Weimar Republic, continued ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Years of crisis (1919–1923)
Burden from the First World War, concluded ...
The growing post-war economic crisis was a result of lost pre-war industrial exports, the loss of supplies in raw materials and foodstuffs due to the continental blockade, the loss of the colonies, and worsening debt balances, exacerbated by an exorbitant issue of promissory notes raising money to pay for the war.
Military-industrial activity had almost ceased, although controlled demobilisation kept unemployment at around one million.
In part, the economic losses can also be attributed to the Allied blockade of Germany until the Treaty of Versailles.
The Allies permitted only low import levels of goods that most Germans could not afford.
After four years of war and famine, many German workers were exhausted, physically impaired and discouraged.
Millions were disenchanted with what they considered capitalism and hoping for a new era.
Meanwhile, the currency depreciated, and would continue to depreciate following the French invasion of the Ruhr.
The treaty was signed June 28, 1919 and is easily divided into four categories: territorial issues, disarmament demands, reparations, and assignment of guilt.
The German colonial empire was stripped and given over to Allied forces.
The greater blow to Germans however was that they were forced to give up the territory of Alsace-Lorraine.
Many German borderlands were demilitarised and allowed to self-determine.
The German military was forced to have no more than 100,000 men with only 4,000 officers.
Germany was forced to destroy all its fortifications in the West and was prohibited from having an air force, tanks, poison gas, and heavy artillery.
Many ships were scuttled and submarines and dreadnoughts were prohibited.
Germany was forced under Article 235 to pay 20 billion gold marks, about 4.5 billion dollars by 1921.
Article 231 placed Germany and her allies with responsibility for causing all the loss and damage suffered by the Allies.
While Article 235 angered many Germans, no part of the treaty was more fought over than Article 231.
The German peace delegation in France signed the Treaty of Versailles, accepting mass reductions of the German military, the prospect of substantial war reparations payments to the victorious allies, and the controversial "War Guilt Clause".
Explaining the rise of extreme nationalist movements in Germany shortly after the war, British historian Ian Kershaw points to the "national disgrace" that was "felt throughout Germany at the humiliating terms imposed by the victorious Allies and reflected in the Versailles Treaty...with its confiscation of territory on the eastern border and even more so its 'guilt clause'."
Adolf Hitler repeatedly blamed the republic and its democracy for accepting the oppressive terms of this treaty.
The Republic's first Reichspräsident ("Reich President"), Friedrich Ebert of the SPD, signed the new German constitution into law on 11 August 1919.
The new post-World War Germany, stripped of all colonies, became 13% smaller in its European territory than its imperial predecessor.
Of these losses, a large proportion consisted of provinces that were originally Polish, and Alsace-Lorraine, seized by Germany in 1870, where Germans constituted only part or a minority of local populations despite nationalist outrage at the fragmentation of Germany.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC
Re: THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC
Weimar Republic, continued ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Years of crisis (1919–1923)
Allied Rhineland occupation
The occupation of the Rhineland took place following the Armistice with Germany of 11 November 1918.
The occupying armies consisted of American, Belgian, British and French forces.
In 1920, under massive French pressure, the Saar was separated from the Rhine Province and administered by the League of Nations until a plebiscite in 1935, when the region was returned to the Deutsches Reich.
At the same time, in 1920, the districts of Eupen and Malmedy were transferred to Belgium.
Shortly after, France completely occupied the Rhineland, strictly controlling all important industrial areas.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Years of crisis (1919–1923)
Allied Rhineland occupation
The occupation of the Rhineland took place following the Armistice with Germany of 11 November 1918.
The occupying armies consisted of American, Belgian, British and French forces.
In 1920, under massive French pressure, the Saar was separated from the Rhine Province and administered by the League of Nations until a plebiscite in 1935, when the region was returned to the Deutsches Reich.
At the same time, in 1920, the districts of Eupen and Malmedy were transferred to Belgium.
Shortly after, France completely occupied the Rhineland, strictly controlling all important industrial areas.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC
Weimar Republic, continued ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Years of crisis (1919–1923)
Reparations
The actual amount of reparations that Germany was obliged to pay out was not the 132 billion marks decided in the London Schedule of 1921 but rather the 50 billion marks stipulated in the A and B Bonds.
