Stresemann and the road to recovery

Gustav Stresemann was a German statesman; staunch monarchist and militarist during World War I, he gradually became a republican after the revolution and became Chancellor of Germany in 1923. He was only Chancellor for a few months before he became the foreign minister a role that he kept until his death six years later in 1929. When Gustav Stresemann took over as foreign minister Germany was in a desperate. There was much unrest from after Germany had lost World War One and support for the Weimar government had dropped to an all time low. In 1919 there were massive riots and rebellions as the communists try to take control of Germany in the Spartastic Revolt, but this failed. In 1920 right-wing Freikorps took part in the Kapp Putsch, they took over Berlin and formed another government, but the workers staged a general revolt and the Freikorps eventually gave up. In 1922 Walter Rathenau (the foreign minister) was assonated by Anti-Semitics, much of Germany was now anti-Jewish (Anti-Semitic) this eventually gave Stresemann his chance as foreign minister. By 1923, the year the Stresemann became Chancellor, Germany could no longer afford to pay the reparations to France and Belgium for their acts in World War One. France and Belgium therefore invaded the Ruhr an industrial hot spot and took resources of the equivalent of the reparations. Germany was infuriated and told the workers in the Ruhr to strike. But Germany couldn’t re-invade the Ruhr because they didn’t have an army after the treaty of Versailles was signed. German industry was devastated by what happened in the Ruhr, this plunged the economy into hyperinflation. Germany was now officially in a depression. Later in 1923 the was another rebellion in an attempt to seize control of the country this time it was the Nazis but they failed in what was called the Munich Putsch. This was when Gustav Stresemann was appointed Chancellor.

This is a preview of the whole essay

One of Gustav Stresemann’s first acts after being appointed Chancellor was to introduce a new currency called the Rentenmark, this was much more stable than the previous Reichmark. He then ordered the German workers who had been on strike in the Ruhr to return to work, this made him very unpopular as it was seen as a sign of weakness much like the surrender in World War One. Gustav Stresemann also managed to increase the production of goods, for example; Coal and steel production more than doubled between 1923and 1927. Germany began to export even more goods after 1923 and unemployment fell dramatically after 1923 all these helped Germany on the road to recovery from the depression. In 1924 Stresemann introduced the Dawes Plan. The Dawes Plan was designed so that America would lend Germany money with limited interest, this would then enable Germany to pay the reparations to France and Belgium. France would then be able to pay back their debts to America and every body would get their money. The Dawes plan restored confidence in the German economy so foreign investors would start investing in Germany again and more businesses would open, giving more jobs to people and therefore helping to solve the depression. In 1929 Germany and other countries signed the young plan. The young plan extended the deadline for reparation payments by a further 59 years. Stresemann had now successfully taken Germany out of depression. Germany was more stable than at ay time before 1919 and the Weimar Republic was safe from the dangers of extreme groups like the Nazis and Communists. But Stresemann’s plans were not perfect. Despite the seeming prosperity of Germany, the economy was still dependant on US loans. The economy wasn’t quite as prosperous as it had seemed, industrial growth slowed after 1927 ad unemployment started to rise again from two to three million in 1928-1929.

Foreign countries around the globe were in full support of Stresemann and Germany regaining its prosperity, they began to see Germany as an equal once more and decided that if Germany’s economy became successful again it would provide valuable money from exported and imported goods. They did not view Germany as a threat as they weren’t allowed to build an army and in 1925 Gustav Stresemann signed the Locarno Treaty with its neighbouring countries. The Locarno Treaty stated that Germany would not try to increase their borders into other countries, i.e. by war. By 1926 Germany was part of the League of Nations and in 1928 they signed the Kellog-Briand pact along with over 60 other countries agreeing not to go to war against each other.

Gustav Stresemann was the Weimar governments ‘trump card’, the public liked Stresemann despite early unrest after he ordered the German workers in the Ruhr to go back to work. They supported the Young Plan and were extremely happy to see the benefits of the Dawes Plan. The fact that the economy was generally rising and some hopefuls thought they were heading for an economic boom, made the public support the Weimar Government even more and all the problems of the early 1920’s were quickly forgotten.

Germany generally had a good social atmosphere after Stresemann had worked his magic. But the only fault was that the Weimar Government allowed the people too much freedom this led to too many people having low moral standards.

In conclusion Gustav Stresemann was an integral part of Germanys recovery from depression to prosperity, his ingenuity helped millions of people across Germany and in other countries get there lives back to normal after the First World War. Although it was a tragedy that he died in 1929, it was not solely his death that contributed to the fall of the economy after 1929, but if he had been around maybe history would have been written completely different. But is premature death did not mean he went unrewarded he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1929 just months before his death.

Robert Brain 10:O Page of