Economic developments in Weimar

• When was Guzman chancellor and when did he stop being chancellor?

  1923-24
• Guzman replaced the Reichsmark for the Retenmark in 1924, and this allowed Stresemann to control hyperinflation through controlling the money supply
• When was the Dawes and Young Plan finalized?

  1924
• What are the terms of the Dawes Plan?

  Reparations would be 1000 million marks and after 5 years it would be 2500 million marks, then eventually would vary on German's economic performance

  Germany given 800 million mark loan from US
• Other economic agreements

  Franco-German agreements on potash and aluminium

  European cooperation on raw material production
• German right wing reaction to Dawes Plan

  National opposition attacked the policy because they believed they were compromising with an unjust treaty and they refused to pay the reparations
• Terms of the Young Plan

  Reduced the amount of reparations Germany had to pay for the allies from 6.6 Billion dollars to 1.8 Billion dollars

  Germany had to pay reparations till 1988
• Results of the Young Plan

  Germany wanting France and Britain out of the Rhineland (happened in June 1930)

  The Wall Street Crash didn't make this come into fruition
• Germany lost 15% of its pre-war agriucultural production, even though the government tried to intervene there was little growth in German agriculuture after 1924
• Problems in agriculture:

  • Severe price drops in for grain from 1925-26 due to poor weather and damaged farming
  • Agricultural prices fell sharply between 1927 and 1929
• How did the government try to help agrictulture

  Subsidies for farmers to modernize their methods

  Protectionist tariffs on imports to increase the price of food from other countries at an attempt to help german farmers but this hurt their customers
• Economic improvements in Weimar

  • Real wages and living standards grew for those in employment
  • By 1929, exports were increasing
  • Industrial production grew betweeen 1924 -29
• Economic failures

  • Unemployment rose with a spike in 1926
  • German's main competitors the Allies all grew more than Germany
  • Imports stayed above exports, except for in 1926