golden age of weimar republic 1924-28

• Other economic agreements

  • The German economy was also being helped by international economic agreements. These included:
  • Franco-German agreements on potash and aluminium.
  • European cooperation on raw materials production.
• Stabilising the currency

  • The interim Rentenmark, which Stresemann had introduced to deal with hyperinflation, was replaced by the Reichsmark in 1924. Inflation was controlled by limiting the money supply and keeping interest rates quite high.
• Domestic hostility to the Dawes Plan

  • The German right wing were against war guilt and reparations. From their point of view, the Dawes Plan achieved nothing.
• The Young Plan, written in 1929 and adopted in 1930, reduced the amount of reparations Germany had to pay to the Allies.

  Terms of the Young Plan

  • The Young Plan reduced the amount of reparations by 20%.
  • In theory, the reparations would continue until 1988.

  The Wall Street Crash

  Motive behind the Young Plan
• 
  

  The Wall Street Crash

  • But the Young Plan could not come to fruition because of the Wall Street Crash in 1929.
  • This meant that the money which supported the plan was recalled.
• Motive behind the Young Plan

  • It became apparent that Germany was unwilling to pay the amount of reparations laid out in the Treaty of Versailles.
  • Whilst the Dawes Plan had helped Germany, it was not a permanent solution.
• Germany lost 15% of its pre-war agricultural production. Despite government efforts, there was little growth in German agriculture after 1924.

  Problems in agriculture

  • Poor weather, global production and tariffs all damaged farming. There were severe price drops in 1925-6 for grain.
  • In 1928, farmers demonstrated about foreclosures and low prices. Demonstrations often became riots.
  • Agricultural prices fell sharply between 1927 and 1929.
  • By 1929, German agricultural output was less than 75% of 1913 levels.
• The need for agricultural modernisation

  • Food imports were too low for German farmers to compete. Farmers needed to modernise, improve productivity and invest in machinery e.g. tractors.
  • Farms that did so saw improved productivity, but rural employment fell. Also, many farmers borrowed to invest then, when prices fell, went into debt.
• Government agricultural policies

  • Subsidies for farmers (increasing government expenditure).
  • Protectionist tariffs on imports to increase the price of food from other countries. This helped German farmers but hurt consumers.
• Growth of industry

  • German industry grew overall, but not steadily.
  • There was rationalisation (making industry more efficient) and cartelisation (merging large firms into giant cartels) e.g. I.G. Farben, Krupp A.G.
  • After the inflationary early 1920s, demand for goods fell, leading to bankruptcies. The fall in bank lending under Schacht contributed to this.
  • Bankruptcies also increased because inefficient firms’ costs were too high. Firms that could afford loans rationalised with new technology to cut costs.
• Workers

  • Wages were the largest cost, so firms also saved money by laying off workers. Unemployment did not fall
  • Real wages grew every year after 1924: in 1927 by 9%; in 1928 by 12%.
• Key industrial companies

  • IG Farben was formed by five of Germany's largest chemical companies merging.
  • Krupp AG was one of Germany’s most important employers. Its owners did not support the Weimar Republic although worked with the government.
  • Krupp produced arms in Sweden and the Netherlands. It also secretly supplied the German army in contravention of Versailles.
• Industrialist opposition to the Weimar Republic

  • Industrialists trust in the Weimar Republic was falling by the end of the 1920s. In 1928, employers in the Ruhr ironworks dispute rejected the ruling of arbitration.
  • Employers also succeeded in ending the eight hour day, brought in by the Weimar government.
• The recovery of the German economy after World War One could begin in earnest. But Germany was very dependent on its economic competitors.

  Economic improvements

  • Industrial production grew 1924-1929, with a blip in 1926.
  • Real wages and living standards grew for those in employment.
  • Overall economic production was slightly up on pre-war levels by 1929.
  • By 1929, exports were increasing.
• Economic failures?

  • Unemployment rose, with a spike in 1926. It did not fall below 6%.
  • Bankruptcies rose from 5,700 in 1924 to 31,000 in 18 months from 1925-27.
  • Germany’s main competitors (UK, France, USA) all grew more than Germany.
  • Imports generally stayed above exports, except for 1926.
• Under the Weimar Republic there was a huge expansion in the welfare system. An important part of this was because of World War I, which left many widows, orphans and ex-soldiers unable to work.

