DEPTH STUDY GERMANY: ACHIEVEMENTS AND PROBLEMS DURING THE WEIMAR PERIOD

1. DEPTH STUDY
GERMANY
ACHIEVEMENTS AND
PROBLEMS DURING
THE WEIMAR PERIOD
4

2. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
BACKGROUND
• Between 1923 and 1929 Germany under the Weimar
Republic experienced a golden age.
• The leading politician Gustav Stresemann helped secure
American loans to rebuild the economy, and international
agreements that helped rebuild Germany's place amongst
the leading nations of the world.
• Stresemann years were considered a golden age.

3. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
1923 – ON THE VERGE OF COLLAPSE
• In 1923, the Weimar Republic was on the verge of collapse,
but, surprisingly, the crisis was the start of a period of
stability and success.
• The period 1923-1929 was a time when the economy
boomed and cultural life flourished in Germany.
• It is known as the Golden Age of Weimar.
• This dramatic turnabout happened because Germany was
saved by two people, Gustav Stresemann and Charles
Dawes.

4. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
WHO WAS STRESEMANN?
• Gustav Stresemann, a nationalist politician, realised that
something needed to be done to save Germany.
• He was the most important politician between 1923 and
1929, however he only survived as Chancellor of a coalition
government for a few months.
• He was a leading member of every government from 1923-
1929 and his main role was as Foreign Minister.

5. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
THE GREAT COALITION
• His first action in 1923 was to organise the Great Coalition
of moderate, pro-democracy parties in the Reichstag.
• At last, Germany had a government that could make laws.
• Under Stresemann's guidance, the government called off
the strike, persuaded the French to leave the Ruhr and
changed the currency to the Rentenmark which helped
solve hyperinflation.

6. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
REFORMING THE SOCIETY
• Stresemann also introduced reforms to help ordinary
people such as job centres, unemployment pay and better
housing.

7. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
CHARLES DAWES AND HIS PLAN
• Charles Dawes was the US budget director.
• In 1923, he was sent to Europe to sort out Germany's
economy.
• Under his advice, the German Reichsbank was reformed and
the old money was called in and burned.
• This ended the hyperinflation.
• Dawes also arranged the Dawes Plan with Stresemann,
which gave Germany longer to pay reparations.
• Most importantly, Dawes agreed to America lending
Germany 800 million gold marks, which kick-started the
German economy.

8. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
OWEN YOUNG
• Following a lowering of the war reparations after the
Dawes Plan of 1924, further changes to the reparations
came with the Young Plan in 1929.
• The committee that looked at the reparations issue was led
by Owen Young, an American industrialist.
• It was a committee that had been appointed by the Allied
Reparations Committee.
• The final plan was an attempt to support German through
her financial pain.

9. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
YOUNG PLAN
• Payments were reduced by three-quarters.
• The length of time Germany had to pay was extended to 59
years.
• Reparations were reduced to 37,000 million marks.
• A part of the Young Plan designed to support Germany was
the actual requirement of repayment per year.
• Germany had to pay one-third of the amount required each
year as part of a compulsory agreement – about $157
million.
• The other two-thirds only had to be paid if Germany could
afford to do so in a manner that would not harm her
economic development.

10. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb4uqp9zOLQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb4uqp9zOLQ

11. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
SUCCESSES
• The economy improved with falling unemployment, rising
factory production and more confidence.
• There was a rise in number of votes for political parties
supporting democracy and the Weimar Republic.
• The Communists and Nazis did not do well in elections
compared to the parties supporting the Weimar Republic.
• The Nazis had only 12 seats in the Reichstag in 1928.

12. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
PROBLEMS
• Treaty of Versailles was still in place and very harsh on
Germany.
• The Locarno Pact made permanent the land that was lost
under the Treaty of Versailles.
• The number of troops were still limited, therefore Germany
still felt weak and defenceless.
• Germany continued to pay reparations.

13. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
PROBLEMS cont.
• Voters were still suspicious of democracy.
• The Communists were still a potential threat; the Nazis
were rebuilding their party organisation.
• Important organisations in Germany, like the army and
judges, not totally convinced about supporting the Weimar
Republic.
• Germany's economic recovery depended on loans from the
USA under the Dawes plan.
• The politician responsible for Germany’s relative
improvement, Gustav Stresemann, died in 1929.

14. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
THE LOCARNO PACT
• Gustav Stresemann’s broad aim in his foreign policy was to
restore Germany’s power and prosperity.
• He was fully aware that Germany was in no position to
challenge the Allies' military and revise the Treaty of
Versailles by force.
• Instead Stresemann followed a policy of co-operation with
the West and a mixture reconciliation and pressure on the
other powers.

15. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqUvVkfpAhY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqUvVkfpAhY

16. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
ERFULLUNGSPOLITIK – THE POLICY OF
FULLFILMENT
• Stresemann realised that other countries could not afford
to let the German economy collapse completely.
• His strategy was called Erfüllungspolitik (fulfilment) which
meant complying with or fulfilling the terms of Versailles
to improve relations with Britain and France.
• As a part of his policy of fulfilment a series of meetings of
foreign ministers were held.
• The Locarno Pact, also known as The Locarno Treaties, were
discussed at Locarno, Switzerland, on 5–16 October 1925
and officially signed in London on 1 December.
• Germany, Britain, France, Belgium and Italy signed the
Treaty.

17. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
WHAT WAS DECIDED AT LOCARNO?
• Stresemann accepted Germany’s western (not eastern)
borders.
• All countries decided to renounce the use of invasion and
force, except in self-defence.
• The Pact reassured France about its borders and Germany
about any French invasion/occupation, as had happened in
1923.
• Germany also signed arbitration treaties with Poland and
Czechoslovakia renouncing the use of force and promising
to refer any future disputes to an arbitration tribunal or to
the Permanent Court of International Justice.

18. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
IMPACT OF THE PACT
• The Treaties improved the relations between European
countries up until 1930.
• It led to the belief that there would be peaceful settlements
to any disputes in the future.
• This has often been called the spirit of Locarno. This was
further re-enforced when Germany joined the League of
Nations in 1926.
• The Allies left Cologne, which they had occupied, in
December 1925.
• The Nobel Peace Prize was given to the lead negotiators of
the treaty - Chamberlain in 1925 and to Briand and
Stresemann in 1926.

19. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
RELATIONS WITH THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS
• As part of his policy of fulfilment, Gustav Stresemann
wanted to steer Germany into the League of Nations. This
international organisation was set up by the Treaty of
Versailles.
• Entry into the League IN 1926 was needed for the Locarno
Pact to come into operation.
• Germany was given great power status on the Council of
the League as a permanent member and as a result had the
power to veto decisions.
• Due to the military limitations imposed at Versailles,
Germany was allowed to not participate in collective action
by the League against aggressors. Germany used its
position as a permanent member to raise matters of

20. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY

21. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
US INVESTMENT
• Between 1924 and 1930, Germany received 135 long-term
loans totalling $1,430 million.
• $1,293 million came from the USA.
• They also received short-term loans totalling $1,560
million.

22. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
US INVESTMENT cont.
• American loans came direct from the government and from
private investors.
• They were lent to both the German federal and state
governments to raise money for different spending
programmes, such as housing.
• Loans from the US also went to private firms to help them
grow.
• American firms, such as GE and General Motors, invested
directly in Germany. They supported 79 companies and
many factories were built.
• As a result of this investment, Americans received interest
payments on their loans, or bonuses from their
investments.

23. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
WEIMAR CULTURE AND THE DECADENCE
• Despite the trauma of its early years, during its so-called
'Golden Age' Weimar experienced a flourishing culture, in
Berlin especially, that saw developments in architecture, art
and the cinema.
• This expression of culture was greatly helped by the ending
of censorship in the new republic.

24. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
THE IMPORTANCE OF BERLIN
• The Greater Berlin Act of 1920 made Berlin the third largest
city in the world and established it as the centre of German
cultural and intellectual life.
• Many of Germany’s most prominent artists, writers,
academics and performers were based in the city.

25. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
EDUCATION AND INTELLECTUAL LIFE
Berlin was a melting pot of intellectual development.
Weimar Germany became associated with two areas in
particular.
In Science there were towering figures like Max Plank and
Albert Einstein worked in Germany in the 1920s, and Einstein
received his Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921.

26. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTaD3YA5htc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTaD3YA5htc

27. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40yqDWiEr_g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40yqDWiEr_g

28. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
PHILOSOPHY
One of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century,
Martin Heidegger, published his major work Being and Time
in 1927.
The political philosophers Hannah Arendt and Leo Strauss
received their university education in Germany during the
Weimar period.

29. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br1sGrA7XTU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br1sGrA7XTU

30. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
VISUAL ARTS AND BAUHAUS SCHOOL
The most influential visual arts movement in Weimar was
the Bauhaus School, founded by Walter Gropius in the town
of Weimar in 1919.
Bauhaus’ impact on German architecture was limited
because the movement only focused on architecture after
1927 and it was then suppressed by the Nazis in 1933.
After this most of its followers fled abroad, where they
developed their work further. However, Gropius did design
several apartment blocks that are still in use today.

31. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQa4_uVnNVc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQa4_uVnNVc

32. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
DADA MOVEMENT
In fine art, there were two main movements that influenced
German art.
The Dada movement started in Zurich during World War
One.
It was a protest against the traditional conventions of art
and western culture, in which the war had begun.
Its output included photography, sculpture, poetry, painting
and collage. Artists included Marcel Duchamp and Hans Arp.

33. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIwWQoJmoQw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIwWQoJmoQw

34. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
NEW OBJECTIVITY
The New Objectivity movement started in Germany in the
aftermath of World War One.
It challenged its predecessor, Expressionism, which was a
more idealistic and romantic movement.
Artists returned to a more realistic way of painting,
reflecting the harsh reality of war.
Artists included Otto Dix and George Grosz.

35. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyvOI0WJrlM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyvOI0WJrlM

36. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
EXPERIMENTATION
Experimentation in German art came to an end when the
Nazis came to power in 1933.
Hitler rejected modern art as morally corrupt and many of
the best German artists – some of whom were Jewish – fled
abroad.

37. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
MUSIC
Music in Weimar was dominated by three themes:
Modern classical. Composers like Arnold Schoenberg, Kurt
Weill and Alan Berg composed classical pieces and operas.
Jazz. The increasing influence of American culture brought
jazz music to Berlin and Munich, with classical composers
often crossing over into what was known as ‘atonal’ music,
or jazz.
Cabaret. This became popular in Berlin, where young people
could sit around in clubs, drinking and watching musical
performances.

38. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMOJ47Rctno
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMOJ47Rctno

39. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
CINEMA
The German film and cinema industry boomed during the
1920’s. The main features of the industry were as follows:
The economic disruption of the Weimar period produced an
expressionist style in German film-making, with films often
having unrealistic sets and featuring exaggerated acting
techniques.
The shortage of funding gave rise to the Kammerspielfilm
movement, with atmospheric films made on small sets with
low budgets.

40. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
CINEMA cont.
Expressionist film-makers favoured darker storylines and
themes, including horror and crime.
The most prominent film directors of the time were Fritz
Lang and F.W. Murnau.
The most famous films of the period were The Cabinet of
Doctor Caligari (1920), Nosferatu (1922 – based on the
Dracula story), Phantom (1922), The Last Laugh (1924) and
Metropolis (1927).

41. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
REPUTATION FOR DECADENCE
After World War One, Berlin became a place where
behaviour previously thought of as immoral flourished:
- cabarets became known as places where transvestites and
openly gay men and women could visit, despite
homosexuality being illegal at the time
- prostitution, which had grown during World War One,
flourished the city acquired a reputation for drug dealing
organised crime, and gangs called Ringvereine, grew.

42. CAMBRIDGE IGCSE – DEPTH STUDY: GERMANY
REPUTATION FOR DECADENCE
Weimar’s reputation for decadence and excess did not
continue into the Nazi period.
The Nazis disapproved of what they viewed as the immoral
behaviour flourishing in Germany’s cities.
The totalitarian nature of the regime meant that cultural life,
such as the theatre, music and film, came under the control
of Goebbels’ Ministry of Propaganda.
In addition, many of the leading lights of German cultural
and academic life were Jewish, and thus left Germany as the
Nazis began to restrict Jews’ rights.