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How Did Germany Survive 1923? the Response of Many German People to This Economic Chaos Was the Same As It Had Been to the Treaty of Versailles

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How Did Germany Survive 1923? the Response of Many German People to This Economic Chaos Was the Same As It Had Been to the Treaty of Versailles Revision for Spring Mocks 2019 Germany (Paper 3) How did Germany survive 1923? The response of many German people to this economic chaos was the same as it had been to the Treaty of Versailles. They didn’t blame the Kaiser (who had started the war) or the Allies (who had forced the German government to agree to the Treaty) or the French (who had actually invaded the Ruhr)—they blamed the Weimar government. If democracy was to survive, action was needed. The man who stepped in to save the day was a man called Gustav Stresemann, a member of the DVP - a centre-right political party, who became Chancellor in August 1923. He acted quickly and called off the policy of passive resistance and visited France to tell the French government that he was prepared to work with them to resume reparation repayments. He also scrapped the old worthless money and introduced a new, temporary currency called the rentenmark. By strictly limiting the amount of this currency in circulation, the value of German money was stabilised, bringing hyperinflation under control. Within the year a new permanent currency called the Reichsmark was brought in. Because of Stresemann, Germany had survived its first major economic crisis but there was a cost. Many right-wing extremists were furious that once again Germany had given in to the French. Another humiliation by the Weimar government and within the year a small right wing group - the NSDAP which was led by Adolf Hitler - made its first attempt to seize power in Munich, in November 1923. The attempted Putsch failed but it was a sign that the extreme-right wing was not going to just disappear. The Golden Years of the Weimar Republic—1924-1929 Although he had managed to tackle the inflation problem, Gustav Stresemann was not popular with many people. He was too right wing for the Left and too left wing for the Right. This resulted in his removal as Chancellor in 1924. However his skills were recognised and he was a member of every government from 1923 and 1929. From 1924 to 1929 he held the post of Foreign Minister. For this reason the years 1924-1929 are often referred to as the Stresemann Era. 1 The Dawes Plan 1924 and The Locarno Treaties 1925 The German recovery continued ​ in 1924 because of a deal Stresemann brokered with the French, British and Americans. Under The Dawes Plan of 1924, Germany was given longer to pay reparations so would be able to pay lower reparation payments. Germany agreed to pay as much as it could each year, starting with 1,000 million marks. As part of the deal, America agreed to lend Germany 800 million marks to get the plan started. This money was used to kick start the stagnant German economy. As Germany recovered from the crisis, more people from all social classes began to support their government. The next success for Stresemann was the Locarno Pact of ​ 1925. In a series of ​ treaties, the Germans promised to accept the land and border changes which had been made by the Treaty of Versailles. As a result of Stresemann’s cooperative stance Germany was, in 1926, at last invited to join the League of Nations Its status as a great power was also recognised as it was given a permanent seat on the League’s Council, alongside Britain and France. Finally in 1929, the Young Plan was ​ ​ ​ agreed. This greatly reduced the amount of money Germany had to pay as reparations and gave Germany longer to pay. As a result of this deal, Allied troops finally withdrew from the Rhineland. 2 Did all of this make the German people happy? Most Germans were pleased but a hard core of extremists weren’t happy because Stresemann had cooperated with the Allies rather than seeking revenge for the humiliation of the Treaty. They didn’t understand that Stresemann had recognised the fact that the only way in which the Allies would ever have agreed to change the terms of the Treaty, was if they could be made to trust Germany. Between 1924 and 1929 Stresemann had succeeded in winning the trust of the Allies and had therefore been able to negotiate concessions on the Treaty and ended the likelihood of future conflict. A New President 1925 The Weimar Constitution stated that there should be an election for President every 7 years. In 1925 Ebert’s tenure came to an end and in the following election, General Paul von Hindenburg was elected President. This was very worrying for supporters of democracy in Germany. Although he was respected and trusted by the German people Hindenburg had always been a critic of democracy and the Weimar system. Before he took office, he had even written to his old friend, Kaiser