Germany 1924-1928

• Problems with the economy

  ~Hyper inflation

  ~Weak and unstable due to reparations

  ~Industrialised in some places and agricultural in others
• August 1923

  Cuno's government fell, Stresemann appointed in a new coalition government. By the time Stresemann left in Nov, currency = stabilised, inflation = under control, attempts to overthrow the gov by right and left wing parties = failed
• What Stresemann did

  -Created DVP after being kicked out of DDP

  -Ended passive resistance in the Ruhr

  -Combatted hyperinflation

  -State of Emergency = declared, steps taken to deal with uprisings from extremist parties

  -Balanced the budget

  -Negotiated the Dawes Plan, the Locarno Treaty and the Young Plan
• Stresemann

  Chancellor of the Weimar Republic from August-November 1923 and then Foreign Minister from 1923-29. Was a nationalist and studied economics (expertise). Wanted Germany to dominate and be world power (seigfriede). First elected into the Reichstag in 1907 - National liberal
• Stresemann's beliefs

  -Monarchist

  -Supported the Republic, best safeguard against take over by extremist parties

  -Pragmatist (responded flexibly to situations)

  -Rule of Law

  -Economic and resistance against Versailles worsening, anti-Republican obstructionism would plunge into chaos

  -Impressed with Kapp Putsch
• Stresemann's failures

  His gov fell 4 weeks after the SPD withdrew their support on 2nd November 1923
• Stresemann's successes

  ~Passive Resistance strengthened bonds and reduced expenditure

  ~Dawes Plan 1924 - loans from US and reduction of reparations and over a longer period of time to pay them

  ~Reorganisation of the Reichbank

  ~Inflation controlled by Rentenmark
• End of passive resistance

  Passive resistance in the Ruhr was called off in September, this was unpopular and risky (attempt of Munich Putsch 1923). Ending passive resistance stopped paying strikers which reduced gov expenditure and allowed the gov to carry on paying reparations
• Solution to Hyperinflation

  Rentenmark introduced (one rentenmark = one trillion reichmarks), which was supported by a mortgage on industrial and agricultural land. In August 1924 the Rentenmark converted back to the Reichmark and the gov had a tight control over the amount of money in circulation. The economy became stable and inflation was under control and reduced
• Austerity

  (Balancing the budget)

  -Cut expenditure

  -Raised taxes

  -Salaries of gov employees = cut

  -People lost jobs (civil servants)

  -Taxes raised for individuals and companies

  This restored confidence in the government, yet unemployment and the raising of taxes caused anger. Weaker businesses were gone and businesses were careful not to get into debt. Those who lost savings in hyperinflation had no benefit and the number of bankrupted companies rose.
• Dawes Plan July 1924

  ~Between America and Germany (Charles Dawes)

  ~Loan of 8mil marks from the US to help pay reparations and to allow for an investment on German infrastructure (new houses, jobs, factories, machinery etc)

  ~Reduction of reparation payments and a longer period of time (Re-start reparations by paying 1000mil marks and this sum should be raised by annual increments over years by 2500mil marks per year)

  ~Reichbank was reorganised

  ~French left the Ruhr in 1924-25
• Process of Dawes Plan

  Nov 1923 - Stresemann asked the Allies' Reparations Committee to set up a committee of financial experts to address Germany's repayment concerns

  (USA wanted to help Germany because the money that Germany paid to France was passed on to America)

  April 1924 - Dawes Plan finalised

  Debate over the Dawes Plan because Stresemann didn't believe in the plan (economic armistice) but he agreed to it to get foreign loans, and extremists believed that Germany should refuse the payment to defy ToV

  July 1924 - Dawes Plan agreed and accepted. Highlighted that the Allies accepted that Germany's problems with repayment was real, loans allowed the rebuilding of the economy
• Dawes Plan was helpful

  ~Rebuild and reinvest (industry and infrastructure - things that make society function for stability and growth)

  ~Makes reparations manageable (makes reparations and payments a topic for discussion)

  ~Falls in unemployment due to US loans

  ~Germany able to meet ToV obligations for the next five years
• Dawes Plan wasn't helpful

  ~Highlighted weakness of Germany

  ~Oppositions - extremists saw it as betrayal (attitudes to ToV). Nationalists were unhappy: "Economy controlled by the US"

