Summary 3: 1924-29 Golden Years ? Flashcards
What are peoples views on the ‘golden era’ ?
- some say 1924-29 was a golden era for Germany ➡️ a period of relative stability and progress
- alternative view that it was merely a facade which masked fundamental weaknesses and problems
- golden: long lasting, positive progress where people have freedom
Who was Gustav Stresemann ?
- most able politician
- DVP ➡️ supportive of the WR
- appointed chancellor of the ‘Great Coalition’ in August 1923 (1st coalition with LW and RW parties)
✅ successfully dealt with hyperinflation and Ruhr crisis in his 103 days as chancellor (until Nov 1923) - became Foreign Minister until his death in Oct 1929
- awarded Nobel Peace prize for his diplomacy in the mid 1920’s
How was the German economy stabilised ?
- passive resistance in the Ruhr:
- Stresemann had to send passive resistance (no alternative ➡️ German economy grinding to halt + inflation out of control)
- govt stopped paying striking workers ➡️ reduce govt expenditure + called off resistance
- risky move (unpopular) ➡️ led to serious unrest eg. Munich Putsch
- replacing a worthless currency:
- replaced worthless currency with a temporary new Rentenmark ➡️ backed by value of German industrial and agricultural land + amount of currency kept in circulation carefully controlled
-❗️within 9 months currency had stabilised (old marks cashed in for new) + new Reichsmark introduced ➡️ backed by German gold reserve (had to be maintained at 30% of the value of the Reichsmarks in circulation)
-✅ inflation under control + new currency established securely at home and abroad
- replaced worthless currency with a temporary new Rentenmark ➡️ backed by value of German industrial and agricultural land + amount of currency kept in circulation carefully controlled
- balancing the budget:
- stresemann cut govt expenditure and raised taxes ➡️ govt employees salaries cut ❗️ 300,000 civil servants lost jobs
- compensating those who lost all their savings:
- govt could not afford to compensate all those who had lost their savings to hyperinflation
- govt agreed to compensate those who had lost all their investments in war bonds ❗️ at 12.5% of their original value + debts reassessed at 15% of former value
-🔔 caused bitter resentment (particularly from middle classes ➡️ felt betrayed by the WR) + creditors annoyed that only received 15% of original value + debtors annoyed they had to pay 15% back
- restarting reparation payments to fulfil terms of TofV:
- Ruhr crisis damaged Germany economy but also devaluated the French franc, Br + USA forced Fr to reconsider reparations ➡️ resulted in the DAWES PLAN of 1924
- renegotiating reparations:
- in 1928 issue of reparations was revisited by the YOUNG PLAN ➡️ allies still occupying the Rhineland and Fr refused to withdraw until reparations issue finally agreed
What was achieved by the Dawes plan ?
- 1924
- final amount of reparations was not altered ➡️ remained at £6.6b
- reparations made more manageable by cutting the repayments ➡️ amount paid each year reduced until 1929 (proposed that G would restart paying with 1000mil marks) then sum should be raised by 2500 mill marks per year for 5 years until max
- loan of 800 mill marks from USA to aid economic recovery ➡️ allow for heavy investment in German industry
-❗️G received loans totally nearly $3,000 mill between 1924-30 (more than what they paid in reparations)
🔔IMPACT:
❌ bitterly attacked by RW groups who wanted Germany to defy the TofV
❌ reliance in short term forge in loans + national opposition
✅ helped economic recovery + led to reparations being paid on schedule
✅ allies accepted that reparations were a problem (hope for future renegotiations)
✅ Fr left Ruhr during 1924-25
What was achieved by the Young plan ?
- 1929
- reduction of reparations £6.6b to £1.8b ➡️ HUGE REDUCTION
- higher annual payments agreed
🔔IMPACT:
✅ allies withdrew from the Rhineland
❌ major internal opposition from RW groups who did not want Germany to agree to pay any reparations
eg. DNVP leader Alfred Hugenberg launches referendum campaign ➡️ ‘freedom law’ gains 4,135,000 signatures ➡️ enough to debate in Reichstag in put to referedum but defeated in both 🔔 showed extent of RW resentment + gave Hitler national valuable national prominence
🔔 little time for plan to have an impact as all reparation payments were suspended in 1931 due to depression (never restarted)
To what extent did the German economy make progress ?
✅ currency stabilised ➡️ new accepted + stable currency which solved hyperinflation
✅ Dawes plan ➡️ rescheduled + restarted payments & Young plan reduced reparation amount ❗️ cut by 2/3rds
✅ economic growth was positive (BUT at a relatively low growth rate)
✅ industrial production rose ❗️ particularly 1924/25/27 + advances in chemical/car/airplane manufacturing
✅ real wages ➡️ unions helped ensure real wages rose, particularly for working class + inflation rate close to zero (rising wages made people feel better off)
✅ welfare state ➡️ huge progress made since 1919, new constitution established welfare state eg. hospitals/schools/housing improved as a result of loans + war pensions paid + ❗️after 1927 beginning of unemployment insurance established for >17m workers
✅ strikes and workers rights ➡️ no. of strikes declined during 1924-29, partly as result of new compulsory arbitration system forced on employers eg. govt had already enforced max 8hr days
What evidence is there for continuing weaknesses and problems in the German economy ?
