After the hyperinflation in 1923 economic policy in Berlin was to be reorganized under foreign supervision and a new currency was adopted to stabilise Germany's economy in 1924. Stabilisation of the new currency (Rentenmark) made Germany a very attractive market for foreign loans which helped to revive its economy. Germany rebuilt its industry with money from foreign loan, which encouraged other countries to invest in it and trade with it. As more money was entering Germany through foreign loans than it was leaving through reparation and this investment also boosted industrial expansion which helped to reduce the problem Germany's economy faced. From 1924 – 1928 Germany staged a modest recovery by 1927 the industrial production was same as the 1913 industrial production. Problems with economy were being dealt with but German industry had become so dependent on foreign loans; withdrawal from it would result in troubled economy. Between 1924 and 1931 Germany had received 18,000 million marks in foreign but had only paid out 11,100 million marks in form of reparation. There were still some crucial underlying weaknesses in the economy.
There were some problems the Weimar Republic created for itself. The economic prosperity was being based largely on foreign loans exports and unemployment was rising, the government started investing huge sums on welfare and health care. Welfare system increased the burden of tax on businesses so disputes started breaking out between workers and employers over whether the profit industry generated should be shared or reinvested into the industry itself. Weimer republic's idea of putting 'compulsory state arbitration of strike' meant that employers felt that 'compulsory state arbitration of strike' favoured the workers and fought to be abolished. Due to this law, industries were not motivated to pay tax and generate profit as they felt betrayed by the government which added pressure on Weimar republic itself instead of trying to reduce the problem Germany faced during 1920s.
No party had actually been able to achieve majority of the seat in the Reichstag, so the Weimar Republic was plagued by weak, short-lived coalition government which lead to the uprising of the political extremist group from the both; right and left. This unsolved problem from the Weimar Republic is what started the rise of Hitler as the Uprising of the Munich Putsch in 1923. Uprising of the Munich Putsch with Hitler and Ludendorff supported by 600 stroomtroopers attempted to take over the Bavarian government by storming in was one of the greatest problem Weimar Republic faced in 1923. Despite the failure of the Putsch, Weimer was scarred in long term because by Hitler only receiving couple of months in prison for treason showed the sympathetic side of the court to the right wing extremism. The action from the court on Hitler's light punishment clearly showed the political extremism was just slowly growing below the surface. Although extremists posed no direct threat, Weimar still faced opposition from both left and right wing parties who were bidding their time. Even after the uprising of Munich Putsch, Weimer was still stable suggesting that it did overcome the problem it faced with the extremist. The 1928 election had seen a growth in support for parties committed to democracy, with extremist of Left and Right wings doing terribly. There had been no coups since 1923 and by 1929 Germans had 10 years of democratic republican. The parties for Weimer Republic share of the vote went up from 52% in May 1924 to 73% in May 1928. Furthermore, this suggests that by 1929 the Weimer system of government seemed to have become very well established.
Another problem that had an ultimate effect on Weimer Republic was the great agriculture depression which was hit in 1927. Farmers were increasingly hit by falling food prices and were getting into huge debts. From 1928 over a third of farms were running at loss and half of the farms were failing to make a profit. The agriculture slump not only affected the farmers but it also the whole Germans in rural society. Farmers were really angry at the welfare system as it was perceived to be favouring the urban working class and not looking after the working class. Furthermore, the trade policy encouraged the imports of foreign goods instead of encouraging foods to be grown with in Germany. By not dealing with this problem swiftly, massive peasant protest broke out in Schleswig-Holstein and Oldenburg during 1928-1929 where the public officials were under attacked. This was effectively exploited by the NSDAP.
So, I conclude by saying Weimar only managed to resolve it problem to a small extent as Weimar republic did manage to get out of most problems it faced but overall it was not to the extinct where The Weimar Republic would have developed into a grand stable parliamentary system as it had too many problems just trailing underneath the surface which was there to haunt each move it made. But however one has take in account that Weimar was successful for it did bail Germany out of Treaty of Versailles and the democracy of Germany could have flourished as it had maintain to keep the extremist coming to the power till 1920s if it was not for so many problems which occurred to hinder the succession of Weimar Republic.
by
asterisc (student)