  ~Bill is still the same

  ~Dependent on the US for money

  ~Temporary
• Successes in industrial and economic recovery

  ~Advances in chemical industry e.g. artificial fertilisers

  ~Loans helped to finance buildings of houses, schools, municipal buildings, roads and public works

  ~Money spent on welfare payments and health improvements. 1924 = launch of new schemes of relief

  ~Maximum working day of 8 hours set

  ~Strikes declined in German industry due to compulsory arbitration (both sides agree to allow an independent figure to decide a solution). Made compulsory by law in Germany

  ~Inflation rate was close to zero and living standards rose as wages began to increase from 1924

  ~State initiatives to provide affordable homes were important for future stability (1925 = 178,930 dwellings built, over 70,000 more than the previous year. 1926 = 205,793 new homes were to be built)

  ~Workers benefited from the increase in real value of wages in each year after 1924 (1927 = real wages increased by 9% and in 1928 rose by a further 12%)
• Limits to industrial and economic recovery

  ~Car and aeroplane industries also developed, although cars were still too expensive for the average German

  ~Compulsory arbitration = unfair by employers in favour of the unions and resented the state's interference in their affairs

  ~Massive population growth led to shortage in housing in Germany. Overcrowding and unsanitary working conditions of W/C city accommodation had been linked to political instability

  ~Stresemann (1929): "The economic position is only flourishing on the surface. Germany is dancing on a volcano. If the short term loans are called in, a large section of our economy would collapse"

  ~Unemployment still a problem : end of 1925: 1mil, March 1926:over 3mil (but did fall after that)

  ~Unemployment linked to companies reducing their workforces to make efficient savings e.g. mining companies reduced their workforces by 136,000 between 1922-25 and reduced them by another 56,000 between 1925-29

  ~Economic miracle didn't benefit everyone: Mittelstand gained little (bankrupted by hyperinflation in 1923, m/c managers, clerks and bureaucrats didn't enjoy the wage rises of the industrial sector. By the 1920s = industrial sector wages were level with those of middle classes and exceeded them)
• Young Plan 1929

  ~Moved British and French troops out of the Rhineland by June 1930 so that Germany's industry could begin to earn more money

  ~Germany to continue paying reparations until 1988

  ~Reparation payment sum reduced to £1.8bil instead of the original £6.6 billion

  ~Annual payment increased

  ~All foreign control over reparations ended, Germany was completely responsible for paying reparations
• Young Plan winners

  ~Currency was stabilised

  ~Germany industry = more stable (ending passive resistance in the Ruhr and evacuation of the Rhineland)

  ~Reparations reduced = more stability

  ~Business owners = exports were significant

  ~Debt erased by new currency

  ~Companies and bankruptcy could use foreign investments and loans

  ~Less political extremism

  ~Production levels rose

  ~Gov. negotiated reparations
• Young Plan losers

  ~Civil servants lost their jobs

  ~Germany was reliant on other countries

  ~Extremist parties voiced their opinions on the plans (opposition e.g. freedom law)

  ~Unemployment increased (1mil to 3mil 1925-26)

  ~Farmers = difficult trading conditions and lost livelihoods

  ~Raised taxes to balance budgets

  ~M/C didn't have access to welfare benefits = bankrupt

  ~Those who lost in hyperinflation didn't gain anything back

  ~W/C conditions didn't work

  ~Not many jobs

  ~Salary of gov. officials were cut
• Freedom Law

  Act of opposition to the Young Plan. Alfred Hugenberg (DNVP) launched a campaign against the plan, involving other conservative groups e.g. Hitler and the Nazis (made Hitler a national figure).

  This campaign group drew up the draft of a law (freedom law = required the gov. to repudiate the war-guilt clause of ToV, to demand immediate evacuation of the occupied areas and declared that any minister involved in signing the war guilt clause would be tried for treason) to which they demanded it should be admitted to the national referendum.

