Weimar 1923-1926

• Passive resistance


  Resistance against the occupation of the Ruhr
• Passive resistance against the occupation of the Ruhr was called off


  September 1923
• This was a highly unpopular move which led to serious unrest and the attempted Beer Hall Putsch in Munich
• Rentenmark


  New currency introduced in November 1923 to replace the old and worthless Reichsmark
• Once the new currency was successfully launched, the government kept tight control over the amount of money in circulation to prevent inflation reappearing
• Inflation soon ceased to be a problem and the value of the new currency was established at home and abroad
• Hjalmar Schacht


  Directed the introduction of the Rentenmark
• Balancing the Budget


  Stresemann's government cut expenditure and raised taxes which reduced debt and confidence was being restored
• Dawes Plan


  Recommended that Germany should re-start reparations by paying 1000 million marks and that this sum should be raised by annual increments over five years by 2500 million marks per year, and that Germany should receive a large loan of 800 million marks from the USA to help get the plan started and to allow for heavy investment in German infrastructure
• Stresemann himself did not actually believe in the plan, privately referring to it as an economic armistice
• The Dawes Plan was eventually agreed and accepted by both Germany and the Allies in July 1924
• The French gradually left the Ruhr during 1924-25, once it became clear that Germany was going to restart paying reparations and the occupation could no longer be justified
• By 1925, Germany appeared more stable and prosperous
• The inflation rate was close to zero and living standards rose as wages began to increase in 1924
• Loans helped to finance the building of housing, schools, road and public works. In 1926, there were to be 205,793 more new homes
• There were improvements in living standards for ordinary German workers, especially those who were backed by powerful trade unions. In 1927, real wages increased by 9 per cent and, in 1928, they rose by a further 12 per cent
• Stresemann warned that 'if short-term loans are called in, a large section of our economy would collapse!
• Unemployment was a continuing problem in these years. By 1925, unemployment had reached one million and by 1926, it was over three million, although it did fall after that
• The Weimar 'economic miracle' did not benefit everyone. The Mittelstand gained very little in this so-called 'golden age'
• Farmers gained very little benefit from the economic recovery of these years. A worldwide agricultural depression kept food prices low and few farmers were able to make a profit on their land
• By the late 1920s, there was an increase in bankruptcies amongst farmers and many of them lost their land as the banks demanded repayments of loans
• Foreclosure


  Taking possession of mortgaged property when someone fails to keep up their repayments
• Young Plan


  Obliged Germany to continue paying reparations until 1988, reduced the total reparations bill to £1.8 billion but increased the annual payment Germany was required to make, ended all foreign control over reparations and placed the responsibility for paying the reparations solely on the German government
• The new leader of the right-wing DNVP, Alfred Hugenberg, launched a nationwide campaign against the plan and demanded that their 'freedom law' was demanded to national referendum
• The 'freedom law' was debated and was decisively defeated and was rejected in the referendum
• Social Welfare Reforms 1924-27


  1. 1924- the public assistance system which provided help to the poor and desitute, was modernised

  2. 1925- the state accident insurance system introduced by bismark to help those injured at work, was extended to cover those who were suffering from occupational disease

  3. 1927- a national unemployment insurance system was introduced to provide benefits for the unemployed, financed by contributions from workers and employers
• In 1926, the state was supporting about 800,000 disabled war veterans, 360,000 war widows and over 900,000 war orphans
• Means test


  A check on the financial circumstances of a benefit claimant in order to confirm his or her eligibility for support
• Those in need of support, including large numbers of war veterans and their families, felt they were being humiliated and insulted by the welfare system, undermining their support for the Weimar Republic
• Weimar Government's portrayal of the 'new woman'


  • Free, independent, sexually liberated and increasingly visible in public life
• The Weimar Constitution had given women equality with men in voting rights and in access to education, and equal opportunities in civil service appointments and the right to equal pay
• The much more traditional Civil Code of 1896 remained in force, which laid down that, in a marriage, the husband had the right to decide on all matters concerning family life, including whether his wife should undertake paid employment
• By 1925, 36 per cent of the German workforce were women
• By 1933, there were 100,000 women teachers and 3000 women doctors
• Birth control became more widely available and the birth rate declined
• Divorce rates increased
• There was a rise in the number of abortions; by 1930, there was an estimated 1 million abortions a year
• Women gained equal voting rights and the right to be Reichstag deputies in the Weimar Constitution
• In 1919, 41 women were elected to the Reichstag; the number of women deputies fell in subsequent elections but the German Reichstag had a higher proportion of female deputies than the British House of Commons
• The 'demobilisation laws after the war required women to leave their jobs so that ex-soldiers could find employment