"The Improved International Standing in Germany (1924-29) was the most Important consequence of the Ruhr Crisis" How far do you agree with this statement?

“THE IMPROVED INTERNATIONAL STANDING IN GERMANY (1924-29) WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT CONSEQUENCE OF THE RUHR CRISIS”

How far do you agree with this statement?

This piece of writing will consider the importance of the consequences derived from the Ruhr Crisis. It will be divided into two sections: An assessment of the improvements Stressemann carried out from 1924 to 1929 followed by an assessment of the other consequences of the crisis.

The German international standing involved two main aspects: economic and diplomatic. The most important economic fact was the end of the Ruhr Crisis. The French and Belgium troops had to leave and this allowed an economic recovery and led hyperinflation to an end. Under the new circumstances a new and stronger currency was created. It was called the Renthen Mark.

Stressemann said reparations would be paid, so this gave them some time and Germany was calm again. To avert a terrible economic crisis the Dawe´s Plan in 1924 was made, restructuring the loan. Stressemann´s monetary cycle helped the debt restructuring and it was based in U.S.A. lending money to Germany helping them pay their reparations bill. Germany (with this money) paid reparations to France and the U.K. and finally they paid their war loan to U.S.A.

During the next five years, with the Young Plan, it was restructured again by reducing Germany’s reparation payments. All of this was very effective because by 1926 Germans had the best standard of living in Europe. Most of iron and steel in Europe was produced in the Ruhr Valley at Germany in 1925. This showed Germany had a very productive society.

There was a small story in Germany. It was about a man who went to a bakery for some bread. He had money inside his wheel barrow, and as it couldn’t fit the bakery door, he had to ...

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There was a small story in Germany. It was about a man who went to a bakery for some bread. He had money inside his wheel barrow, and as it couldn’t fit the bakery door, he had to leave it outside. His wheel barrow was stolen and the money that was inside it, was left there. This story represents that from a dreadful crisis a flowering era took place.

The diplomatic improvements Stressemann made in his years started with the Locarno agreements in 1925. This agreement gave more strength to the treaty, brought up the people’s moral and finally they were accepted in the League of Nations. Germany accepted Rhineland would remain a demilitarised zone.

These agreements seemed to resolve some of the problems left over from the First World War. The Kellog-Briand pact in 1928 was based on mutual defence. This diplomatic improvements were also very effective because Germany was no longer seen as an enemy.

As a result, it helped to get the economic support needed.

The progress made from the ’24-’29 was good although it caused some economic and diplomatic problems. As this essay showed before with the Stresemann’s monetary cycle, Germany depended on the U.S. loans. Even Stressemann, in 1929, said: “Germany is dancing on an edge of a volcano”. Money was borrowed short but invested long. Likewise, no agreements on eastern borders showed big unhappiness for example with Poland.

Some years before with the Rapallo Treaty, Russia and Germany re-established diplomatic relations. The army felt uncomfortable with the restrictions and, as a result, they had to disobey.

This five year period was important but not lasting, or at least as it could be. It was not long enough because progress made during these years was good, but not enough to avoid all of the problems shown in this piece of writing. For example, one of those problems made this years not as efficient as they could be, was Germany depending on the U.S. It is clear that the U.S. played an important role in Germany’s recovery.

Although this lapse of time “helped” Germany, it was not enough to get another source of money for the reparations one had to pay to France and the U.K. If Stressemann would have find another source, Germany wouldn’t have passed through a dreadful crisis again.

In 1929 the German economy went down because of the Wall Street Crash in the U.S.A. This was Stressemann’s mistake as he did not find any other way to pay reparations to France and the UK. Germany could not pay, so a political and economical crisis came.

The Ruhr crisis in 1923 had badly hit confidence of the middle class in Germany. The people lost their hope and faith in Gustav because of the hyper inflation and because all of them lost their life savings. In 1929 people voted for extremists parties or nationalists like Adolf Hitler who was a dictator. The loss of the hope for the moderate parties led to increase support for the extremists.

Then, in came the Nazis. The growth of the Nazi seats at the end of the 20’s and at the beginning of the 30’s increased amazingly. In an election made in1928 Nazis only had 10 seats but 4 years later it would have 20 times as much as what it had before. Unemployment decreased only until the Nazis gained their power. Reichstag was the Nazis biggest party. At that moment was when Hitler became a chancellor in 1923.

Hitler in 1933 destroys democracy and starts preparing Germany for World War two. This battle killed millions so we can therefore conclude that the rise of the Nazis to power was a much more important consequence of the Ruhr Crisis.

This essay has sort to show that after 1929 improvements disappeared. The Wall Street Crash and the rise of Hitler gained middle class support. Approximately thirty five million Jewish people died during Hitler’s time.