  A petition in support of the freedom law received 4,135,000 signatures (revealed right wing support). In the Reichstag debate, the freedom law was defeated and rejected in the referendum (13.8% of the electorate voted for the freedom law)
• Agriculture

  Farmers = little economic benefit

  ~Agricultural depression kept food prices low, farmers unable to make profit

  ~Inflation (early 1920s) = farmers and large landowners brought machinery and improved farms with borrowed money

  ~Smaller peasant farmers hoarded money and their savings were wiped out by inflation

  ~After 1923, gov made it easier for farmers to make money but this made matters worse

  ~Farmers in debt when prices were falling and they couldn't keep up with the repayments

  ~Increased taxes that were introduced to pay for the welfare benefits of the unemployed and sick = unfair burden on farmers and landowners

  ~Gov tried to relieve farmer's plights by introducing high import tariffs on food products, import controls and subsidies to farmers = these measures didn't go far enough

  ~Worse for farmers due to a global grain surplus and price slump in 1925 and 1926

  ~Late 1920s = increase in bankruptcies among farmers, many lost their land as the banks demanded repayment of loans

  ~1928 = "farmer's revenge" riots in protest against foreclosures and low market prices

  ~By 1929 = German agricultural production was at less than 3/4s of its pre-war levels
• Positives for women

  ~Weimar Constitution granted equality with men in voting rights, access to education, equal opportunities in civil service appointments and the right to equal pay

  ~War brought more women into paid employment to replace the men who had fought

  ~Change in gender balance after war. Over 2mil Germans (mostly young males) were killed in the war, so there were fewer opportunities for young women to follow the path of marriage and children

  ~By 1925, 36% of the German workforce were women, by 1933, there were 100,000 female teachers and 3000 doctors

  ~Birth control became widely available and the birth rate declined. Divorce rates increased and there were a rise in the number of abortions (1930, estimated 1mil abortions a year). Women were making more choices about their own lives (more freedom)
• Negatives for women

  ~the Old Civil Code of 1896 remained in place e.g. men had the right to decide on all matters within marriage e.g. if a woman took paid employment

  ~Women were required to give up their occupation once they were married. They were paid less than men. Married women who continued to do paid work were named "double-earners" and blamed for male unemployment. Campaigns took place in the press and conservative parties for the dismissal of married women workers

  ~Abortion was a criminal offence and performed by unqualified people (by 1930 = 10-12,000 deaths per year from abortion). Decline in birth rate was viewed as a birth strike that threatened the health of the nation. Catholic and Protestant churches were strongly opposed to birth control, divorce and abortion

  ~Women weren't at the forefront of politics, no female representatives in the Reichstrat. No women became a cabinet member during the Weimar Republic. No political party had a female leader and only the KPD made gender equality a key element in its programme
• Positives for young people

  -Many young people joined gangs to find comradeship, support and sense of adventure that was lacking in other areas of their lives. In Hamburg, there were cliques e.g. Farmer's Fear, Red Apaches, Death Defiers and Eagle's Claw, they used taverns as their meeting places as alcohol = big part in their subculture

  -Germany had the best state education system in Europe, which had been developed in Prussia and extended to the rest of Germany in 1871. There were gymnasium schools for those aiming for university, and Realschule schools which provided 6 years of schooling for those who wanted to go onto an apprenticeship

  -Education reformers tried to break down class divides and provide a comprehensive education that would be free to all. Their main reform were the introduction of elementary schools where, if aq student didn't pass the entrance test for Gymnasium schools, could continue for a further 4 years
• Negatives for young people

  -Some turned to a life of crime and anti-social behaviour, these were mostly W/C families and didn't attend the Gymnasium schools. They were meant to leave school at the age of 14 and begin an apprenticeship but during the Weimar years there were fewer apprenticeships and more youth unemployment

  -Suffered from the rise of unemployment after 1924. In 1925-26: 17% of the unemployed were in the 14-21 age group, partly due to a baby boom between 1900-10, so many young people were seeking employment when employers were reducing their workforces

  -Education reforms were only partially successful

  -Few elite private schools, education were divide amongst class lines as the majority of those in Gymnasium schools were from m/c and upper classes
• Positives for jews

  -80% of Jews in Germany were well educated and lived in the cities

  -Many of the Jews in Germany felt more German and were patriotic, many believed in assimilation (keeping their ethnic and cultural identity but becoming fully integrated and accepted in German society)

  -Achieved some influence in elements such as the press, politics, business and banks, universities and nearly all aspects of culture

  -Powerful influence in the media promoting liberal political views, they were also prominent in political parties. Leaders of various revolutions had Jewish backgrounds

  -Achieved considerable wealth and influence in industry and commerce. Jewish firms dominated coal mining, steelworks and the chemical industry in Silesia