Historian Sally Marks says the 112 billion marks in "C bonds" were entirely chimerical — a device to fool the public into thinking Germany would pay much more.
The actual total payout from 1920 to 1931 (when payments were suspended indefinitely) was 20 billion German gold marks, worth about US$5 billion or £1 billion British pounds.
12.5 billion was cash that came mostly from loans from New York bankers.
The rest was goods such as coal and chemicals, or from assets like railway equipment.
The reparations bill was fixed in 1921 on the basis of a German capacity to pay, not on the basis of Allied claims.
The highly publicised rhetoric of 1919 about paying for all the damages and all the veterans' benefits was irrelevant for the total, but it did determine how the recipients spent their share.
Germany owed reparations chiefly to France, Britain, Italy and Belgium; the US Treasury received $100 million.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Years of crisis (1919–1923)
Reparations
The actual amount of reparations that Germany was obliged to pay out was not the 132 billion marks decided in the London Schedule of 1921 but rather the 50 billion marks stipulated in the A and B Bonds.
Historian Sally Marks says the 112 billion marks in "C bonds" were entirely chimerical — a device to fool the public into thinking Germany would pay much more.
The actual total payout from 1920 to 1931 (when payments were suspended indefinitely) was 20 billion German gold marks, worth about US$5 billion or £1 billion British pounds.
12.5 billion was cash that came mostly from loans from New York bankers.
The rest was goods such as coal and chemicals, or from assets like railway equipment.
The reparations bill was fixed in 1921 on the basis of a German capacity to pay, not on the basis of Allied claims.
The highly publicised rhetoric of 1919 about paying for all the damages and all the veterans' benefits was irrelevant for the total, but it did determine how the recipients spent their share.
Germany owed reparations chiefly to France, Britain, Italy and Belgium; the US Treasury received $100 million.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC
Weimar Republic, continued ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Years of crisis (1919–1923)
Reparations
The actual amount of reparations that Germany was obliged to pay out was not the 132 billion marks decided in the London Schedule of 1921 but rather the 50 billion marks stipulated in the A and B Bonds.
Historian Sally Marks says the 112 billion marks in "C bonds" were entirely chimerical — a device to fool the public into thinking Germany would pay much more.
The actual total payout from 1920 to 1931 (when payments were suspended indefinitely) was 20 billion German gold marks, worth about US$5 billion or £1 billion British pounds.
12.5 billion was cash that came mostly from loans from New York bankers.
The rest was goods such as coal and chemicals, or from assets like railway equipment.
The reparations bill was fixed in 1921 on the basis of a German capacity to pay, not on the basis of Allied claims.
The highly publicised rhetoric of 1919 about paying for all the damages and all the veterans' benefits was irrelevant for the total, but it did determine how the recipients spent their share.
Germany owed reparations chiefly to France, Britain, Italy and Belgium; the US Treasury received $100 million.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Years of crisis (1919–1923)
Reparations
The actual amount of reparations that Germany was obliged to pay out was not the 132 billion marks decided in the London Schedule of 1921 but rather the 50 billion marks stipulated in the A and B Bonds.
Historian Sally Marks says the 112 billion marks in "C bonds" were entirely chimerical — a device to fool the public into thinking Germany would pay much more.
The actual total payout from 1920 to 1931 (when payments were suspended indefinitely) was 20 billion German gold marks, worth about US$5 billion or £1 billion British pounds.
12.5 billion was cash that came mostly from loans from New York bankers.
The rest was goods such as coal and chemicals, or from assets like railway equipment.
The reparations bill was fixed in 1921 on the basis of a German capacity to pay, not on the basis of Allied claims.
The highly publicised rhetoric of 1919 about paying for all the damages and all the veterans' benefits was irrelevant for the total, but it did determine how the recipients spent their share.
Germany owed reparations chiefly to France, Britain, Italy and Belgium; the US Treasury received $100 million.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC
Weimar Republic, continued ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Years of crisis (1919–1923)
Hyperinflation
In the early post-war years, inflation was growing at an alarming rate, but the government simply printed more currency to pay debts.
