DOCSLIB.ORG

Germany Revision Notes Number 2: How Far Did the Weimar Republic Recover Under Stresemann? Please Remember That These Are Revision Notes

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Germany Revision Notes Number 2: How Far Did the Weimar Republic Recover Under Stresemann? Please Remember That These Are Revision Notes Germany revision notes number 2: How far did the Weimar Republic recover under Stresemann? Please remember that these are revision notes. You need to make full use of your exercise book and textbook pages 26-30. You also need to make sure that you apply your knowledge appropriately to the demands of the exam questions, especially if you wish to secure an A/A* grade. How far did the Weimar Republic recover under Stresemann? The crisis facing the Weimar Republic reached its peak in November 1923. For the next six years Germany went through a period of prosperity that is sometimes called the 'golden age of the Weimar Republic’. The role of Stresemann Gustav Stresemann was leader of the German People’s Party (DVP). He became Chancellor briefly in 1923 and was Foreign Minister from 1923 to 1929. As Chancellor, he introduced a new currency, the Rentenmark, to replace the old worthless mark. He ordered the striking workers in the Ruhr back to work and agreed that Germany should start paying reparation again. This made him unpopular and he was forced to give up the post of Chancellor in November 1923. As Foreign Secretary Stresemann did more than anyone else to make Germany acceptable again to the European powers. In 1929 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Sresemann was also important in countering extremism within Germany and did much to keep governments going during the 1920s. It was a tragedy that he died in October 1929-at a time when Germany needed his special qualities. Economic recovery The introduction of the Rentenmark stabilised the German currency. To avoid another financial collapse in the future, other measures were also taken. In 1924 Germany agreed the Dawes Plan with the USA, Britain and France, in which the USA lent Germany 800 gold million marks. The Germans could use this to build new factories that would produce jobs and goods, and which would raise the standard of living for the German people. The Dawes Plan also spread the load of reparation payments according to Germany’s ability to pay. Over the next few years, Germany would make repayments starting at £50 million and rising to £125 million. Afterwards, payments would be linked to the prosperity of the German economy. The Dawes Plan did much to restore confidence in the German economy, and investment poured in from abroad. By 1925 all French and Belgian troops had been withdrawn from the Ruhr. This seemed to be a period of economic prosperity as German industry produced more goods, exports rose, unemployment fell and most Germans were better off. The Young Plan of 1929 extended the deadline for payments of reparations for a further 59 years. International relations Other countries began to treat Germany as an equal. In 1925, Germany and France signed the Locarno Pact, in which they agreed never to try to change the border between them. In the following year, Germany was allowed to join the League of Nations. In 1928, Germany signed the Kellog-Briand Pact with over 60 other countries. This said that these countries would never go to war against one another. Impact of recovery The republic was now more stable than at any time since 1919. The result was a decline in support for extremist parties such as the Communists and National Socialists. The moderate Social Democrats, on the other hand, increased their support after 1924. It seemed that the Weimar Republic was safe. People had more money to spend. Berlin became the pleasure capital of Europe. Going to clubs and cafes became an important part of Berlin life. Artists flocked to Berlin. There was little censorship and people could do whatever they wanted. The late 1920 saw a huge cultural revival in Germany. As the economy and politics became more stable, writers and artists had more chance to try out new ideas. The artist George Grosz used art to criticise society. A golden age? Although Germany did experience economic recovery after 1923, there were still problems. The German economy now became very dependent on US loans. This was to have disastrous consequences in 1929. Much of the money borrowed from US banks was invested in projects that in the long-term would pay off the loans and the interest. What was needed was time. Even as early as 1927, however, industrial growth had started to slow down and there was depression