Weimar 1.3 Flashcards
what was the economy like after the war?
1918-23 rising inflation, recession, increased unemployment, reduced wages due t crippling businesses
How did the govt deal with the social welfare issue?
gave retraining schemes to soldiers back from war and loans to help find work, set up pension schemes for the wounded, widows etc, lots of diff social welfare programs for disadvantaged
what was the govt response to debts and reparations from 1918?
Huge govt borrowing during the war, by 1918 it owed 150b marks and TOV reparations added to them. They tried to solve this by printing more money
describe the Occupation of the Ruhr
- 1923
Germany failed to pay reparations, allies said if they weren’t paid then they would takeover the Ruhr.
French invaded and took control, German officials told not to listen to orders from non Germans, workers urged to passive resistance, both France and Germany suffered
what was the issue of hyperinflation?
Ruhr crisis led inflation to hyperinflation, people lost faith in money and turned to the barter system and black market, everyone suffered.
What happened in august 1923?
economic crisis was at its worst, govt collapsed, Gustav Stresemann became chancellor of a new coalition govt, he effectively used emergency decrees to avoid decision making in Reichstag, he was a stabiliszing force
what was Stresemann’s policy on regaining control of money?
1923- replaced the worthless mark with the Rentenmark- this helped control wages, rents and prices- stabilized the economy
what did stresemann do to rebuild the economy?
Dawes and Young plan made reparations more manageable, he made Germany an acceptable foreign power to reestablish trade
what was economic recovery mainly based on?
loans from USA- this was dangerous because if they wanted their money back, they would struggle
how did Stresemann create recovery for businesses?
govt helped them be more efficient and profitable, big businesses survived and formed cartels whose fixed prices stabilized the economy
