Challenges of 1923: Hyperinflation

• By 1923, a loaf of break cost 200,000 billion marks
• Barter (swapping goods) began to replace money
• It was impossible to import goods with a valueless currency and that meant there were shortages of food and other essential goods
• The working class were to some extent protected, because their wages went up every week and they were paid daily. Unemployment, however, grew as normal business was disrupted
• People with savings (especially the middle class) saw them become worthless. This had negative effects on the Weimar Government, as the middle classes were their biggest supporters, and saw hyperinflation as the government’s fault
• People on fixed incomes (such as pensioners) found it very difficult to survive, because their pensions became worthless
• Extremist parties gained in strength