in farming. Some critics saw the Weimar Republic as ‘decadent’ and unpatriotic. Its new culture did not seem to represent the more traditional virtues of Germany. Many blamed the new wave of art for a decline of moral standards in the 1920s. The Great Depression In October 1929, Stresemann, the most able minister in the government died. Shortly after, the American financial marked on Wall Street in New York crashed. The effects of the collapse were felt not only in the USA, but across the world. Germany was hit particularly badly because of the scale of the loans from America after 1924……..MORE ABOUT THIS TOPIC ON THE NEXT REVISION SHEET. Some example exam questions You might want try to complete some of them as part of your revision. What would you write about? Question Marks Using Source F and your knowledge, explain how Gustav Stresemann tried to strengthen Weimar Germany. 8 How important was Gustav Stresemann, amongst other factors, in making the Weimar government successful 12 between the years 1924 and 1929? .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Film Front Weimar: Representations of the First World War in German Films from the Weimar Period (1919-1933) Kester, Bernadette
    www.ssoar.info Film Front Weimar: Representations of the First World War in German Films from the Weimar Period (1919-1933) Kester, Bernadette Veröffentlichungsversion / Published Version Monographie / monograph Zur Verfügung gestellt in Kooperation mit / provided in cooperation with: OAPEN (Open Access Publishing in European Networks) Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Kester, B. (2002). Film Front Weimar: Representations of the First World War in German Films from the Weimar Period (1919-1933). (Film Culture in Transition). Amsterdam: Amsterdam Univ. Press. https://nbn-resolving.org/ urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-317059 Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Dieser Text wird unter einer CC BY-NC-ND Lizenz This document is made available under a CC BY-NC-ND Licence (Namensnennung-Nicht-kommerziell-Keine Bearbeitung) zur (Attribution-Non Comercial-NoDerivatives). For more Information Verfügung gestellt. Nähere Auskünfte zu den CC-Lizenzen finden see: Sie hier: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.de * pb ‘Film Front Weimar’ 30-10-2002 14:10 Pagina 1 The Weimar Republic is widely regarded as a pre- cursor to the Nazi era and as a period in which jazz, achitecture and expressionist films all contributed to FILM FRONT WEIMAR BERNADETTE KESTER a cultural flourishing. The so-called Golden Twenties FFILMILM FILM however was also a decade in which Germany had to deal with the aftermath of the First World War. Film CULTURE CULTURE Front Weimar shows how Germany tried to reconcile IN TRANSITION IN TRANSITION the horrendous experiences of the war through the war films made between 1919 and 1933.
    [Show full text]
  • Paper 3 Weimar and Nazi Germany Revision Guide and Student Activity Book
    Paper 3 Weimar and Nazi Germany Revision Guide and Student Activity Book Section 1 – Weimar Republic 1919-1929 What was Germany like before and after the First World War? Before the war After the war The Germans were a proud people. The proud German army was defeated. Their Kaiser, a virtual dictator, was celebrated for his achievements. The Kaiser had abdicated (stood down). The army was probably the finest in the world German people were surviving on turnips and bread (mixed with sawdust). They had a strong economy with prospering businesses and a well-educated, well-fed A flu epidemic was sweeping the country, killing workforce. thousands of people already weakened by rations. Germany was a superpower, being ruled by a Germany declared a republic, a new government dictatorship. based around the idea of democracy. The first leader of this republic was Ebert. His job was to lead a temporary government to create a new CONSTITUTION (SET OF RULES ON HOW TO RUN A COUNTRY) Exam Practice - Give two things you can infer from Source A about how well Germany was being governed in November 1918. (4 marks) From the papers of Jan Smuts, a South African politician who visited Germany in 1918 “… mother-land of our civilisation (Germany) lies in ruins, exhausted by the most terrible struggle in history, with its peoples broke, starving, despairing, from sheer nervous exhaustion, mechanically struggling forward along the paths of anarchy (disorder with no strong authority) and war.” Inference 1: Details in the source that back this up: Inference 2: Details in the source that back this up: On the 11th November, Ebert and the new republic signed the armistice.
