Section 2

Question 1

What were Stresemann’s main achievements as Chancellor?

Answer 1

• Controlling inflation
• Economic growth
• The Dawes Plan
• The great coalition
• The French leaving the Ruhr
• Foreign affairs
• Social reforms

Question 2

What was the great coalition?

Answer 2

• A Weimar government lasting 103 days led by Gustav Stresemann containing parties from the left, right and centre
• The great coalition stabilised the currency, controlled inflation and saw off political threats from the right and left

Question 3

What was the Dawes Plan of 1924?

Answer 3

• It was a plan that gave Germany a longer time to pay back its war reparations
• It worked by the US giving loans to Germany who could then pay back their reparations to France and GB who in turn would pay back their loans to the US

Question 4

How was inflation controlled in November 1923?

Answer 4

• Streseman calles in all of the worthless notes and burned them
• He introduced the Rentenmark (worth 3,000m old Marks) and based that on gold reserves. This stabilised the new currency, as did increased taxes and lower government spending

Question 5

How did Germany improve its Foreign relations during the Golden Era?

Answer 5

• In 1925 they signed the Locarno Treaty

- In 1926 they joined the League of Nations

Question 6

How did Stresemann help German economic growth?

Answer 6

• Germany borrowed 25,000million gold marks, mostly from the US, which they used to build infrastructure
• Germany’s economy was stimulated by the loans and started to boom from 1924 onwards
• Inflation was close to zero and living standards grew

Question 7

During the golden era, why did the number of strikes fall?

Answer 7

Strikes fell due to the introduction of compulsory arbitration. This is where an independent tribunal would settle the strike between the workers and company and who’s results were enforceable by law

Question 8

What did Stresemann say about the economic position of Germany in 1929?

Answer 8

He described how Germany was ‘dancing on a volcano’ and that if short term loans were called in then the German economy would collapse. Some argue that he foresaw the Great Depression that happened later that year

Question 9

What was the golden age not so good for the mittelstand?

Answer 9

• Many In the mittlestat Had savings which meant that were often bankrupted by hyperinflation
• Many were professional white collar workers and so they suffered from both stagnant wages and increased taxes

Question 10

What triggered the French to leave the Ruhr

Answer 10

• The policy of passive resistance was called off in September 1924, and the French and Belgians left by 1925
• This was an essential first step in the economic recovery of Germany

Question 11

What social reforms did Stresemann introduce?

Answer 11

• Stresemann built labour exchanges

- 3 million new houses were built to accommodate the growing population

Question 12

How much was Social Welfare a success by 1929?

Answer 12

• By 1926 800k war veterans, 360k widows and 900k orphans were being supported by social welfare
• Unemployment insurance was introduced in 1927
• Benefits became available for single mothers and the disabled
• Due to the growing costs of benefits, means tests were introduced which delayed the payment of benefits
• Many of Those in need felt as though they were being humiliated by the wait times for benefits

Question 13

How far was life for women a success by 1929?

Answer 13

• The Weimar constitution gave women equal voting rights and access to education
• Women were given equal job opportunities and equal pay
• By 1933 there were 100k female teachers and 3k female doctors
• Women enjoyed more social freedoms e.g. smoking, drinking, going out alone
• However, the 1896 civil code remained in place which meant that the husband had the right to decide all matters family related
• The League of German Women (BDF) had 900k members and promoted traditional family values. It was the largest women’s group in the 1920s

Question 14

How much was life for the youth in Germany a success by 1929?

Answer 14

• Young people suffered disproportionately from unemployment (17% of the unemployed were 14-21)
• Many young people joined gangs/cliques
• The majority of those who went to good gymnasium schools were upper or middle class
• Youth groups began in 1890 and continued through the Weimar period
• The main political parties had their own youth group wings

Question 15

How much was life for Jews a success by 1929?

Answer 15

• Of the more than 500k Jews in Weimar Germany, 80% (400k) were well educated and lived in big cities
• Many Jews believed in assimilation, integrating whilst maintaining their cultural identity
• Jews had a disproportionate amount of influence in relation to their population size most notably in publishing and the arts
• Jews were very prominent in politics and Jewish run newspapers supported political parties from across the political spectrum
• 18% of banks were run by Jews, 16% of Lawyers were Jews, 11% of Doctors were Jews, 24% of German Nobel Prize winners were Jews
• By The 1920s Jews had integrated vey well, however far right groups had stared to provoke feelings of Anti-Semitism by spreading the myth that there was a threat of Jewish Bolshevism

Question 16

How far Had culture in Germany improved by 1929?

