Economic Recovery

• What were Stresemann's aims as Chancellor?

  • Bring inflation under control
  • Regain Europe's respect
  • Minimise the support for extremist parties
• When was Stresemann Chancellor?

  Aug - Nov 1923
• When did Stresemann implement a new currency and what was it called?

  Nov 1923 - Rentenmark
• What was one Rentenmark equivalent to?

  1 trillion marks
• What did Stresemann establish?

  A state owned bank called Rentenbank
• What type of currency was the Rentenmark?

  Gold standard currency
• What is a gold standard currency?

  Currency that matches the value of gold
• Why was it good that the Rentenmark was a gold standard currency?

  Other European countries trusted gold standard currencies
• What was created in August 1924?

  The Reichsbank
• What was the Rentenmark renamed to?

  Reichsmark
• What did the Reichsmark allow German businesses to do?

  Trade with foreign countries
• What was the Dawes Plan?

  A plan to restructure Germany's reparation payments after WW1
• What were the terms and impact of the Dawes Plan?

  Temporary reduction of reparations to 2.5 billion Marks a year:

  • Reparations became more manageable
  • Allies trusted that Germany would meet their reparation payments
  • Stresemann called off the passive resistance in the Ruhr and France agreed to leave

  A guarantee of US bank loans for German industry:

  • USA gave $25 billion to German industry from 1924-30
  • Germany's industrial output increased by 50% between 1923 and 1928
  • The government achieved more income from trade
• What was the Young Plan?

  A plan to help Germany economically after WW1
• When was the Young Plan created?

  1929
• What were the terms and impacts of the Young Plan?

  Reduction of the total reparations bill from £6.6 billion to £1.8 billion:

  • Government was able to lower taxes for German citizens
  • Citizens could spend more, boosting German industry and creating more jobs which meant the government had more to spend

  Allies extended the time Germany had to fully pay the reparation debts by 59 years:

  • Less pressure on Germany to pay reparations
  • Improved relations between Germany and the Allies
  • France decided to leave the Rhineland in 1930
• What percentage of voters were in favour of the Young Plan in 1929?

  85% (roughly 35 million German people)
• How did extremist parties feel about the reparation plans?

  • They were outraged at Weimar's insistence on fulfilling the reparation payment
  • In his speeches, Hitler stated that Weimar's consent to an extension of the deadline was 'passing on the penalty to the unborn'
• Year of the Dawes Plan?

  1924