The Stresemann Years

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The Stresemann Years

• What happened to the Nazis from 24-29?
• How did Germany recover from the chaos of the
  early 1920s?

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The Stresemann Years (1924-9)
The Stresemann Years were named after the
politician Gustav Stresemann who was Reich
Chancellor in 1923 and Foreign Minister from
1924-9. The weaknesses of the Weimar Republic
continued during this period, but due to
Stresemanns diplomacy, Germanys situation was
improved. In 1924, Stresemann became Germanys
Foreign Minister. His first success was to draw
up the Dawes Plan in agreement with Britain,
France and the USA. This allowed Germany to pay
what she could actually afford in reparations. As
Germany was now paying reparations again, foreign
businessmen became more willing to invest money
to help Germany build up her economy. Over the
next 5 years, Germany was lent 25,000 million
gold marks. This allowed the building of new
factories, houses and machinery. It also meant
there were more jobs available.
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Stresemanns Foreign Policy
Stresemanns key aims were for better relations
with France and a revision of the Versailles
Treaty. On 1 December 1925, the Locarno Treaties
were signed with France. These guaranteed the
Franco-German and Belgium-German borders, and
agreed not to use force to alter them in the
future. Stresemann also managed to gain a
guarantee from France that they would not attack
Germany in the event of a war with Poland in
which Germany was not the aggressor. These talks
that Stresemann undertook with the Allies built
confidence between the two sides. This meant that
despite not leaving the Rhine on January 10 1925,
as agreed at the Treaty of Versailles, Allied
troops did start to leave towards the end of the
year. It also meant that on 8 September 1926,
Germany was admitted to the League of
Nations. Relations continued to improve, and in
January 1927 the Inter-Allied Military
Commission, which oversaw German disarmament, was
removed.
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Germany and the Great Depression
Just before his death in 1929, Stresemann said
the following The economic position is only
flourishing on the surface. Germany is in fact
dancing on a volcano. If the short-term credits
are called in, a large section of our economy
will collapse What did he mean? Germany had
been lent a lot of money to help rebuild the
economy. Normally lenders were happy to renew
loans when they were due. Unfortunately, this
wasnt the case in October 1929. The value of
shares sold on the Wall Street Stock Exchange
collapsed the Wall Street Crash. USA bankers
and businessmen started recalling their loans.
The result was economic disaster for Germany.
Companies throughout the country went bankrupt
over night, workers were sacked, poverty gripped
the nation again.
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Unemployment During the Weimar Republic
Percentage of the Labour Force Unemployed

• ? What does this graph tell you about the state
  of Germany by the 1930s?
• Why do you think Hitlers promise of work was
  calculated to get him votes?

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The Government
Governments during the Weimar Republic rarely
lasted a year. There were 7 key parties and
several smaller parties. Votes were usually
scattered amongst them, with no one party getting
a true majority. This meant that the government
was run by coalitions (two parties agreeing to
work together in order to hold a majority).
Unfortunately, these rarely agreed with each
other for long, and so new elections had to be
called to try and secure a better representation.
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Seats Won in Reichstag Elections
Number of Seats

• ? In what ways does this graph illustrate the
  problems of government under the Weimar Republic?
• Explain the large increase in Nazi representation
  in the Reichstag between 1928 and 1930.
• Why did the Communist Party also increase their
  seats?

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Failure of the Weimar Republic
Germany was used to strong leadership and had
been a powerful nation. ? Using the knowledge
you have gained from this presentation explain
why the Weimar Republic was doomed to failure.
Include the following headings in your
report Economy Employment Political
Parties Treaty of Versailles