HOW FAR DID GERMANY RECOVER UNDER STRESSEMAN

History essay

How far did Germany recover under Stresemann?

Before 1923 the Weimar republic faced many crisis. But the next six years after 1923 in Germany was the period of prosperity it is also known as the golden age of the Weimar republic. Gustav Stresemann had a lot of influence over Germany in the period 1923-1929. He became a chancellor in 1923 for a short period and became a foreign minister from 1923-1929. As a chancellor he introduced the new currency known as the rentenmark, to replace the old worthless marks. He ordered the striking workers in the Ruhr back to work he also solved many other problems in Germany which I will mention further in my essay.

First I will examine how successful Stresemann was in helping the Weimar republic to overcome the economic and social problems which they faced. Firstly he stopped hyperinflation. He did this by introducing the new currency known as the rentenmark, to replace the old worthless marks. Secondly he did the Dawes plan which was to make Germany richer and pay France their debt. He did this by taking a loan of 800 million gold marks from USA. He did this so the Germans could use this money to build new factories that would produce more jobs and goods, which would raise the standard of living for the German people. He stopped the workers from striking and sent them back to work. Overall I think that Stresemann was a success because he did solve the social and economic problems in Germany. The advantages are that Germany became more stable and more goods were produced. Although there were disadvantages such as Germany became too dependant on USA. Germany would have to pay USA back whenever they would demand.

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Now I will evaluate how far he improved the political situation in Germany. He did this by sorting out the problems in Germany like stopping hyperinflation; he made workers go back to work and produce more goods. Stresemann made people happier and feel more secure. He made the Weimar republic more popular and people supported them more than the right and left wingers. In 1923-1924 the right and left wing had fewer supporters because people lost interest in them. During this period people thought that the right and left wingers had disappeared but actual fact they were planning secretly. As we find out hat the right wing extremist who were Hitler and the nazi’s. Hitler had started to make an army of his own known as the SA (brown shirted). Overall I think Stresemann did make the Weimar republic popular and stop violence from the right and left wing extremist.

I shall now assess the extent to which he improved Germany’s relation with other countries. He did this by becoming a chancellor in 1923 and in 1924 he carried out the Dawes plan. This made Germany more stable due to which in 1925 Germany signed the Locarno pact which was not to change borders with France. In 1926 Germany was allowed to join the nation league and in 1926. In 1928 signed the Kellogg Briand pact with over 60 other countries. This meant that they would never go to war with each other. Overall I think that Germany became more stable and popular which is why they were able to joint the nation league.

Lastly I will decide how far Stresemann improved the cultural life of Germany. Firstly Berlin became famous for its art and also the pleasure capital in Europe. In Berlin there was very little censorship soothe artist could draw what they wanted to. In Berlin there were more night clubs and more entertainment than there was in Paris. Overall I think Stresemann did help the cultural problems and art grew all around Berlin. There were more tourists coming to see the art. This allowed German’s more freedom and made them feel patriotic after world war and the treaty of Versailles. The disadvantage was that old people thought all these night clubs took away the traditional Germany and replaced it with the modern Germany.

Overall to conclude I think Stresemann was a great success because he did solve the problems in Germany. He stopped hyperinflation; he carried out the dawes plan and made Germany richer although by loaning 800 million golden marks it made Germany too dependant on USA which was a weakness for Germany. Stresemann made the striking workers go back to work and built new factories to produce more goods such as coal. In 1929 Stresemann carried out the young plan which extended their deadline of paying reparations of 25,350,000,000 to France over a period of 59 years. He also improved the political situation by solving other problems in Germany made people support the Weimar republic. He did this by making people happier and fell ore secure although the disadvantage is that the right and left wingers were still around and could take power anytime as they were planning secretly. He improved the international relationship of Germany with other countries. In 1925 Germany signed the Locarno pact which was not to change borders with France. In 1926 Germany was allowed to join the nation league and in 1926. In 1928 signed the Kellogg Briand pact with over 60 other countries. This meant that they would never go to war with each other. He did improve the cultural as well by making Berlin famous for its art and clubs. This made more tourists come to Berlin most people were happy although some old people thought all these night clubs took away the traditional Germany and replaced it with the modern Germany. Stresemann did make Germany more stable and did solve the problems in the short term but not in the long term.

Naeema Jinwala