Stability and Recovery in Weimar Germany 1925-9
Explain the degree to which the years 1925-9 were a time of economic and political stability for the Weimar RepublicThe Weimar Republic was set up in Germany at the end of the First World War. It was a dramatic transformation from the highly undemocratic, authoritarian Kaiser Reich of the war, and pre war years. It was made up of an extremely democratic voting system, universal suffrage for the over 21s, and had a very proportionately representative Reichstag. With hindsight, we know that the system collapsed and gave way to Hitler's dictatorship in 1933. But it also inherited a broken, divided and demoralised Germany after WWI, and seemed to, at least partially, restore it to success. It is therefore arguable how weak or stable Weimar was. At the end of the Great War, Germany had lost much territory; it had lost 13% of its productivity, 24% of its coal, and 74% of its iron ore. It was paying L6.6 billion in reparations under the Treaty of Versailles. On top of this, Germany had 600,000 war widows and 1.2 million orphans, the government were spending 1/3 of its disposable funds on pensions. The hyperinflation of 1923and the subsequent re-establishment of the currency had brought great misery amongst most Germans,
However, contrasting with this pattern, even Bavaria managed not to "indulge" in extreme right wing parties during Weimar's golden years. A series of agreements in the 1920s established Germany as "an equal and friendly partner with Great Britain and France in world affairs and seemed to promise peace in the future". It is significant that the German parties had had no experience of cooperation or compromise. With hindsight we can see that the economy did collapse following the Wall Street Crash, 1929, but economic failure was not inevitable. Weimar, essentially, was a compromise. AJ Nicholls argues that the damaging effects of the Treaty of Versailles can be overstated. No party was able to command a majority in the Reichstag. It was a concession that was not fully satisfactory for the majority. "EJ Feuchtwanger from Germany 1915-1941Gustav Stresemann, Foreign Minister until his death in October 1929, spearheaded the development of relations with other countries. All these factors contributed to the political failings, and ultimately helped to usher in a period of nationalist Nazi dictatorship. This power was not used by Ebert, but was employed by Hindenburg to appoint the last 4 chancellors of the Reichstag, including Hitler. It is therefore possible to argue that Weimar was, in fact, very successful, and that its many successes must not be diminished in hindsight. In fact, by 1927 the Gross National Productivity of Germany exceeded that of the whole German empire in 1913. The right- and left-wing extremists lost much support, gaining less than 30% of the national vote.
Common topics in this essay:
Trade Unions,
Treaty Versailles,
Weimar Germany,
Constitution President,
Street Crash,
Rise Hitler,
Derrick Murphy,
Streseman's Locarno,
EJ Feuchtwanger,
Dawes Plan,
treaty versailles,
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l66 reparations treaty,
wall street crash,
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aj nicholls,
foreign investment,
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widows 12 orphans,
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12 orphans,
widows 12,
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Acceptance Essays
