be paid within 42 years. As early as 1922 Germany could not keep up with the payment of reparations, but the French in particular were determined to force Germany to pay what they owed. In January 1923 the French government lots its patience and sent troops to invade the Ruhr, Germany’s most valuable industrial area. The French believed that they had every right to occupy the area to extract the reparations themselves. The French prime minister at the time, Raymond Poincare, said that letting the Germans break the terms of the Treaty of Versailles in regards of the war reparations, would create a precedent that would lead Germany to ignore the rest of the Treaty. The French and Belgian troops took over the iron and steel factories, coal mines and railways. Those Germans who lived in the Ruhr and were considered not to be cooperating were imprisoned. Weimar’s government responded by ordering the workers in the Ruhr to go on strike. It also ordered all people in the Ruhr to passively resist the French and Belgian soldiers. This meant that they were not to openly confront the members of the occupying forces, but that they were not to help them in any way whatsoever. This led to violence and, over the next 8 months of the occupation, about 130 people were killed. The order for workers to go on a general strike may have been taken for patriotic reasons but it had disastrous consequences for Germany as a whole. The Ruhr was Germany’s richest economic area and produced a great deal of wealth for the country. By not producing any goods, Germany’s economy started to suffer. Though on strike, the workers still had to be paid. To do this, the government did the worst thing possible – it printed money to cover the costs… DRAMATIC MUSIC ;) Simplicissimus, German satire magazine Hyperinflation Inflation As a result of the expensive war, Germany experienced Inflation means that prices inflation. To make things worse the Treaty of Versailles continue to rise and wages do not demanded that Germany pay reparations amounting to 229 rise in line with them. This makes million Goldmarks. it harder for people to afford the Germany could not cope with the repayments. In addition to goods that are on sale. that, German businessmen had been speculating with German money, and this made the problem worse. As the value of the Example mark spiraled out of control, the price of ordinary goods 1918: a loaf of bread = 0,63 marks increased dramatically. By January 1923 the price of a loaf of bread had already reached 250 marks. 1922: a loaf of bread = 163 marks When the German government – in order to pay the workers on strike in the occupied Ruhr area – started to print money to cover these costs, the consequences for the country were disastrous. By doing so, the rest of the world could see that Germany did not have enough money to pay for the country’s day-to-day needs. As a result, whatever money had been invested in Germany was removed by foreign investors, since the country was no longer considered a secure place for profitable investment. Overnight the life savings of hundreds of thousands of people became worthless and many people became destitute. The majority of the public was furious. Old people living on fixed pensions, or people who lived on their savings found that these were now worthless. Ordinary workers found it harder to buy food to feed their families, even though their wages and unemployment benefits rose dramatically in an attempt to counteract the devaluation of the Mark. Children would use the money to play with, while families often used the paper currency to burn in ovens. Hyperinflation happened so fast that at some point they used the old money and printed a new number on top of the old one. By the middle of 1923 the Germans were billionaires. They had to use baskets to carry their wages home. Since farmers were no longer willing to exchange their products for money, swapping goods became the only way to get food. Hyperinflation reached its peak in November 1923. In August a new chancellor had been appointed, Gustav Stresemann. He called for an end to passive resistance in the Ruhr as he could see that the printing of more money was causing prices to spiral out of control. Stresemann realized that Germany would become bankrupt if this trend continued. In order to stop inflation and to stabilize the economy he therefore introduced a new ‘temporary’ currency called the Rentenmark. By 1924 the economy had stabilized sufficiently. The Reichsmark was brought in to replace the Rentenmark as the permanent currency. Simplicissimus, German satire magazine, June 1923 Das habe ich nicht gewollt Simplicissimus 1922 The Munich Putsch / The Beer Hall Putsch When the German government decided to give in to the