By 1923, the Republic claimed it could no longer afford the reparations payments required by the Versailles Treaty, and the government defaulted on some payments.
In response, French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr region, Germany's most productive industrial region at the time, taking control of most mining and manufacturing companies in January 1923.
Strikes were called, and passive resistance was encouraged.
These strikes lasted eight months, further damaging both the economy and society.
The strike prevented some goods from being produced, but one industrialist, Hugo Stinnes, was able to create a vast empire out of bankrupt companies.
Because the production costs in Germany were falling almost hourly, the prices for German products were unbeatable.
Stinnes made sure that he was paid in dollars, which meant that by mid-1923, his industrial empire was worth more than the entire German economy.
By the end of the year, over two hundred factories were working full-time to produce paper for the spiralling bank note production.
Stinnes' empire collapsed when the government-sponsored inflation was stopped in November 1923.
In 1919, one loaf of bread cost 1 mark; by 1923, the same loaf of bread cost 100 billion marks.
Since striking workers were paid benefits by the state, much additional currency was printed, fuelling a period of hyperinflation.
The 1920s German inflation started when Germany had no goods to trade.
The government printed money to deal with the crisis; this meant payments within Germany were made with worthless paper money, and helped formerly great industrialists to pay back their own loans.
This also led to pay raises for workers and for businessmen who wanted to profit from it.
Circulation of money rocketed, and soon banknotes were being overprinted to a thousand times their nominal value and every town produced its own promissory notes; many banks and industrial firms did the same.
The value of the Papiermark had declined from 4.2 marks per U.S. dollar in 1914 to one million per dollar by August 1923.
This led to further criticism of the Republic.
On 15 November 1923, a new currency, the Rentenmark, was introduced at the rate of one trillion (1,000,000,000,000) Papiermark for one Rentenmark, an action known as redenomination.
At that time, one U.S. dollar was equal to 4.2 Rentenmark.
Reparation payments were resumed, and the Ruhr was returned to Germany under the Locarno Treaties, which defined the borders between Germany, France, and Belgium.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Years of crisis (1919–1923)
Hyperinflation
In the early post-war years, inflation was growing at an alarming rate, but the government simply printed more currency to pay debts.
By 1923, the Republic claimed it could no longer afford the reparations payments required by the Versailles Treaty, and the government defaulted on some payments.
In response, French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr region, Germany's most productive industrial region at the time, taking control of most mining and manufacturing companies in January 1923.
Strikes were called, and passive resistance was encouraged.
These strikes lasted eight months, further damaging both the economy and society.
The strike prevented some goods from being produced, but one industrialist, Hugo Stinnes, was able to create a vast empire out of bankrupt companies.
Because the production costs in Germany were falling almost hourly, the prices for German products were unbeatable.
Stinnes made sure that he was paid in dollars, which meant that by mid-1923, his industrial empire was worth more than the entire German economy.
By the end of the year, over two hundred factories were working full-time to produce paper for the spiralling bank note production.
Stinnes' empire collapsed when the government-sponsored inflation was stopped in November 1923.
In 1919, one loaf of bread cost 1 mark; by 1923, the same loaf of bread cost 100 billion marks.
Since striking workers were paid benefits by the state, much additional currency was printed, fuelling a period of hyperinflation.
The 1920s German inflation started when Germany had no goods to trade.
The government printed money to deal with the crisis; this meant payments within Germany were made with worthless paper money, and helped formerly great industrialists to pay back their own loans.
This also led to pay raises for workers and for businessmen who wanted to profit from it.
Circulation of money rocketed, and soon banknotes were being overprinted to a thousand times their nominal value and every town produced its own promissory notes; many banks and industrial firms did the same.
The value of the Papiermark had declined from 4.2 marks per U.S. dollar in 1914 to one million per dollar by August 1923.
This led to further criticism of the Republic.
On 15 November 1923, a new currency, the Rentenmark, was introduced at the rate of one trillion (1,000,000,000,000) Papiermark for one Rentenmark, an action known as redenomination.