    [Show full text]
  • Germany Italy 1861 Kingdom of Italy Proclaimed Unification of Germany
    Germany Italy 1861 Kingdom of Italy proclaimed Unification of Germany 1871 Wilhelm II became Kaiser 1888 1911 Invasion of Libya Giolitti became prime minister (third time) 1912 Suffrage extended 1914 Declaration of neutrality Start of First World War 1915 Treaty of London with Entente Powers Declaration of war on Austria-Hungary 1916 Declaration of war on Germany 1917 Defeat at Caporetto ‘Revolution from above’ 1918 Victory at Vittorio Veneto Abdication of the Kaiser End of Italy on winning side First Fighting on Western Front Universal male suffrage World ended by armistice introduced in Italy War The Spartacist Revolt 1919 Catholic Popular Party (PPI) founded National Assembly elections Fasci di Combattimento Weimar Constitution drawn founded up Party list electoral system Ebert became president (and proportional Germany signed the representation) introduced Versailles Treaty Treaty of Saint Germain signed D’Annunzio occupied Fiume First general election under new system – Liberals and their allies lost control of the chamber The Kapp Putsch 1920 Treaty of Rapallo signed with Yugoslavia Foundation of the NSDAP Worker occupation of the Publication of the NSDAP’s 25 factories (Bienno Rosso) Point Programme Occupation of Fiume ended by force Matthias Erzberger murdered 1921 Italian Communist Party by Organisation Consul (PCI) formed National Fascist Party (PNF) founded Walter Rathenau murdered 1922 Fascist ‘March on Rome’ by Organisation Consul carried out Mussolini became prime minister French troops occupied the 1923 Acerbo Law passed
    [Show full text]
  • Modern Germany Albrecht Ritschl Reform After the French Wars The
    Modern Germany Albrecht Ritschl Reform after the French Wars The French wars (1792-1815) radically altered the political map of Germany. They led to the dissolution of myriads of mostly ecclesiastical micro-territories, brought down the Holy Roman Empire, and triggered legal and social reforms on a large scale. Traditional historiography (as Nipperdey, 1994) has tended to regard Napoleon’s impact as decisive for Germany’s modernization in the 19th century. Under French occupation, feudal structures were uprooted, French civil law was introduced or imitated, and a customs barrier was erected that isolated Germany from England while the wars lasted. However, even prior to the French Revolution, Germany had been less static than it often seems. In the second half of the 18th century, industrialization gradually took hold in the commercially advanced regions along the Rhine river and in Saxony (Pollard, 1981). Population size had just recovered the losses from the Thirty Years War and kept growing steadily. Still, institutional reform advanced only slowly, with the Prussian Civil Code of 1794 and the Josefinian reforms in the Habsburg monarchy as the major exceptions. The pace of reform changed after Prussia’s defeat against France in 1806. Between 1806 and 1810, Prussia abandoned the guild system, introduced free enterprise, freed its peasantry, and reshaped its administrative system. Entry exams for Prussia’s higher civil service were created that included Adam Smith in the list of required readings. An era of economic liberalism began that lasted into the 1870s. Economic and institutional reform elsewhere in Germany often proceeded more cautiously. West of the Elbe river, liberation of the peasantry was less of an issue, as in many regions, the manor system hardly consisted in more than rental payments for farmers and in – usually detailed and restrictive – entitlements to the use of the village commons.