Wilhelm II, to ask his permission to stand for election! The fact that this critic of democracy had been elected President suggests that support for the pro-democracy Weimar parties was getting weaker; Hindenburg represented the old Germany of the Kaiser, not the new Weimar Germany of the Social Democrats. Economic Success and Political Stability Despite the election of Hindenburg as President, by the late 1920s, Weimar Germany seemed relatively stable. The reason for this was Germany’s economic revival. The 800 million marks loan from America, which had been part of the Dawes Plan, was invested in industry and commerce. Following America’s lead, foreign banks were also happy to lend money to German businessmen and farmers to invest in new equipment and premises; 25,000 million gold marks entered the German economy this way. 3 By 1930, Germany had become was one of the world’s leading exporters of consumer goods. 3 million new homes had been built, along with factories, public facilities, roads, railways, airships, ocean liners, film studios etc. Germany seemed like the most modern and prosperous country in the world outside the USA. The Dawes Plan had saved Germany from economic collapse and provided a kickstart to an economic recovery. One major advantage of the improved German economy was that there was a decline in support for extremist parties like the Nazis. Nazi representation in the Reichstag went from a high of 32 seats in 1924 to just 12 in 1928. Likewise, support for the Communists declined, though not as much. The message was clear: economic success led to political stability and to a decline in support for the extreme parties like the Nazis and the Communists. Warning signs for the future All of this was very exciting. However, there were very serious weaknesses threatening the long term success of the German economy: ● Germany was dependent on American and foreign loans which could be withdrawn at any time and too big a percentage of its income came from exports. ● Unemployment remained a serious problem; the Weimar economy wasn’t providing enough jobs for Germany’s rising population. ● Farming never really recovered to its pre-war situation and income from agriculture actually fell between 1925 and 1929; farm workers in 1929 were earning little more than half the national average. ● There were extremes of wealth and poverty in Germany; economic power was still mainly in the hands of just a few very wealthy industrialists who ran more than half-Germany’s industry. 4 Was Weimar Germany a beautiful house built on shaky foundations? All of this meant was that the future of Weimar Germany was far from secure. Most of the very rich, the very poor and the farmers of Germany remained unimpressed by the Weimar government. Also, because Germany’s economic success was almost totally dependant on foreign investment and exports (mainly to America), if anything happened to the American economy then the German economy would collapse. Metaphorically if America were to sneeze, Germany would be very likely to catch a fatal cold! Stresemann himself knew this: Another warning sign for the future…. Between 1919 and 1933, no single party ever won a majority of seats in the Reichstag. Although the Social Democrats always won the most votes - and were by far the most popular political party - they never won enough seats to form a government on their own. Indeed between 1923 and 1928 they didn’t take part in any of the ruling coalitions. All Weimar governments were coalitions—parties working together—and these coalitions had a horrible habit of breaking down nearly as quickly as they were formed. In the 14 years of the Weimar Republic, there were 25 separate governments; some governments only lasted a matter of weeks. The only consistent feature of government at this time was Stresemann’s role as Foreign Minister. What would happen if there was a crisis and Stresemann wasn’t around to find a solution? Germany was about to find out! The Rise of the Hitler and the Nazis 1919-1933 ​ The Nazi party was founded in Munich in 1919 by Anton Drexler NOT ​ ​ ​ Adolf Hitler. It was originally called the DAP (German Workers Party; it ​ ​ later became the National Socialist Workers party or Nazis. Before Hitler joined, it had less than 50 members, hardly any money, no party programme, no leaflets, no posters – not even the swastika symbol. In 1921, Hitler replaced Drexler as the leader. ​ 5 Nazi Policies - The 25 Point Programme Hitler and Drexler wrote The 25-point Programme which stated the party’s 3 ​ ​ ​ ​ main policies. Anti-Semitism – This is a hatred of Jewish people and the belief ​ ​ that the Jews are to blame for many national and international problems.The Nazis said the Jewish people were the lowest race of people in the world and that if you were Jewish, you weren’t a German citizen.Jews were blamed for all of Germany’s problems, including the First World War.
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