French demands to resume making payments in September 1923, the people were resentful. The Nazis and other similar groups felt that now was the right time to strike. On November 8th, 1923, a large gathering of businessmen took place in a Munich beer hall and the guests of honor were several Bavarian ministers. It should be noted that Bavaria had a very strong right-wing movement. While the prime minister of Bavaria was delivering a speech, Adolf Hitler and armed storm troopers entered the building. Hitler jumped onto a table and fired a shot in the air. He then told the audience that the Munich Putsch was taking place and the National Revolution had begun. Hitler took Gustav von Kahr (Bavarian prime minister), Otto von Lossow (Commander of the Bavarian Army) and Hans von Seisser (Commandant of the Bavarian State Police) into another room. There he told them that he was to be the new leader of Germany and offered them posts in his new government. Inspired by Mussolini's successful “March on Rome” that brought the Fascists to power in Italy in October 1922, Hitler planned to make his move with a parallel “March on Berlin” to seize control of the national government. However, they had not thought of taking control of the radio stations and the telegraph offices. This meant that the national government in Berlin had already heard about Hitler’s putsch. The next day Adolf Hitler, Erich Ludendorff, Hermann Goering and 3,000 armed supporters of the Nazi Party marched through Munich in an attempt to join up with forces at the War Ministry that Röhm had seized the day before. They found the road blocked by the Munich police. When the rebels refused to stop shots were fired. During the next few minutes about 20 people were killed and another hundred were wounded. When the firing started Adolf Hitler scooted away into a waiting car, leaving his comrades behind. The rest of the Nazis scattered or were arrested. After hiding for several days, Adolf Hitler was arrested and put on trial for treason. The media attention surrounding the Beer Hall Putsch and the trial increased Hitler’s popularity. The Nazi propaganda machinery made sure that this failed putsch was celebrated as a heroic defeat. It soon became clear that the Nazi sympathizers in the Bavarian government were going to make sure that Hitler would not have to stay in prison for too long. He was originally sentenced to 5 years of prison but was already released after roughly 8 months in Landsberg am Lech. It is said that the judicial system of the Weimar Republic turned a blind eye to the right. While being in prison, Hitler wrote “Mein Kampf”, which would become the ‘bible of the Nazi movement’. With the collapse of the Nazi Beer Hall Putsch, it now appeared to most observers that Hitler’s political career and the Nazi movement had come to a crashing, almost laughable end. Comparison of two historic daily newspapers on the Munich Putsch on November 9. 1923 Vorwärts, Socialdemocratic newspaper Völkischer Beobachter, National Socialist newspaper Ruhr Crisis Hyperinflation Hitler Putsch (Beer Hall Putsch) Ruhr Crisis • Hyper inflation Hitler Putsch 1923 – A Turning Point in the Weimar Republic International Social Economic Political - Germany and Russia are - France and Belgium invade - in order to plug the gap in - Adolf Hitler, the chair of the excluded from the and occupy the industrial the economy created by a NSDAP (founded 1920), from international Conference in heartland Germany, the Ruhr sudden lack of production in 1921-1945 sees the agreement Genoa on Reparations in Area, in January 1923 after the Ruhr, the German between France and Germany 1922 Germany was not able to pay government simply prints off as a spineless act of surrender reparations, to seize payment more paper money to the French - the two political outcasts directly in the form of goods, meet each other in Rapallo resources and machinery, they - because the money is not - Bavaria, nationalist and (outside of Genoa, Italy) take over the iron and steel backed up by genuine conservative right-wing factories, coal mines and wealth, businesses don’t trust government, acts against the - The Treaty of Rapallo was an railways it as much, so they raise their national democratic agreement signed on 16 April prices – inflation, so the government 1922 between Germany and - Socially, the invasion creates government prints even more Russia under which each terrible tension in the area: money - Beer Hall Putsch in Munich, renounced all territorial and over the next 8 months of the Bavaria November 9, 1923 financial claims against the occupation, 132 people are - very quickly, prices go other after WWI killed and over 150,000 Ruhr through the roof and the - Hitler and his associates (e.g.