At that time, one U.S. dollar was equal to 4.2 Rentenmark.
Reparation payments were resumed, and the Ruhr was returned to Germany under the Locarno Treaties, which defined the borders between Germany, France, and Belgium.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC
Weimar Republic, continued ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Years of crisis (1919–1923)
Political turmoil
A 50 million mark banknote issued in 1923, worth approximately one U.S. dollar when issued, would have been worth approximately 12 million U.S. dollars nine years earlier, but within a few weeks inflation made the banknote practically worthless.
The Republic was soon under attack from both left- and right-wing sources.
The radical left accused the ruling Social Democrats of having betrayed the ideals of the workers' movement by preventing a communist revolution and sought to overthrow the Republic and do so themselves.
Various right-wing sources opposed any democratic system, preferring an authoritarian monarchy like the German Empire.
To further undermine the Republic's credibility, some right-wingers (especially certain members of the former officer corps) also blamed an alleged conspiracy of Socialists and Jews for Germany's defeat in the First World War.
In the next five years, the central government, assured of the support of the Reichswehr, dealt severely with the occasional outbreaks of violence in Germany's large cities.
The left claimed that the Social Democrats had betrayed the ideals of the revolution, while the army and the government-financed Freikorps committed hundreds of acts of gratuitous violence against striking workers.
The first challenge to the Weimar Republic came when a group of communists and anarchists took over the Bavarian government in Munich and declared the creation of the Bavarian Soviet Republic.
The uprising was brutally attacked by Freikorps, which consisted mainly of ex-soldiers dismissed from the army and who were well-paid to put down forces of the Far Left.
The Freikorps was an army outside the control of the government, but they were in close contact with their allies in the Reichswehr.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Years of crisis (1919–1923)
Political turmoil
A 50 million mark banknote issued in 1923, worth approximately one U.S. dollar when issued, would have been worth approximately 12 million U.S. dollars nine years earlier, but within a few weeks inflation made the banknote practically worthless.
The Republic was soon under attack from both left- and right-wing sources.
The radical left accused the ruling Social Democrats of having betrayed the ideals of the workers' movement by preventing a communist revolution and sought to overthrow the Republic and do so themselves.
Various right-wing sources opposed any democratic system, preferring an authoritarian monarchy like the German Empire.
To further undermine the Republic's credibility, some right-wingers (especially certain members of the former officer corps) also blamed an alleged conspiracy of Socialists and Jews for Germany's defeat in the First World War.
In the next five years, the central government, assured of the support of the Reichswehr, dealt severely with the occasional outbreaks of violence in Germany's large cities.
The left claimed that the Social Democrats had betrayed the ideals of the revolution, while the army and the government-financed Freikorps committed hundreds of acts of gratuitous violence against striking workers.
The first challenge to the Weimar Republic came when a group of communists and anarchists took over the Bavarian government in Munich and declared the creation of the Bavarian Soviet Republic.
The uprising was brutally attacked by Freikorps, which consisted mainly of ex-soldiers dismissed from the army and who were well-paid to put down forces of the Far Left.
The Freikorps was an army outside the control of the government, but they were in close contact with their allies in the Reichswehr.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC
Weimar Republic, continued ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Years of crisis (1919–1923)
Political turmoil, continued ...
On 13 March 1920 during the Kapp Putsch, 12,000 Freikorps soldiers occupied Berlin and installed Wolfgang Kapp, a right-wing journalist, as chancellor.
The national government fled to Stuttgart and called for a general strike against the putsch.
The strike meant that no "official" pronouncements could be published, and with the civil service out on strike, the Kapp government collapsed after only four days on 17 March.
Inspired by the general strikes, a workers' uprising began in the Ruhr region when 50,000 people formed a "Red Army" and took control of the province.
The regular army and the Freikorps ended the uprising on their own authority.
The rebels were campaigning for an extension of the plans to nationalise major industries and supported the national government, but the SPD leaders did not want to lend support to the growing USPD, who favoured the establishment of a socialist regime.