    [Show full text]
  • Change in Germany Between …? (6)
    45 min exam 5 questions 1) Describe the … (5 marks) Germany 2) How far did …change in Germany between …? (6) 3) Arrange the …in order of their significance in … 1919- Germany after the ... Explain your choices. (9) 4) Explain why …different for 1991 … Germans after ... (8) 5) How important was …in Hitler`s …between …? (12) 1 Pages 3- 11 Pages 13- 20 Pages 21- 28 Pages 29- 37 Pages 38- 46 Pages 47- 54 Pages 55- 62 2 KEYWORDS Reparations Money which Germany Key Qu- 1 had to pay the Allies from How successful were the 1921 League of Nations Organisation to keep the Weimar government in peace in the world Weimar constitution The new democratic dealing with Germany’s government of Germany problems between 1919- Spartacist Uprising Communist revolt against 1933? the Weimar government Kapp putsch Right-wing revolt against the Weimar government You need to know about: Freikorps Ex-servicemen from WW1 • Impact of WW1 p4 Gustav Stresemann Chancellor of Germany • Terms of the Treaty of Versailles p4 1923 • The Weimar Republic p5 Foreign minister 1923-29 • Opposition to the Republic p6 Dawes Plan 1924- $800m gold marks • Economic/political/ foreign reform lent to Germany under Stresemann p7-8 Hyperinflation When the prices of goods rise significantly above wages 3 KEY QUESTION 1- How successful were the Weimar government in dealing with Germany’s problems between 1919-1933? Impact of WW1 on Treaty of Versailles (28 June 1919) War Guilt clause 231: Germany accepted blame for ‘causing all the loss Germany and damage’ of the war. • Naval mutiny at Kiel and violent protests over Army: 100,000/no submarines/no aeroplanes/6 battleships/No military Germany led to Kaiser’s abdication.
    [Show full text]
  • Elections in the Weimar Republic the Elections to the Constituent National
    HISTORICAL EXHIBITION PRESENTED BY THE GERMAN BUNDESTAG ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Elections in the Weimar Republic The elections to the constituent National Assembly on 19 January 1919 were the first free and democratic national elections after the fall of the monarchy. For the first time, women had the right to vote and to stand for election. The MSPD and the Centre Party, together with the German Democratic Party, which belonged to the Liberal Left, won an absolute majority of seats in the Reichstag; these three parties formed the government known as the Weimar Coalition under the chancellorship of Philipp Scheidemann of the SPD. The left-wing Socialist USPD, on the other hand, which had campaigned for sweeping collectivisation measures and radical economic changes, derived no benefit from the unrest that had persisted since the start of the November revolution and was well beaten by the MSPD and the other mainstream parties. On 6 June 1920, the first Reichstag of the Weimar democracy was elected. The governing Weimar Coalition suffered heavy losses at the polls, losing 124 seats and thus its parliamentary majority, and had to surrender the reins of government. The slightly weakened Centre Party, whose vote was down by 2.3 percentage points, the decimated German Democratic Party, whose vote slumped by 10.3 percentage points, and the rejuvenated German People’s Party (DVP) of the Liberal Right, whose share of the vote increased by 9.5 percentage points, formed a minority government under the Centrist Konstantin Fehrenbach, a government tolerated by the severely weakened MSPD, which had seen its electoral support plummet by 16.2 percentage points.
    [Show full text]
  • The Deutschnationale Volkspartei and the Dawes Plan, 1923--1924
    W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 1978 The Deutschnationale Volkspartei and the Dawes Plan, 1923--1924 William Phillip Bradley College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the European History Commons, and the International Relations Commons Recommended Citation Bradley, William Phillip, "The Deutschnationale Volkspartei and the Dawes Plan, 1923--1924" (1978). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539625032. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-7g65-w364 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE DEUTSCHNATIONALE VOLKSPARTEI AND THE DAWES PLAN 1923-1924 A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of History The College of William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts. by William P. Bradley 1978 APPROVAL SHEET This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Author Approved, July’1978 G q'o rge/V. Strong / Thomas Shept>ar> arga/ret HamfYton TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT.........................................................iv INTRODUCTION.................................................... 2 CHAPTER I. THE COMMITTEE AND THE PLAN....................5 CHAPTER II. THE DNVP AND THE DAWES PLAN: THE DEBATE . .2 1 CHAPTER III. THE DNVP AND THE DAWES PLAN: THE VOTE. 40 CHAPTER IV. CONCLUSION ....................................... 56 BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................64 i i i ABSTRACT This investigation was undertaken in order to determine the nature of nationalist reaction to the Dawes Plan in Germany.
