Weimar successes Germany 1923 to 1929

Aims of this lesson By the end of this lesson you will Understand how and why the Weimar Republic had a series of successes between 1923 and 1929 Evaluate the role of Gustav Stresemann in these successes Understand that these successes were built on sand

1923 – the story so far In 1923 the German economy collapsed Businesses collapsed and unemployment reached epidemic levels The Weimar government tried to overcome this by printing more money – this led to hyper inflation and money became worthless People were carrying home their wages in wheelbarrows – the government seemed unable to do anything to help their people

Your task We are going to look at the successes of the Weimar Republic between 1923 and 1929 and to produce a mind map to show these. We will look at Gustav Stresemann The Locarno Treaty The Dawes Plan The Young Plan The League of Nations Problems that still existed

Gustav Stresemann (1) Belonged to the Catholic Centre Party – acceptable to both right and left A very able politician – could bring everyone together Became Chancellor for only six months in 1923 – his main task was to introduce a new currency in order to restore confidence

Gustav Stresemann (2) His real interest was in foreign policy – his real successes were in making Germany accepted as an equal on the world stage He died in October 1929 – just one month before the Wall Street Crash when his country needed him most

The Dawes Plan The USA gave Germany £ to invest in her economy in order to recover The Germans used it to pay off reparations and to invest in industry This allowed the German economy to recover quickly after 1923 The problem was that it had to be paid back whenever the Americans needed it and they charged interest

The Young Plan This was a final settlement to the issue of reparations Allowed Germany to pay in instalments up to 1988 Allowed Germany to pay back some of the money that she owed whilst allowing her to recover Scuppered by the world depression after 1929

The Locarno Treaty of 1925 Signed with France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Luxemburg and Switzerland Germany agreed her western borders – showed acceptance of Versailles But it did not guarantee her eastern borders with Poland, Austria and Czechoslovakia – she still disputed these.

Germany joins the League of Nations Set up in 1919 in order to stop wars occurring again Aimed to promote peace by taking as opposed to fighting Similar to the United Nations The USA had refused to join event though she had thought up the idea Germany was banned for causing World War One

Germany joins the League of Nations In 1926 Stresemann persuaded the LoN to let her join as a full member Germany also became a member of the council This changed her status from a defeated enemy to an integral part of the International community Stresemann’s greatest success

Built on sand These were real successes but they were built on sand The economy was built on American money – if the US economy collapsed so did Germany's The rich got very rich whilst the poor only got less poor Unemployment was still a problem and vast sums were spent on the dole

There were still serious political problems – no party could win a majority in parliament The Nazis and Communists were getting more popular – as a result the government could not function properly In 1925 Hindenburg won the Presidency – and he did not believe in Democracy.