The repression of an uprising of SPD supporters by the reactionary forces in the Freikorps on the instructions of the SPD ministers was to become a major source of conflict within the socialist movement and thus contributed to the weakening of the only group that could have withstood the Nazi movement.
Other rebellions were put down in March 1921 in Saxony and Hamburg.
One of the manifestations of the sharp political polarization that had occurred were the right-wing motivated assassinations of important representatives of the young republic.
In August 1921, Finance Minister Matthias Erzberger and Foreign Minister Walther Rathenau were murdered by members of the Organization Consul in June 1922, who had been defamed as compliant "Erfüllungspolitiker" with regard to the Treaty of Versailles.
While Erzberger was attacked for signing the armistice agreement in 1918, Rathenau as foreign minister was responsible, among other things, for the reparations issue.
He had also sought to break Germany's isolation after World War I through the 1922 Treaty of Rapallo with the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.
However, he also drew right-wing extremist hatred as a Jew.
The solidarity expressed in large, public funeral processions for those murdered, and the passage of a "Law for the Defense of the Republic," were intended to put a stop to the right-wing enemies of the Weimar Republic.
However, right-wing state criminals were not permanently deterred from their activities, and the lenient sentences they were given by judges influenced by imperial conservatism were a contributing factor.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Years of crisis (1919–1923)
Political turmoil, continued ...
On 13 March 1920 during the Kapp Putsch, 12,000 Freikorps soldiers occupied Berlin and installed Wolfgang Kapp, a right-wing journalist, as chancellor.
The national government fled to Stuttgart and called for a general strike against the putsch.
The strike meant that no "official" pronouncements could be published, and with the civil service out on strike, the Kapp government collapsed after only four days on 17 March.
Inspired by the general strikes, a workers' uprising began in the Ruhr region when 50,000 people formed a "Red Army" and took control of the province.
The regular army and the Freikorps ended the uprising on their own authority.
The rebels were campaigning for an extension of the plans to nationalise major industries and supported the national government, but the SPD leaders did not want to lend support to the growing USPD, who favoured the establishment of a socialist regime.
The repression of an uprising of SPD supporters by the reactionary forces in the Freikorps on the instructions of the SPD ministers was to become a major source of conflict within the socialist movement and thus contributed to the weakening of the only group that could have withstood the Nazi movement.
Other rebellions were put down in March 1921 in Saxony and Hamburg.
One of the manifestations of the sharp political polarization that had occurred were the right-wing motivated assassinations of important representatives of the young republic.
In August 1921, Finance Minister Matthias Erzberger and Foreign Minister Walther Rathenau were murdered by members of the Organization Consul in June 1922, who had been defamed as compliant "Erfüllungspolitiker" with regard to the Treaty of Versailles.
While Erzberger was attacked for signing the armistice agreement in 1918, Rathenau as foreign minister was responsible, among other things, for the reparations issue.
He had also sought to break Germany's isolation after World War I through the 1922 Treaty of Rapallo with the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.
However, he also drew right-wing extremist hatred as a Jew.
The solidarity expressed in large, public funeral processions for those murdered, and the passage of a "Law for the Defense of the Republic," were intended to put a stop to the right-wing enemies of the Weimar Republic.
However, right-wing state criminals were not permanently deterred from their activities, and the lenient sentences they were given by judges influenced by imperial conservatism were a contributing factor.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC
Weimar Republic, continued ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Years of crisis (1919–1923)
Political turmoil, concluded ...
In 1922, Germany signed the Treaty of Rapallo with the Soviet Union, which allowed Germany to train military personnel in exchange for giving Russia military technology.
This was against the Treaty of Versailles, which limited Germany to 100,000 soldiers and no conscription, naval forces of 15,000 men, twelve destroyers, six battleships, and six cruisers, no submarines or aircraft.
However, Russia had pulled out of the First World War against the Germans as a result of the 1917 Russian Revolution, and was excluded from the League of Nations.
Thus, Germany seized the chance to make an ally.
Walther Rathenau, the Jewish Foreign Minister who signed the treaty, was assassinated two months later by two ultra-nationalist army officers.
Further pressure from the political right came in 1923 with the Beer Hall Putsch, also called the Munich Putsch, staged by the Nazi Party under Adolf Hitler in Munich.
