What problems faced any post war German government and which was the most important
What problems faced any post war German government and which was the most important?
Towards late September it was evident to the German officials that the war was coming to an end for Germany as it physically lacked the strength to continue, aided by the fact America had joined forces with the Allies. Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg and General Erich Ludendorff, told Kaiser Wilhelm I that the war was lost and that negotiations for an armistice should begin immediately, These martial leaders were now determined that the blame for a lost war should be placed squarely on the shoulders of the majority parties in the Reichstag rather than on the military. By doing this they also dumped the war-stricken nation’s military, social, economic and political crises on to these frankly inexperienced politicians.
One of the first major problems the government had to deal with after the war was the issue of inflation. This was due to the war being financed by printing extra money and borrowing. Between 1913 and 1918 the mark lost 75% of its value. This also had a knock on effect on the ordinary German as the prices of food and provisions rose accordingly. However hard the German people worked, their money was almost meaningless in comparison to before the war. This meant people could not afford such delicacies as meat, fish, tobacco… Germany’s well reputable meat consumption fell to just 12% of what it had been pre-war. However due to the Allie’s naval blockade, Germany suffered major food and oil shortages, making any available of extreme value, which the average German worker simply could not afford. With this came an imminent outbreak of disease, including hypothermia, flu and influenza, which allegedly killed more in the year or two after the war than the four years of fighting did. In 1916 it is believed that 121,000 Germans died from a combination of hypothermia and starvation and in 1918, 293,000.
