WWII History Revision Notes. How far did the Weimar Republic Recover between 1924-1928.

Authors Avatar by arunt23 (student)

History Revision Notes (From Weimar Recovery Onwards)

How far did the Weimar Republic Recover between 1924-1928:

Improved Foreign Policy, Political Problems and the Economy

  • Foreign Policy:
  • 1925, Chancellor Stresemann signed the Locarno treaties with which guaranteed German frontiers with Belgium, and France.  
  • 1926, Stresemann took Germany into the League of Nations and therefore, Germany became recognized as a world great power once again
  • 1929, the Young Plan produced a final agreement on the yearly reparations and therefore Allies moved out of the Rhineland

BUT: the disadvantage was that the Locarno treaties did not guarantee Germany’s Eastern borders.

  • Political Problems: More stable governments between 1924-1929
  • After the 1928 elections the Social Democrats formed a coalition with other parties in the Republic. Therefore the Social Democrats finally gained the support of the middle classes who had been weary of the Social Democrats before.

BUT: Nationalists opposed Stresemann’s policies, as they wanted to destroy the Treaty of Versailles and not just revise it.

Communists and Nazis wanted to overthrow the Weimar Republic entirely. Also, in 1925, Hindenburg was elected President of the Weimar Republic and he disliked the Weimar Republic.

  • Economy:
  • 1924, Dawes Plan- America lent Germany 800 million marks to invest in commerce and the economy in loans. And the economy began to recover.
  • In 1928, Industrial production was greater than before World War I

BUT: Unemployment had been a major negative aspect to the recovery due to Germany’s rising population. In 1929, 14% of the working population was unemployed. Also, America’s economy was dependant on loans that could be withdrawn at any time! (and which were, see later)

Weimar Culture:

It became a cultural centre in Europe. Strict Pre-war censorship was removed (i.e. woman became more independent, began to smoke and drink socially, wear miniskirts etc). BUT: this is the reason why Nationalist and Right-wingers hated the Weimar Republic and its culture it embraced because it undermined traditional German values.

Painting:

  • Artists depicted everyday life which they had not done so before the War. They depicted people as being ordinary and part of society.  

Cinema:

  • Golden age for German Cinema with the most technically advanced films in the 1920’s.

Architecture:

  • A group of architects and designers called the Bauhaus were most prominent. They designed many great things and their design was different to the elaborate style of the Pre War era. 

Nightlife:

  • Vibrant Nightlife and club scene. People were more adventurous unlike before the war had happened.

Theatre:

  • Theatre shows were also a large part of Weimar culture.

How the Nazis Benefitted other than the Crisis faced by the Weimar Republic in 1923:

1923: Stresemann called off Passive resistance, which led to the Munich Putsch, which stirred up hate against the Weimar Republic.

1924: During the recovery of the Weimar Republic, Hitler adopted a democratic policy as he realized he could not gain power by use of violence.

1929: The Wall street crash which then led to the great depression in 1932 meant people felt a change was necessary for Germany (i.e. jobs, etc)

Continuation from Notes in Book: Was the Munich Putsch a Success or a Failure?

 

Failure:

  • They did not overthrow the Reichstag (Weimar Republic) in which that was their main aim
  • Hitler and Ludendorff arrested shortly after the Putsch.
  • The Putsch was easily crushed by the army.
  • The Nazis did not anticipate that the army would support the Weimar government because the army was traditionally right wing. However, the Weimar republic did a deal with the army, allowing them to crush left wing communist uprisings in Farangia. The army therefore cooperated with the Government and crushed the Putsch.  

Success:

  • Because Hitler went to prison, people saw him as a determined fighter and a strong leader  Nazi membership increased
  • He became a national figure and therefore people began to hear of the Nazi party, which was one of Hitler’s aims to make the Nazi party bigger than just a small party in Bavaria.
  • He made powerful speeches about his ideas and he wrote Mein Kampf (My struggle) which was his book that sold well  
  • It gave the Nazi party 16 martyrs to refer back to; it was like a sacrifice.

Why it failed? :

  • Hitler released Von Kahr (Bavarian Prime minister)
  • Von Kahr called for police and army reinforcements and Hitler had no support from the army because of the Weimar republics deal with them.

How Hitler Changed the Nazi Party between 1924-1928?

Membership of the Nazi Party Increased:

  • After the failure of the Munich Putsch, Hitler was certain that he could not gain power by overthrowing the Reichstag using violence, so he adopted democratic means  (Tactics of Legality) ∴ Nazi party membership increased.

BUT, they lost out on elections because the Weimar Republic was recovering during this time  Votes for the Social democrats were much higher than the Nazis.

Fuhrerprinzip:

  • This was called the ‘Leader Principle’. Hitler therefore gained total authority of the Nazi Party and members of the Nazi party had to follow any order given  Hitler introduced discipline into the Nazi party

Driving for Working Support:

  • This came under their Socialist aims. They maintained and increased the Anti-Semitic propaganda, as this was most appealing to the working classes who were the Nazis top priority to get the support of.

The use of Public Meetings and Trained Speakers:

  • The Nazi party was the only party in Germany to run classes for their members to train them in public speaking skills. This was helpful for use in parliament and to communicate with the public.

Party Re-Organistation:

Hitler re-organized the party by adding special sections to the party. He also re-launched a rally after the ban on the Nazi Party was lifted in 1925  the party became more effective in elections

Why Hitler’s made little change until 1929?

Because the Weimar republic began to recover Economically (Dawes plan, Young plan), Socially (Votes for the social democrats were much higher than the Nazi party), Diplomatically (Foreign Policy) and Politically (Formed a coalition with other middle class parties in the Reichstag).

BUT, after the Wallstreet Crash in 1929, Nazi popularity increased substantially the votes for the Nazi party increased as people wanted to get rid of the Weimar Republic as they felt it was time for a change  This helped Hitler to gain power.

What was Life like in the Great Depression?

Businessmen:

  • Many businesses closed. If the business survived, the income fell and the Government raised taxes to help pay for the increasing numbers of poor people.

Young people:

  • In 1933, half of Germans aged between 16-30 were unemployed. Unemployment benefit was also extremely low because the government cut it to again save money.
Join now!

Factory Workers:

  • In 1932, 40% of factory workers were unemployed and living off the low unemployment benefit.

Farmers:

  • They did not do well in the 1920’s but in the 1930’s they did even worse as prices fell

How did the Depression Weaken the Weimar Republic?

  1. Unpopular Economic Policies:
  • The Weimar Government did not want to print money and increase Government expenditure (give people jobs so they pay tax etc) because they were afraid of the effects of Hyperinflation in 1923. They therefore, cut wages ...

This is a preview of the whole essay