In 1920, the German Workers' Party had become the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP), or Nazi party, and would become a driving force in the collapse of Weimar.
Hitler named himself as chairman of the party in July 1921.
On 8 November 1923, the Kampfbund, in a pact with Erich Ludendorff, took over a meeting by Bavarian prime minister Gustav von Kahr at a beer hall in Munich.
Ludendorff and Hitler declared that the Weimar government was deposed and that they were planning to take control of Munich the following day.
The 3,000 rebels were thwarted by the Bavarian authorities.
Hitler was arrested and sentenced to five years in prison for high treason, a minimum sentence for the charge.
Hitler served less than eight months in a comfortable cell, receiving a daily stream of visitors before his release on 20 December 1924.
While in jail, Hitler dictated Mein Kampf, which laid out his ideas and future policies.
Hitler now decided to focus on legal methods of gaining power.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Years of crisis (1919–1923)
Political turmoil, concluded ...
In 1922, Germany signed the Treaty of Rapallo with the Soviet Union, which allowed Germany to train military personnel in exchange for giving Russia military technology.
This was against the Treaty of Versailles, which limited Germany to 100,000 soldiers and no conscription, naval forces of 15,000 men, twelve destroyers, six battleships, and six cruisers, no submarines or aircraft.
However, Russia had pulled out of the First World War against the Germans as a result of the 1917 Russian Revolution, and was excluded from the League of Nations.
Thus, Germany seized the chance to make an ally.
Walther Rathenau, the Jewish Foreign Minister who signed the treaty, was assassinated two months later by two ultra-nationalist army officers.
Further pressure from the political right came in 1923 with the Beer Hall Putsch, also called the Munich Putsch, staged by the Nazi Party under Adolf Hitler in Munich.
In 1920, the German Workers' Party had become the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP), or Nazi party, and would become a driving force in the collapse of Weimar.
Hitler named himself as chairman of the party in July 1921.
On 8 November 1923, the Kampfbund, in a pact with Erich Ludendorff, took over a meeting by Bavarian prime minister Gustav von Kahr at a beer hall in Munich.
Ludendorff and Hitler declared that the Weimar government was deposed and that they were planning to take control of Munich the following day.
The 3,000 rebels were thwarted by the Bavarian authorities.
Hitler was arrested and sentenced to five years in prison for high treason, a minimum sentence for the charge.
Hitler served less than eight months in a comfortable cell, receiving a daily stream of visitors before his release on 20 December 1924.
While in jail, Hitler dictated Mein Kampf, which laid out his ideas and future policies.
Hitler now decided to focus on legal methods of gaining power.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC
Weimar Republic, continued ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Years of crisis (1919–1923)
Golden Era (1924–1929)
Gustav Stresemann was Reichskanzler for 100 days in 1923, and served as foreign minister from 1923 to 1929, a period of relative stability for the Weimar Republic, known in Germany as Goldene Zwanziger ("Golden Twenties").
Prominent features of this period were a growing economy and a consequent decrease in civil unrest.
Once civil stability had been restored, Stresemann began stabilising the German currency, which promoted confidence in the German economy and helped the recovery that was so greatly needed for the German nation to keep up with their reparation repayments, while at the same time feeding and supplying the nation.
Once the economic situation had stabilised, Stresemann could begin putting a permanent currency in place, called the Rentenmark (October 1923), which again contributed to the growing level of international confidence in the Weimar Republic's economy.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Years of crisis (1919–1923)
Golden Era (1924–1929)
Gustav Stresemann was Reichskanzler for 100 days in 1923, and served as foreign minister from 1923 to 1929, a period of relative stability for the Weimar Republic, known in Germany as Goldene Zwanziger ("Golden Twenties").
Prominent features of this period were a growing economy and a consequent decrease in civil unrest.
Once civil stability had been restored, Stresemann began stabilising the German currency, which promoted confidence in the German economy and helped the recovery that was so greatly needed for the German nation to keep up with their reparation repayments, while at the same time feeding and supplying the nation.