❌ economic growth: growth rate behind Br/Fr/USA + growth fulled by short term foreign loans (dangerous if withdrawn) + economy shrank in 1928/29
❌ unemployment: exports expensive due to currency changes ➡️ industrialists had to cut costs and make workers unemployed 🔔 overall rising trend (particularly after 1928) ➡️ ❗️high unemployment of over 1m persisted + as jobs decreasing ➡️ also rise in workers due to baby boom generation of pre 1914 entered the job market (made the problem WORSE) ❗️5m more workers 1907-1925
❌ industrial production: some argue industrialists did not do enough to invest and improve long term prospects of German economy ➡️ industrial output rose but not back to 1913 levels till 1929 + increasing strikes after 1925 ➡️ annoyed industrialists who felt WR had given too much power to workers
❌ real wages: mittlestand (tradesmen/artisans/shopkeepers) resented working class closing the gap on their income ➡️ would later vote Nazi
❌ agriculture: agricultural depression hit 1927 ➡️ prices of agricultural produce fell + debt and bankruptcies grew
❌ after 1923 govt made it easier for farmers to borrow money but then increased taxes so hard for farmers to pay of debt ❗️by 1929 30-50% of all German farms were not making a profit ➡️ many workers voting for Nazis in 1928
❌ welfare state: high taxes and redistribution of resources needed to pay for it ➡️ resented by elite and reinforced their suspicions of democracy + increased attempts to break power of the unions and challenge some of the govt demands on employers, demands of welfare state ➡️ putting increasing and unsustainable strain on the WR
How did the Weimar constitution responsible for social and cultural developments in Germany 1924-29 ?
- the new constitution gave Germans new rights, freedoms and greater equality then ever before
- some Germans embraced these new times with enthusiasm but others lamented the change to traditional values
How did social welfare reform ?
- 1924: Public Assistance system modernised to help poor and destitute
- 1925: State Accident Insurance extended to cover those injured at work or suffering from industrial diseases
- 1927: National Unemployment insurance introduced
🔔 however the new welfare system was very expensive for the govt ➡️ had to raise taxes to pay for it which caused resentment in the more well off
How did living standards change between 1924-29 ?
- improved between 1924-29
- workers (particularly those represented by unions) saw real wages rise
- welfare system supported the poorest
- business owners benefited from improved currency + trading position of Germany
🔔 however those who lost savings in 1923 never regained their comfortable lifestyles + farmers suffering from low prices and falling incomes
What positive changes did women experience ?
✅ constitution gave women equal voting rights, equal pay and equal opportunities in civil service appointments (🔔 population imbalanced after war ➡️ opportunity for conventional marriage and motherhood not available for all women + war meant women had got used to working)
✅ ❗️by 1925 36% of workforce = women/ 11mil women in 1918
✅ birth control more available
✅❌ divorce rate rose
✅ Reichstag had higher proportion of women deputies than House of Commons
✅ same no. of women in work before the war but now working more physical jobs that had been associated w/men eg. tram conductor/department store clerk/factory workers/doctors/lawyers
✅ majority of electorate was female (partly bcs so many men had died in war or were physically/psychologically wounded ➡️ unlikely to vote)
✅ women held 10% of seats in Reichstag + no.s continued to rise
✅ moved into professions like teaching, social work and secretarial work
✅ demonstrations for women’s suffrage (early as 1910) ➡️ succeeded in 1919 when Article 109 passed (men and women have the same fundamental rights and duties as citizens eg. right to vote and hold office
What stayed the same/negatives changes for women ?
❌ most popular women’s group was BDF with 90,000 members ➡️ promoted traditional values
❌ church and more conservative political parties also alarmed by new values
❌ demobilisation laws required women to give up jobs to returning soldiers
❌ equal pay act not achieved in reality
❌ women often required to give up job when married
❌ abortion illegal and decline in birth rate attacked by conservatives
❌ no women cabinet members and no parties led by women
❌ many of Germany’s major political parties believed that reinforcing the traditional roles of women and men in the family “would provide stability in a social world that seemed to be rapidly slipping from their control.” ➡️ motherhood made more attractive
Who was the ‘new woman’ and how was she significant ?
- new woman emerging in media ➡️ portrayed as free, independent, sexually liberated and had an increasingly visible public life
- independent worker, political figure who appeared in parties and parliament/demonstrations etc
- new physical figure eg. shortened skirts
- small but powerful group
🔔 however
❌ some embracing this but very small no.s ➡️ lots of women holding onto traditional roles/views + criticising younger women
❌ many people appalled by the new woman and did not approve
Conclusion for woman ?
- change for some and Germany was notably ambitious in the de jure rights promised to women but in reality some rights were not fully delivered and many women did not chose to grasp the chance for change ➡️ happy to continue with traditional and religious values
- political participation was notable but still restricted to the few and not at the highest level
- wider range of employment
- sexual freedom for some
What changes did young people experience ?
❌ notable youth unemployment ❗️1924-25 17% of unemployed were 17-24 year olds (partly due to baby boom), working class youth particularly hit ➡️ increased crime rates + joined gangs in cities
✅ youths seeking to escape boredom of traditional schooling sought adventure and companionship in hiking clubs which became popular
✅ took advantage of new form of music/art/drama in the cities
✅ sports became a national pass time in the years 1924-26 ➡️ Germany suddenly blossomed into a great sporting nation (creative and inventive in sports) ➡️ memberships of sport clubs and no. of spectators at sport meetings increased greatly + boxers and sprinters became national heros + very interested in athletics 🔔 news changed from war related to sport related + allowed young people to take their minds of the deviations of the war and have fun (pride?)
❌ Political parties in the Weimar Republic also competed for young people’s interest and loyalty ➡️ many created youth groups to attract young members to their parties ❗️eg. the Nazi Party established the Hitler Youth in the 1920s in an effort to win over young supporters, and they were especially successful by the end of the decade in attracting university students to another organisation, the National Socialist German Students’ League
