topic 3 - the grand coalition

who put together the grand coalition?

chancellor muller

when?

1928

what was it?

a coalition consisting of parties from all areas of the political spectrum

considering the fact that Muller had a large reichstag majority, his government should have been secure however…

from the start the members of the coalition were more motivated by self-interest than the need to agree on policies

on top of this, muller had to also deal with…

internal disputes within the SPD

what was a key point of dispute?

the 1929 young plan

what did the young plan do?

it stated that germany should continue to pay reparations and that payments would rise over time

who was one of the most outspoken critics against the young plan?

Alfred Hugenberg who was the leader of the DNVP

why did Hugenberg strongly oppose the plan?

because he was set on recovering his party’s lost prestige and moving it further right

how was hugenberg able to popularise his views?

through his media empire

spreading discontent towards the young plan led to…

the formation of the national opposition

what was the national opposition?

various nationalist and right wing groups

what did the national opposition do?

they drew up a law against ‘the enslavement of the german people’

what did this mean?

they wanted to denounce any payment of reparations and demanded any ministers agreeing to such a treaty to be punished

the proposal gained enough signatures that it became…

an issue of national referendum in december 1929

how many votes did it get?

5.8 million

did it succeed in getting passed?

no as it needed 21 million votes to become part of the constitution

what did the campaign of national opposition do to the right wing?

it stirred up discontent towards the government and brought different factions together

how did this benefit the nazi party?

their membership grew to 130,000 by the end of 1929

this meant that the nazi party had…

a national standing for the first time

what else did the national opposition allow hitler to do?

make influential contacts amongst the right wing