    [Show full text]
  • How Did the Weimar Republic Recover Under Stresemann? L/O – to Evaluate the Successes and Failures of Stresemann’S Economic and Foreign Policies
    How did the Weimar Republic recover under Stresemann? L/O – To evaluate the successes and failures of Stresemann’s economic and foreign policies “What economic, social and political problems did I face when I became Chancellor in August 1923?” Who was Gustav Stresemann? • A month after the armistice of November 11th, 1918, Stresemann formed the German People's Party and was elected to the national assembly which gathered at Weimar in 1919 to frame a new constitution. He was elected to the new Reichstag in 1920 and spent the next three years in opposition. • From August 13 to November 23, 1923, Stresemann was Chancellor of a coalition government. In 1924 Stresemann was chosen as Foreign secretary, an office he was to fill with such distinction under four governments that he was called ‘the greatest master of German foreign policy since Bismarck’. • He died on 3rd October 1929 – the year he won the Nobel Peace Prize. 1.) The Rentenmark: 1923-1924 • Germany’s biggest problem in 1923 was Hyperinflation. • He introduced a new, temporary currency called the Rentenmark in November 1923. If the currency failed, the government promised to exchange the money for shares in land or industry. • Confidence was restored and in August 1924, he introduced the Reichsmark which was controlled by the newly independent national bank, the Reichsbank. • Confidence rose further. Deposits in Germany banks rose from 900m marks at the start of 1924 to 4,900m marks at the end of 1926. 2.) The Dawes Plan: 1924 • Next he tackled reparations. Germany was unable to pay in 1922 – they were too high.
    [Show full text]
  • Reparations Revisited: the Role of Economic Advisers in Reforming German Central Banking and Public Finance
    Financial History Review . (), pp. –. © European Association for Banking and Financial History e.V. .ThisisanOpen Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/./), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. doi:./S Reparations revisited: the role of economic advisers in reforming German central banking and public finance ROBERT YEE Princeton University The economic advisers of the Dawes Committee enacted currency and banking reforms as a means of resolving financial and geopolitical problems. Although the committee members stated that they had no plans to resolve the Ruhr occupation, evidence from the technical advisers demonstrated the oppos- ite. Economists Edwin Kemmerer, Joseph Davis and Arthur Young sought to appease Franco-Belgian demands for a resolution to the reparations debate by balancing the German budget and reorganising the banking system, thereby also addressing the question of military occupation. This research delves into the advisers’ reports on public finance, currency stabilisation and the gold standard, arguing that their attempts to assuage reparation-related concerns rested on major reforms to German central banking. Keywords: reparations, financial reform, European history, central banking JEL classification: E,F,F,N In January , S. Parker Gilbert, an American lawyer and the Agent General for Reparation Payments, addressed the Council on Foreign Relations on the plan to resolve German debts from World War I. He commented on the success of the Dawes Plan, a series of measures, recommendations and proposals for the payment of these reparations through the Transfer Office, of which Gilbert was the head.
    [Show full text]
  • Why a Second World War? the Failure of Peace
    Why a Second World War? The Failure of Peace Overview Students will study various agreements between American and European countries to ensure peace after World War I and evaluate their effectiveness. Students begin by studying a political cartoon of the Versailles treaty and learn how the treaty was viewed as a threat to world peace and stability shortly after it was signed. Students then examine various attempts by the United States and Europe at avoiding another world war. Students will demonstrate what they have learned and teach their classmates through a “living political cartoon” activity. Grade 11 North Carolina Essential Standards for American History II • AH2.H.2.1 -Analyze key political, economic, and social turning points since the end of Reconstruction in terms of causes and effects • AH2.H.2.2 -Evaluate key turning points since the end of Reconstruction in terms of their lasting impact • AH2.H.6.2 -Explain the reasons for United States involvement in global wars and the influence each involvement had on international affairs • AH2.H.7.1 -Explain the impact of wars on American politics since Reconstruction Materials • Image of Treaty of Versailles Political Cartoon (attached). o Online version can be found here: http://www.schoolhistory.co.uk/year9links/riseofhitler/versailles_cannonfodder.jpg • Items for the Living Political Cartoon Demo o 2’ x 1’ piece of paper with “Peace and Future Cannon Fodder” written on it o 2’ x 1’ piece of paper with “The Tiger: Curious I seem to hear a child weeping!” written on it o A piece of computer paper with the words “Peace Treaty” written on them o A piece of computer paper with the words “1940 Class” written on them • Attempts at Peace Handouts (attached) o League of Nations o Washington Naval Conference o Dawes Plan o Treaty of Locarno o Kellogg-Briand Pact o Appeasement • Materials to create props for living cartoon: paper, construction paper, markers, pens, colored pencils.