Answer 16

• Berlin had become the world leader in Cinema during the golden years
• The lifting of censorship post WW1 allowed the LGBT community to express themselves in Cabarets
• The Bauhaus school led the world in art and design. It was closed by the Nazis in 1933
• This period encouraged literature from both political wings
• The predominant art form during this period was expressionism which influenced music, literature, and theatre

Question 17

How was Hindenberg’s election as President in 1925 stabilising for Germany?

Answer 17

• His election was followed by a full democratic national election
• He was revered by Anti-Weimar Conservative parties and brought the right-wing anti-Weimar together to make democracy work
• He appealed for all Weimar parties to work together to make democracy work and for national unity
• He stuck closely to the Weimar Constitution and did not go above his powers

Question 18

How was the election of President Hindenburg in 1925 not stabilising for Germany?

Answer 18

• He only won 48.3% of the vote
• He represented the old authoritarian way that old Germany was run
• He began to be increasingly impatient with the Weimar Political Parties and used article 48 on a routine basis
• After 1925 He was a president who did not believe in democracy and who wouldn’t defend it

Question 19

What terms of the treaty of Versailles were most hated by Germans?

Answer 19

• The war guilt clause
• Stripping down of the military
• War reparations
• The loss of Eastern territories and populations
• Allied occupation
• Being denied entry into the League of Nations

Question 20

What terms of the treaty of Versailles could hope to be reformed by Germany?

Answer 20

• The amount of reparations and repayments
• The Eastern territory losses
• Limited rearmament
• End ro allied occupation
• Entry to the League of Nations

Question 21

What was Stresemann’s policy of fulfilment?

Answer 21

-Germany would fulfil as many terms of the ToV as possible
-This was to show the allies that they were trustworthy in terms of renegotiating a better deal
This would include:
-Renegotiating reparations
-Renegotiate Eastern Frontiers

Question 22

What were Stresemann’s foreign policy aims in the Kellog-Briand pact

Answer 22

It was the US and France encouraging a pact to settle disputes without war

Question 23

What were Stresemann’s foreign policy aims for rearmament?

Answer 23

• The IMCC monitored Germany’s rearmament
• Germany was building and Airforce in Russia after the treaty of Rapallo
• They were building Submarines in Spain and tanks and artillery in Sweden
• Rearmament kept Germany up to date with technology
• The army enlisted men for short periods of time to keep a reserve of highly trained men and sponsored many paramilitary groups

Question 24

What was the Treaty of Rapallo of April 1922 and what was the Treaty of Berlin of 1926?

Answer 24

Treaty of Rapallo:

• Germany and the USSR would resume trade and economic cooperation
• Diplomatic relations between the two countries were restored
• All outstanding war reparation claims were dropped
• Germany was allowed to develop new weapons and train pilots in Russia

Treaty of Berlin:

• Confirmed the treaty of Rapallo
• Germany agreed to stay neutral if a conflict between Poland and the USSR broke out

Question 25

What was the Locarno Pact of 1925?

Answer 25

• Led by Germany
• Germany, France and Belgium agree to fix and internationally guarantee the Western borders
• Germany agrees to demilitarise the Rhineland
• Principle of non-aggression
• No agreement on Eastern Frontiers
• France agrees to protect Poland and Czechoslovakia

-In 1926 Germany was accepted into the League of Nations and Stresemann won the Nobel peace Prize

Question 26

How did Allied occupation end?

Answer 26

• The Dawes Plan of 1924 and Locarno Pact of 1925 showed that Germany was willing to cooperate
  
  • Because of this, in 1926 the allies withdrew from zone 1 of the Rhineland, and the IMCC withdrew from Germany
• The Young Plan In 1929 gave a final settlement on the reparations issue
  
  • As a result, allied forces withdrew from zone 2 in 1929 and from zone 3 in 1930, 5 years ahead of schedule

Question 27

What social welfare reforms were introduced during the golden era?

Answer 27

1924: The public assistance system, which provided help to the poor and destitute was modernised
1925: The state accident insurance system, introduced by Bismarck, was extended to cover those suffering from occupational diseases
1927: A national unemployment insurance system was introduced to provide benefits for the unemployment and was financed by contributions from workers and employers

Question 28

What were some drawbacks of the new welfare system?

Answer 28

• With the introduction of new benefits the system became more and more expensive
• They system also required a large and expensive bureaucracy to administer it
• Taxes were Increased after 1924, however there was limit that the better off were prepared to pay
• Means tests and local snoopers were introduced in an attempt to cut down the number of those cheating the system
• Those in need of support, in particular war veterans, felt as though they were being humiliated by the system, and so their support for the Weimar Republic was undermined