General Vocab (1924-29)

Rentenbank:

The bank set up to manage the Rentenmark.

Hyperinflation:

When prices rise so fast that money loses value in hours.

Passive Resistance:

The policy of not working during the Ruhr occupation.

Fulfillment:

Stresemann's policy of meeting treaty obligations to gain trust.

Chancellor:

The head of the German government (appointed by President).

Reichstag:

The lower house of the German parliament.

Proportional Representation:

The voting system that led to many small parties.

Coalition:

A government made of multiple parties.

Mittelstand:

The lower-middle class (shopkeepers, civil servants).

Industrialists:

Factory owners who benefited from US loans.

Ratification:

The official approval of a treaty by the government.

Diktat:

The German term for the "dictated" Treaty of Versailles.

Demilitarization:

The removal of military forces from an area (The Rhineland).

Diplomatic Isolation:

Germany's status before 1924 (having no friends).

Economic Stabilization:

The process of making the economy steady.

Modernism:

The cultural trend toward new, experimental ideas.

Decadence:

Moral or cultural decline (what the Right accused Weimar of).

Reparations:

Compensation for war damage paid by a defeated nation.

The "Great Power" Status:

Restored to Germany in 1926 via the League.

October 29, 1929:

The Wall Street Crash (ends the Recovery).