3. How far had the Weimar republic recovered from its problems by 1928?
In 1918 when the Weimar Republic was first formed, it faced many problems, including both economical and political instability; these were related to the Treaty of Versailles, and its terms. There was political instability, as their Kaiser had abdicated meaning a new constitution needed to be drawn up. The treaty of Versailles needed to be accepted and signed. Economic instability could be seen through unemployment and poverty. Other major situations included the French occupation of the Ruhr, hyperinflation and the Munich Putsch. It was blamed for surrendering to the Allies in 1918 and was associated with defeat by many who believed that Germany should have continued to fight after November 1918. Political extremists such as the Communists (extreme left wing Spartacists, in 1919) and the Nationalists (right wing e.g. the Kapp Putsch, 1920) tried to seize power from the Weimar Republic. The Weimar Republic had to deal with severe economic problems in 1923 during the Ruhr Crisis and after the Wall St. Crash of 1929.
One of the first problems that Weimar faced was the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The politicians of Weimar had no choice but to accept the terms of the Treaty after they had signed the armistice. The German politicians accepted blame for war, reparations, territorial and military losses when they signed. This caused problems for the government as the German people did not want this to happen, and threats from other parties were being received.
Another major issue for the Weimar republic was that it had to draw up a new constitution, as the German Keiser had abdicated; Germany was turned into a democracy. Because of proportional representation no single party ever had a majority in the German Parliament. This meant that all the governments were coalitions put together from several political parties. This led to weak governments as they found it very difficult to agree on policies. This also encouraged the growth of extremist parties such as the Communists because they knew they might be able to gain seats in Parliament, and therefore have a say in the running of the country.
The Weimar Republic suffered from both economic and political instability. Economic instability could be seen through poverty and starvation. The unemployment rate was very high, as jobs were hard to find. Weimar also faced many political problems as threats from both extreme left and right wings were being received. The extreme left wing consisted of the Spartacists and Bavarian Uprising, who wanted Germany to be a communist country. On the opposing side were the Freikorps and the Kapp Putsch, who wanted an absolute dictatorship, where there would be a Keiser.
The Treaty of Versailles had ordered that Germany pay reparations of £6.6 million. The Germans paid the first instalment of this bill in 1921 but then failed to pay their second instalment. The French were infuriated as they required the payment and invaded the Ruhr which was rich industrial area belonging to Germany, to take what they were owed by force. The invasion began in January, French soldiers moved into the Ruhr taking over the industry. The German government could not take military action because of cuts in its armed forces, so they ordered the German people of the Ruhr to carry out passive resistance against the invaders, otherwise known as a strike. This crippled the government as it caused major economic problems. In result to this, the government decided to print off more money in hope that the financial situation would be resolved. However this idea backfired and money became worthless. Prices increased rapidly leading, spiralling out of control leading to hyperinflation.
One of the effects of hyperinflation was the Munich Putsch. This was a short-lived rebellion started by Nazi party leader Adolf Hitler, which began in Munich on November 8, 1923. Hitler planned to make Erich Ludendorff a dictator. He kidnapped the leader of the Bavarian government, declared a revolution, and the next day marched on Munich. Police crushed the rebellion, shot 16 of the 3,000 Nazi party demonstrators dead, and arrested Hitler, who served nine months in prison. Hitler used his time in Landsberg prison to write ‘Mein Kampf’ which meant my struggle. This set out Hitler’s beliefs for the future of Germany and many people read it and were fooled by its false promises.
By 1924 all the uprisings had stopped, and the Weimar stopped receiving threats from other political parties. It had resolved many of its situations concerning its economic and political problems. The Weimar Republic survived through the economic crisis, because of the new chancellor Gustav Stresemann. He dominated German politics and helped stabilize the country. In 1924 Gustav Stresemann found a way which made it easier for Germany to pay reparations through the Dawes Plan. The USA agreed to lend money to Germany. Germany used this money to pay reparations to France. France used reparations money to pay back the USA, what they had borrowed to fight the First World War. So all the countries benefited in some way. He also invested some of the money in industry, resulting in Germany’s financial and economic situations under control. He called of the strikes, and the French moved out of the Ruhr. Any plan he carried out was to bring in new currency in order to solve the economic problems. He introduced a new currency called the Rentenmark, and destroyed the old mark. This restored confidence back into Germany, and things slowly become better.
There was evidence that the Weimar Republic had recovered, this could be seen through the period of Prosperity, which lasted from 1924 to 1929. There was a lot of cultural revival, where artists, writers and poets flourished. Business boomed and industry was doing incredibly well. There was economic and political stability, as there were no threats from other political parties. There were lots of jobs, and people received higher and disposable wages, meaning they had more money to spend on their social lives. Eventually Germany had been invited to join the League of Nations in 1926. Germany seemed to have had recovered well from its previous problems, its threats had been crushed, loans had been taken out and all problems were effectively sorted.
In conclusion to this, we can see that Germany had recovered to some extent. As it had resolved its economy and political stability, as well as restore its confidence back. However there is an argument that the country went through false prosperity, as it was based on American loans. Even though the country had recovered by 1928 there were futher problems just round the corner, including the Wolf Street Crash, which lead to a worldwide depression and masses of job losses.