  -Jewish banking families e.g. the Rothschilds owned 50% of private banks. Jewish directors also managed several public banks

  -Successful in their professions e.g. law and medicine (16% of lawyers and 11% of doctors). There were especially high numbers in Berlin (more than half of the doctors in 1930 were Jewish and 1835/3400 lawyers were Jewish)

  -Significant impact on the academic life of Germany. 9 out of 38 Nobel prizes awarded to people working in Germany up to 1938 were Jewish
• Negatives for jews

  -Represented 1% of the total population

  -Role of Jews in banking declined. Banks owned by Jews = 18% of the banking sector, smaller than the years before 1924.

  -Little importance in the western industrial lands of the Rhineland or the Ruhr

  -Some scandals provided ammunition for the Anti-Semitic attacks e.g. the Barmat scandal 1925 (Barmat brothers from Poland were convicted of bribing public officials to obtain loans from the Prussian State Bank and National Post Office, sentenced to 11 months in jail)

  -1918-24 = backlash against the perceived threat of Jewish Bolshevism as shown by uprisings in Germany

  -Many Germans = reluctant to stop seeings Jews as alien. A significant gap between wanting to be assimilated and feeling the security of being accepted

  -1924-30: anti-Semitism increased
• Reasons for problems with the welfare system

  ~Expensive (supporting 800,000 disabled war veterans, 360,000 war widows, 900,000+ war orphans in 1926)

  ~Also supporting old age pensions, and after 1927, the cost of unemployment benefits

  ~Needed a large and expensive bureaucracy to administer it (increase in taxes after 1924). Was a limit for how much the better off were prepared to cope with the burden of welfare expenditure. Result: those administering benefits at a local levels used many devices to keep expenditure town

  ~Means tests = tightened

  ~Snoopers checked that claimants weren't cheating the system

  ~Increased delays in paying benefits

  ~People in need of support felt that they were being humiliated and insulted, undermining their support for the Weimar Republic
• Bauhaus

  German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicised and taught
• Expressionism

  Art style about feelings and emotions about the current events
• Social insurance

  A system of contribution to enable provision of state assistance in sickness etc
• Utilitarianism

  Belief of the greatest good for the greatest number of people (value is determined by utility)
• Context 1924-1928

  War and aftermath brought social, cultural, political and economic changes. The constitution gave more freedom, rights and greater equality, and showed happiness about having a voice. Others wanted authority to be defined and had a more traditional expectation of society.
• Art and emotions

  ~People feel: prosperity, happiness

  ~Changing attitudes in society: more open

  ~Imaginative artwork shows evolution of society

  ~Shows viewpoints of parties - disillusionment in WR and issues are ignored by other people e.g. reflect the interests of parties (mostly left wing)

  ~Messages are portrayed e.g. anti-war
• Art and Weimar

  ~More creativity expressed (exploration)

  ~Sexual politics - women's roles are changing

  ~Removal from a dark era

  ~Anti war messages showed conflict between beliefs

  ~Division of classes illustrated e.g. loneliness

  ~Selfish society

  ~Crime, injury and misery portrayed in some paintings

  ~Some artworks "predict" the future of Germany
• Music and emotions

  ~Hindemith and Arnold Schoenberg (Schoenberg wanted to convey powerful emotions but avoided traditional forms of beauty)

  ~Conflict: traditionalists hated the influence in music, discipline had been removed and society was becoming morally degenerated

  ~Associated with atonal music (lacks a key, harsh, lack of harmony)

  ~Experimentation
• Music and Weimar

  ~Jazz came to Germany

  ~American Expressionism was used in music (influenced German composers)

  ~Eroticism in nightclubs

  ~LGBTQ free to display sexuality
• Literature and emotions

  ~Novelists and poets aim: a free form of writing which they focused on a character's mental state rather than social reality

  ~Common theme: revolt against parental authority, shows people are more 'rebel' and mental state raises awareness of mental issues, removing taboos

  ~People can become more open to discussing problems
• Literature and Weimar

  ~Expressionism

  ~Thomas Mann was a writer who supported Weimar and moved to Switzerland after the Nazis came into power in 1933
• Weimar culture

  New political and social freedom gave Germany experimentation and more creativity in culture. There was tension between conservatives and modernists