Once the economic situation had stabilised, Stresemann could begin putting a permanent currency in place, called the Rentenmark (October 1923), which again contributed to the growing level of international confidence in the Weimar Republic's economy.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC
Weimar Republic, continued ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Years of crisis (1919–1923)
Golden Era (1924–1929), concluded ...
To help Germany meet reparation obligations, the Dawes Plan was created in 1924.
This was an agreement between American banks and the German government in which the American banks lent money to German banks with German assets as collateral to help it pay reparations.
The German railways, the National Bank and many industries were therefore mortgaged as securities for the stable currency and the loans.
Germany was the first state to establish diplomatic relations with the new Soviet Union.
Under the Treaty of Rapallo, Germany accorded it formal (de jure) recognition, and the two mutually cancelled all pre-war debts and renounced war claims.
In October 1925 the Treaty of Locarno was signed by Germany, France, Belgium, Britain and Italy; it recognised Germany's borders with France and Belgium.
Moreover, Britain, Italy and Belgium undertook to assist France in the case that German troops marched into the demilitarised Rhineland.
Locarno paved the way for Germany's admission to the League of Nations in 1926.
Germany signed arbitration conventions with France and Belgium and arbitration treaties with Poland and Czechoslovakia, undertaking to refer any future disputes to an arbitration tribunal or to the Permanent Court of International Justice.
Other foreign achievements were the evacuation of foreign troops from the Ruhr in 1925.
In 1926, Germany was admitted to the League of Nations as a permanent member, improving her international standing and giving the right to vote on League matters.
Overall trade increased and unemployment fell.
Stresemann's reforms did not relieve the underlying weaknesses of Weimar but gave the appearance of a stable democracy.
Even Stresemann's 'German People's party' failed to gain nationwide recognition, and instead featured in the 'flip-flop' coalitions.
The Grand Coalition headed by Muller inspired some faith in the government, but that didn't last.
Governments frequently lasted only a year, comparable to the political situation in France during the 1930s.
The major weakness in constitutional terms was the inherent instability of the coalitions, which often fell prior to elections.
The growing dependence on American finance was to prove fleeting, and Germany was one of the worst hit nations in the Great Depression.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Years of crisis (1919–1923)
Golden Era (1924–1929), concluded ...
To help Germany meet reparation obligations, the Dawes Plan was created in 1924.
This was an agreement between American banks and the German government in which the American banks lent money to German banks with German assets as collateral to help it pay reparations.
The German railways, the National Bank and many industries were therefore mortgaged as securities for the stable currency and the loans.
Germany was the first state to establish diplomatic relations with the new Soviet Union.
Under the Treaty of Rapallo, Germany accorded it formal (de jure) recognition, and the two mutually cancelled all pre-war debts and renounced war claims.
In October 1925 the Treaty of Locarno was signed by Germany, France, Belgium, Britain and Italy; it recognised Germany's borders with France and Belgium.
Moreover, Britain, Italy and Belgium undertook to assist France in the case that German troops marched into the demilitarised Rhineland.
Locarno paved the way for Germany's admission to the League of Nations in 1926.
Germany signed arbitration conventions with France and Belgium and arbitration treaties with Poland and Czechoslovakia, undertaking to refer any future disputes to an arbitration tribunal or to the Permanent Court of International Justice.
Other foreign achievements were the evacuation of foreign troops from the Ruhr in 1925.
In 1926, Germany was admitted to the League of Nations as a permanent member, improving her international standing and giving the right to vote on League matters.
Overall trade increased and unemployment fell.
Stresemann's reforms did not relieve the underlying weaknesses of Weimar but gave the appearance of a stable democracy.
Even Stresemann's 'German People's party' failed to gain nationwide recognition, and instead featured in the 'flip-flop' coalitions.
The Grand Coalition headed by Muller inspired some faith in the government, but that didn't last.
Governments frequently lasted only a year, comparable to the political situation in France during the 1930s.
The major weakness in constitutional terms was the inherent instability of the coalitions, which often fell prior to elections.
The growing dependence on American finance was to prove fleeting, and Germany was one of the worst hit nations in the Great Depression.
TO BE CONTINUED ...