  Tackling poverty

  • In February 1924 the national welfare decree developed a program of public assistance. There were already unemployment relief and benefits for war victims.
  • In 1925 insurance for some occupational illnesses and injuries was provided.
• Employment

  • New laws in 1927 improved provision for the unemployed. There was a national unemployment welfare scheme covering over 17 million workers.
  • The sacking of pregnant women, both married and unmarried, was banned. Only women in domestic service, agriculture and very small companies were exempt
• Education policies

  • Weimar education policy was focused on equality of opportunity and provision regardless of gender, social class or religion. School prayers were banned.
  • Elite preparatory schools were abolished. Instead there were four year basic schools that enabled any child capable enough to access higher education.
  • Reformers promoted pupil-centred classrooms with active, rather than rote, learning. 200 experimental schools banned corporal punishment and grades.
• Impact of education policies

  • Religious educational pressure groups developed:
  • E.g. the Catholic School Association and the Protestant Parents’ League.
  • More ambitious educational reforms were dropped as the Zentrum party, which supported more traditional educational policies, was important in coalitions.
  • Between 1921 and 1927, students in state elementary schools dropped by about a third. There was a smaller drop for secondary schools.
  • Numbers in higher education grew, and the percentage of women attending went from 7% to 17% by 1932.
• Gustav Stresemann


  German chancellor from 1923 to 1924, later became the Foreign Minister
• Cost of welfare reforms

  • Nearly 40% of federal government spending went on war related pensions.
  • Spending on welfare, led to high taxation of wealthier Germans, particularly in the elites. It reinforced their suspicions about democracy.
  • Competing demands on the federal welfare budget could not be met even before the Great Depression (from 1931).
• Gustav Stresemann


  • Helped improve the German economy through ending hyperinflation
  • Negotiated deals to help Germany pay reparations
• The Dawes Plan


  A financial deal negotiated by Stresemann as foreign minister with Charles Dawes from the USA
• Reparations under the Dawes Plan


  1. 1,000 million marks initially

  2. Increased to 2500 million marks after 5 years

  3. Then varying levels according to Germany's economic performance
• The Dawes Plan


  • The allies maintained control of the railways, the Reichsbank and customs duties
  • Germany was given an 800 million mark loan from American banks to help stabilise the currency after the hyperinflation of 1923
• realistic.

  Art in Weimar Germany

  • Expressionism:
  • This focused on emotions and feelings, sometimes exploring the darker side of the human psyche. Ernst Kirchner is a prime example.
  • The New Objectivity Movement:
  • This expressed irreverence and this respect for authority with brutal, critical depictions of life in Weimar Germany. George Gross and Otto Dix are examples of artists from the new objectivity movement.
  • Dadaism:
  • This sought to provoke, send, or cause outrage. Hannah Höch is an example of a Dadaist.
• Literature in Weimar Germany

  • Amongst writers there was a trend to write work with a social, political purpose.
  • Alfred Döblin wrote about working-class life. Erich Maria Remarque’s anti-war novel 'All Quiet On The Western Front' challenged the ‘stab in the back’ myth.
  • There was a massive increase in publishing, especially paperbacks, which were cheaper and more accessible.
  • Famous Weimar Republic novelists include Hermann Hesse and Thomas Mann.
• Music in Weimar Germany

  • Arnold Schoenberg developed atonal music, which did not conform to audience expectations.
  • Jazz was very popular, reaching a wide audience via radio. American stars came to Berlin but there were German bandleaders, e.g. Stefan Weintraub.
  • Radio broadcasts began in 1923 and were state controlled. By 1930 there were four million sets.
  • A new form of opera developed. Zeitopera (opera of the time) reflected modern issues from a radical, socialist perspective.
• Theatre in Weimar Germany

  • A new type of theatre developed. Zeittheater (theatre of the time) depicted realistic, everyday situations to criticise Bourgeois society.
  • Theatre tried to involve the audience directly. Street theatre in particular brought political drama to a mass audience. Theatre was the most political of all the arts.
• Film in Weimar Germany

