Recovery of G

• Who was Gustav Stresemann & what did he do for Germany during 1924-29?

  - German statesman who served as chancellor in 1923 (for 102 days)

  - during Weimar Republic he served as foreign minister (1923-29)

  - Most noble achievement: the reconciliation between Germany & France

  - co-laureate of at the Nobel Peace prize in 1926

  - gernerally seen as the most influential cabinet minister
• How did Stresemann stables the German currency after the hyperinflation crisis?


  1923 NOV:

  - introduced a new currency as a temporary solution (RETENMARK) & the amount of money printed was tightly controlled

  - based the value of it on G's industrial & agricultural worth

  1924:

  - new independent national bank (REICHSBANK) was given control of the new currency

  - Rentenmark was replaced by the permanent REICHSMARK
• What was positive about the Reichsmark?


  - people in G & other countries could rely on it

  - restored faith in G's financial system
• What was the Dawes plan 1924?

  - USA loaned G 800 million gold marks - gave a massive boost to G industry

  - reparation payments were lowered to 1,000 million marks for the first 5 years, to make them more affordable - after this they would be increased to 2,500 million

  - Allies agreed to review payment rate over time - to take account of G's economic situation & ability to pay

  - French agreed to withdraw troops from the Ruhr - also agreed that any missed payments in future would be dealt with by the Allies together

  - Allies were given some control of Reichsbank & railways in G
• What was the effect of the Dawes plan on G?

  - helped to restore their economy

  - led to further loans from the USA

  --- over the next 6 years, G received 25 billion + marks in loans

  ------- allowed German industry to recover
• What was the Young Plan 1929?

  - total reparations bill was reduced to around $8 billion

  - payments were to be made over 59 years, at a rate of $473 million per year

  - G was only obliged to pay 1/3 of the annual sum each year - it should pay the rest if it could afford to do so
• What was the effect of the Young Plan on G?

  - allowed gov to reduces taxes & released funds that were used to boost the G industry & create hobs for workers
• What happened in the end with the Dawes & Young plan?

  - foreign investment left G economy open to any risks if there were problems in the world economy as recovery was based largely of American loans

  - in the 1929 Wall Street crash the Americans could not afford to loan any money to G & in 1931 the G economy also crashed & the allies agreed to suspend reparation payments

  - however when Hitler came to power in 1933, he had no intention of paying reparations
• What was the Locarno pact 1925?


  - G agreed to accept its new western borders & all countries involved with the pact agreed to avoid military force except in self-defence

  - G agreed that Alsace-Lorraine would be French - in return France agreed not to occupy the Ruhr again

  - all parties agreed that G's easter borders could be settled by 'peaceful means
• What countries signed the Locarno pact?

  - Germany

  - France

  - Belgium

  - Italy

  - Britain

  - Czechoslovakia

  - Poland
• How did the Locarno Pact help Germany?


  - made peace in Europe more likely

  - - - G was being treated as an equal to the other powers

  - the agreement to not use military force provided important reassurance for France & G bc they shared a long border & the last invasion (Ruhr) didn't go well
• What was the League of Nations 1926?

  - formed at the end of WW1 - new international organisation which allowed powerful countries to discuss ways of solving world problems w/o using military force

  - G was not initially invited

  - Stresemann persuaded the other great powers to allow G to join
• What was significant abt G joining the League of Nations?


  - if they were a member they were included in making important decisions

  - positive step for moderate political parties who supported Stresemann's diplomatic policies & his attempts to improve relations w other great powers

  - increased Germans confidence in the Weimar regime bc they could see the their country was once more accepted into the 'international family
• What was the Kellogg-Briand Pact 1928?

  - aim was to prevent a future war by getting countries to promise not to use military force to settle disagreements

  - 62 countries signed in August 1928
• How did the Kellogg-Briand pact benefit G?

  - showed a clear improvement in G's relations with other countries

  - G had been excluded from the negotiations that led to TOV however now G was included in the main powers once again

  - clear that the Weimar Republic was now a respected, stable state - had recovered from its troubled beginning

  - pact gave the German public more confidence that the moderate political parties could be trusted to make G strong again