The Golden Years 1923-29

Question 1

Who was appointed Chancellor in 1923?

Answer 1

Stresemann

Question 2

What was Stresemann credited with after 1923?

Answer 2

The recovery of the Government

Question 3

What was Stresemann during the Golden years?

Answer 3

Foreign secretary

Question 4

What party was Stresemann the leader of?

Answer 4

The DVP
(right-wing)

Question 5

What happened in 1923?

Answer 5

Recovery began

Question 6

What was put in place in 1924?

Answer 6

The Dawes Plan

Question 7

What happened in Germany in 1925?

Answer 7

• French troops were withdrawn from the Ruhr
• Locarno Pact was signed

Question 8

What did Germany join in 1926?

Answer 8

The League of Nations

Question 9

In what year was the Kellogg-Briand Pact?

Answer 9

1928

Question 10

What did Stresemann create when he was Chancellor?

Answer 10

The Rentenmark, a new currency

Question 11

What did Germany now face that was the cause of hyperinflation?

Answer 11

War reparations

Question 12

What did the Rentenmark do?

Answer 12

• Helped end hyperinflation
• Stabilise prices

Question 13

What was the Reichsmark?

Answer 13

A permanent replacement of the Reichsbank Mark

Question 14

What year were the Reichsmark and Rentenmark used until?

Answer 14

1948

Question 15

What was the Dawes Plan?

Answer 15

A temporary solution that helped Germany

Question 16

What did the Dawes Plan do for Germany? (good results)

Answer 16

• It reduced yearly payments
• Made Allied troops leave the Ruhr
• Stabilised the economy through a loan of 800 million marks from the US

Question 17

Why was the Dawes Plan bad for Germany?

Answer 17

• It made Germany over-reliant on US funding which was an issue during the Great Depression

Question 18

What year was the Great Depression?

Answer 18

1929

Question 19

What did the Dawes Plan propose?

Answer 19

That Germany should pay a fraction of what they were previously paying in reparations

Question 20

Who took credit for its achievement?

Why was this strange?

Answer 20

• Stresemann
• Because he didn’t originally believe in the plan

Question 21

What happened in 1929?

Answer 21

The Young Plan was agreed and extended reparations payments

Question 22

What was the Young Plan?

Answer 22

A permanent solution

Question 23

What were campaigns launched against in 1929?

Answer 23

The Young Plan

Question 24

What did the Young plan do to opinions in Germany?

Answer 24

It inflamed nationalist opinions

Question 25

Who was the key person in the Young Plan? Why? What did they do?

Answer 25

- Owen Young - He submitted a report of it in 1929 and it was implemented in 1930

Question 26

What good things did the Young Plan do for Germany?

Answer 26

- Reduced reparations payments - Increased the time to pay the reparations from 42 to 58 years - Made Allied troops withdraw from the Rhineland

Question 27

What good things happened during the economic recovery?

Answer 27

- Those in debt could now pay off quickly - Industrial workers had wage increases - Right wing extremists like Hitler gained huge publicity

Question 28

What bad things happened during the economic recovery?

Answer 28

- Weak companies struggled to pay debts off and went bankrupt - The Mittelstand didn't like wage increases - Civil servants lost their jobs due to Stresemann's idea of balancing the budget

Question 29

What was a social or cultural developments from 1924-28?

Answer 29

- Social reforms helped the poor, disabled war veterans, widows and orphans

Question 30

What did the introduction of a national unemployment insurance system do? (positive and negative)

Answer 30

- Changed most people's lives - Allowed Trade Unionists to negotiate wage increases - People now benefited from the welfare system - Farmers suffered lower prices and poor trade

Question 31

What did the 'new woman' symbolise?

Answer 31

How women's lives had changed since the end of the war

Question 32

What was the 'new woman' portrayed as?

Answer 32

- Free - Independent - Sexually liberated - Visible

Question 33

What did women now have equality to men in?

Answer 33

- Voting - Pay - Education

Question 34

Why did more women go into paid employment after the war?

Answer 34

Lots of men had been killed

Question 35

Why did some citizens disapprove of the equality of men and women?

Answer 35

- The League of German women promoted traditional family values + maternal duties - There was the idea that in marriage, the husband has the right to decide on all family matters

Question 36

Why was Weimar Germany turning into a life of crime?

Answer 36

- More youth were unemployed so they were difficult to control

Question 37

Why did many WC Germans join gangs?

Answer 37

for adventure and comradeship

Question 38

How many Jews lived in Germany?

Answer 38

More than 1/2 million

Question 39

Why were many Jews influential and wealthy?

Answer 39

They had lots of publicity in newspapers

Question 40

Why did fierce opposition against Jews begin?

Answer 40

Due to accusations of corruption

Question 41

What emphasised experimentation and innovation of arts in the WR?

Answer 41

New political and social freedom

Question 42

Comedians performing in nightclubs would attack who?

Answer 42

Politicians

Question 43

What did older people think of nightclubs? Why?

Answer 43

- They were horrific - They hated the influence of the USA on German life

Question 44

What did much of theatre rely on? Why?

Answer 44

- Symbolism - To convey political messages

Question 45

Who did theatre make out to be the villains and criminals?

Answer 45

The Middle Classes

Question 46

Who did theatre make out to be the heroes?

Answer 46

Prostitutes

Question 47

Why was 1924-28 more stable than post-war years?

Answer 47

Because there was less political violence and extremism

Question 48

In what year did Hindenburg become President?

Answer 48

1925

Question 49

Who was Hindenburg President after?

Answer 49

Ebert

Question 50

What was Hindenburg a staunch opponent of?

Answer 50

The Republic

Question 51

What political parties supported the republic?

Answer 51

- SPD - DDP - DVP

Question 52

What political parties didn't support the republic?

Answer 52

- NSDAP - KPD - DNVP

Question 53

What party was in the middle?

Answer 53

Z

Question 54

Electoral success and failure trends of parties:

Answer 54

- SPD had a decline but recovered - Z was consistent - KPD fluctuated but increased from 1919 - USPD didn't exist after 1920 - The Nazis were insignificant before 1930 - DVP and DNVP support fluctuates

Question 55

Why were stable coalition governments hard to establish?

Answer 55

- moderate parties didn't have enough seats - factional rivalries weakened parties