Weimar Economic & Political changes

Weimar assassinations (P)

When → 1919-1922, over 350 political murders in Germany by right wing extremists

Why → Wanted to eliminate those responsible for the Treaty of Versailles

What → August 1921, Matthias Erzberger (he signed the armistice) got shot dead by right wing group. 1922, Foreign Minister Walter Rathenau got killed and Phillip Scheidemann got acid thrown at him (he was Weimar politican)

Kapp Putsch (P)

When → March 1920, right wing politician Wolfgang Kapp gathered 5000 men (freikorps) mainly are police and ex-soldiers and took over Berlin

Why → Kapp wanted to take over Germany and recover land taken from ToV

What → President Ebert fled Berlin. Kapp didn’t have the worker’s support and they went on strike resulting in no gas/water/electricity/trains

Result → Kapp fled abroad after 100 hours of the event. Ebert and his government returned to Berlin

Red Rising in the Ruhr (P)

When → March 2020 after Kapp Putsch, left wing workers in the Ruhr stayed on strike

What → Took over several towns called the Red Rising

Result → Government sent soldiers and Freikrops to deal with the rebellion. 1000+ workers were killed

Munich Putsch

When → November 1923, Hitler and Nazis tried to seize control of Bavarian government in South Germany

Why → Hitler promised to overturn ToV/Destroy communism/Restore Germany’s glory

How → Planned to capture Munich and march on Berlin. Bavarian politicians at Munich beer hall refused to support his plan but Hitler still carried on nevertheless

What happened → Hitler and 2000 supporters marched but were met by armed police so 3 police and 16 Nazis died in a short gun fight

Result → Hitler and Ludendorff were arrested

How hyperinflation started (1923)

Reparations → Occupation of the Ruhr → Hyperinflation

The effects of reparations

• Germany was ordered to pay reparations “£6.6B” (132M marks) in yearly instalments for the next 66 years

• Germany scraped their first instalment of 2B marks and gave it to France and Belgium through gold and goods such as coal/iron/wood

The effects of the Occupation of the Ruhr

• 1922, Germany couldn’t afford to pay for the next payment

• French/Belgians didn’t believe and decided to take over the Ruhr

• January 1923, 60000 French/Belgians marched into Ruhr (industrial area) and took control of every factory/mines/railways/food/goods

• Arrested Germans who stood up to them

What the Occupation of the Ruhr led to

Hyperinflation

German government ordered workers in the Ruhr to get on strike and to not help the French/Belgians take goods from country (Passive Resistance)

Government continued paying the workers on strike and also pay the money they owed France/Belgium by printing large amounts of money

More workers spent money in the shops so shopkeepers raised their prices and the government printed even more to help workers buy products so prices were raised even more again

Prices kept inflating so fast aka hyperinflation (1923)

Impact of Hyperinflation

• By 1923, the money was worthless

• German government was blamed as it was their decision to strike and print more money

The losers of Hyperinflation

Those with bank savings → The people that saved to get 1000 marks were useless as by 1923, it wouldn’t be worth anything

Those on fixed pensions → Elderly who had this found their income would no longer get them what they needed

Small businesses → Collapsed as normal trade became impossible due to daily price changes

The winners of hyperinflation

Those with loan debt → Found it easy to pay off their debts as they could’ve paid off their debts with just one banknote.

Gustav Stresemann (1924-1929)

Germany’s foreign minister who helped restore Germany’s economic and political status

Foreign policies used by Stresemann

• Locarno Pact (1925)

• Joining LoN (1926)

• Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928)

These helped Germany regain international status and restore relationships with other countries

These policies were discussed in the League of Nations (LoN) Flashcard set in the Conflict and Tension section

Economic policies used by Stresemann

• Invention of Rentenmark

• Dawes Plan

• Young Plan

Invention of Rentenmark

Stopped the printing of money and replaced these worthless notes with a temporary currency called Rentenmark

1924 → Replaced with Reichsmark which remained for the next 25 years as its value was based on the value of gold

This ended hyperinflation but people who lost their savings never got their money back and blamed Stresemann

Dawes Plan (1924)

Arranged for USA banks to invest in German industry and for USA to lend 800M marks

This made Germany re start its reparation payments leading to the French and Belgians leaving the Ruhr

Some people felt that Stresemann should’ve demanded for an end to reparations

Young Plan (1929)

Stresemann negotiated a reduction in total reparation repayment which led to the reduction from £6.6B → £2B

Problems with Germany during the Stresemann years (1924-1929+

• Many political parties which made a lot decisions in which they disagreed with each other wasting time over decisions

• Presence of extreme political parties such as Nazis/Communists

• Lots of Germans were poor (farmers/middle classes) and were heavily affected by hyperinflation

• Before Stresemann died in 1929, he was worried about the German economy solely depending on the loans from the USA → Foreshadows the Great Depression

The golden age

A period of time during the 1920s in which creative arts became more widely accepted and popular so German artists writers ,poets, performers were present almost everywhere.

This marked a changed from the tight control from the Kaiser to the autonomy of what people wanted to do which led to more people wanting to experiment and try new things

Cinema during the golden age

Became very popular that the most ever technically advanced film made at the time was called Metropolis by Fritz lang

Nightlife during the golden age

Operas/Shows/New plays were popular and musicians performed vulgar songs against the politicians that would’ve been banned under the Kaiser

Berlin was famous for its nightclubs with live bands and played American Jazz

Literature during the golden age

People had 120 newspapers and magazines to choose from

German anti war novel, All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque became a bestseller

Art and Design during the golden age

Avant-Garde artists such as Otto Dix thought art should represent everyday life such as social class differences

In design and architecture, new group of designers called Bauhaus believed in modern and practical designs

Reactions to the cultural changes of Germany

• Some Germans accepted this new society

• Other Germans hated this as they wanted the culture to be traditional and they thought these new cultural changes would lead Germany into a decline