    [Show full text]
  • Przegląd Zachodni” 2/2014
    „Przegląd Zachodni” 2/2014 THE PAST – MEMORY – THE PRESENT Jerzy Kałążny, Who Owns History? Reflections of a Literary Scholar The article presents the most recent reflection on narration in German literary and history studies. It deals with fiction and non-fiction as a medium of history. After the period of postmodern “literarization” and fictionalization of history and historiography differences between fiction and literature on the one hand and between reality and history on the other are realized again. In the discussion an important place is given to the so-called literature of memory [Erinnerungsliteratur] with the category of “experience” offering new interdependences between the sphere of facts and the sphere of fiction. Contemporary German literary and history studies on the connections between literature and history and their narrativity are focused on war and the Holocaust in literature, film and historiography, furthermore on the history of East Germany and its mythicization, on mass culture and collective memory, on history and gender. Julita Makaro, The Memory of Neighbouring Nations. On the Exhibition “Side by Side. Poland-Germany. 1000 Years of Art and History” Normalization of Polish-German neighbourly relations includes among others a change in the memory of Poles and Germans about their common past. One of the instruments of this change is art. That is why the article makes empirical reference to the exhibition “Side by Side. Poland-Germany. 1000 Years of History in Art.” In connection with this exhibition the question
    [Show full text]
  • Gustav Stresemann & Decide If He Solved Weimar Germany’S Problems
    Time for a change! Aim: To understand the impact of Gustav Stresemann & decide if he solved Weimar Germany’s problems What problems has the new Weimar Republic had to deal with since 1918? • Hyperinflation • Occupation of the Ruhr • Lack of trust from foreign powers • Reparation payments • Destroyed economy and infrastructure • Dolchstoss • Early political violence (Spartacist / Kapp) Of these problems, if YOU were the new leader of Germany, which would you tackle first and why? • Out of the dark of 1918 (WWI) • Death in the water • Strong horses leading us into the bright ‘sunny’ future “1924” • German National People’s Party (DNVP) • Carrying Germany on his back, weighed down by the Treaty of Versailles • Rocky road with challenges eg Kapp Putsch etc • Communists & Nazis throwing rocks making the climb even harder • Sun shining around the corner A poster for the German Democratic Party (DDP) “Wer das Reich der Freiheit entgegen tragen will – wählt Deutsche Demokratische Partei” means “those who want to carry the Reich to freedom – choose the German Democratic Party” Gustav Stresemann: Leader of the German People’s Party (DVP). Elected Chancellor in 1923 by President Ebert. He was Chancellor for 3 months but solved many of Germany’s problems. Held office as Foreign Minister until his death. He won the Nobel Peace Prize for improving relations between Germany and France after WWI. What does this source tell us about Germany from 1923? Who is the little girl representing? Who has their arms beside her? What is he supposed to be and why? What is he doing? Why? What is the best possible outcome? Did Stresemann get Germany across? What is the worst possible outcome? Even though Stresemann has solved your 5 problems, could Germany still fall off? • Striking workers in the Ruhr.
    [Show full text]