  • Cinema embodied new technology, mass entertainment, the democratisation of the arts and, in the mid 20s especially, movements such as Expressionism.
  • German silent films produced some classics like Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.
  • Marlene Dietrich, star of Lang’s The Blue Angel (1930) symbolised new freedoms in Weimar Germany, especially given her sexually ambiguous appearance.
• Architecture and Design in Weimar Germany

  • Architecture was very innovative. Familiar materials were used in new ways and concrete enabled to new shapes and forms to be used in buildings.
  • Functionalism was important. Buildings and furniture had clean lines and simple forms without excessive decoration.
  • The Bauhaus style of architecture and the design was very influential. Designs were bold and utilitarian.
• Censorship in Weimar Germany

  • In 1926 a Law To Protect Youth From Pulp Fiction And Pornography was passed. State governments made lists of books not to be sold to under 18’s.
  • The 1926 Law went against article 118 of the Weimar Constitution, which said there would be no censorship. This caused controversy.
  • Thomas Mann said:
  • ‘[Protecting our young] is nothing more than a pretext. The law’s drafters want to use the law…against freedom, against intellect itself.’
• Democratisation of culture

  • High arts, such as literature, Opera and theatre were greatly democratised.
  • Film and music were so more readily accessible due to technology.
• Conservative response to Weimar Culture

  • Conservative Germans saw cultural changes reinforcing their fears of a world in decay. They were concerned by ‘filth and trash’ damaging the young especially.
  • The Zentrum and Nationalist parties spoke of morality, family values and traditional German culture as being under threat.
  • Many Jewish artists and performers were involved. The extreme right saw this as further proof of the damage being done to Germany by the Weimar Republic.
• Workers

  • While real wages rose for those in work, unemployment remained over 6%.
  • With unemployment high, trade unions did not use strikes or press for more workers’ rights. Nevertheless many welfare provisions were brought in.
  • However, overall living standards did improve.
• Housing

  • Good quality, healthy housing was written into the Weimar Constitution in article 155.
  • Between 1924 and 1931 over two million new homes were built and almost 200,000 improved.
  • The government made low interest loans available, as well as tax breaks and land grants for housing and its own direct investment in housing.
  • Homelessness was drastically reduced.
  • State governments also improved housing, schools, hospitals, roads and electricity supplies.
• Positive changes for women

  • The ideal 'New Woman' was sexually liberated and independent, with short hair and make up.
  • The Weimar Constitution gave women equal voting rights to men.
  • Women were active in local politics and in 1919 41 women were elected as representatives in the Reichstag.
  • As many women worked during the First World War, attitudes to employment had changed. In 1925, 36% of German workers were women.
• Lack of change for women?

  • Many opposed the 'New Woman'.
  • Socially:
  • Conservatives believed she was an attack on social morals.
  • The Church opposed the sexual liberation of women through contraception.
  • Economically:
  • Following the war, many men returned to their jobs and ousted women.
  • Politically:
  • No women were part of the Reichsrat.
  • Only the KPD had an agenda which included feminism. Other parties did not campaign for women's rights.
• DNVP (German National People's Party)

  • The main conservative party. Initially hostile to the Weimar Republic, it later joined coalition governments.
  • The party's best electoral performance was in the elections of 1924 when it won about 20% of the vote. In the 1920s otherwise, the party won between 10% and 15% of the vote.
  • From September 1930, its share of the vote dropped to between 6% and 9%.
  • The DNVP was the party that represented interests of industrialists and large landowners.
  • After major election losses in 1928, the party moved to the right.
• KPD (Communist Party)

  • A revolutionary, Marxist party aiming for Soviet style revolution. The party was formed from the USPD and the Spartacists. The party was anti-Weimar Republic.
  • From May 1922 March 1923, the party regularly won between 10% and 15% of the votes in elections. The party's best performance was 16.9% in November 1932.
  • The KPD was increasingly dominated by the USSR and hostile to the SPD. This split permanently weakened left-wing politics in Germany.