The fall of the Wiemar Republic essays

The fall of the Wiemar Republic essays The Weimar republic was never without some weaknesses, in the early years the republic was marked by economic crisis in the shape of inflation and hyperinflation, which led to declining living standards and obliterated the small savings of many Germans, leading to resentment of the new political order from the very beginning. The second half of the 1920s is often seen as a period of prosperity for Weimar and good years for many Germans. A measure of relief from the burdens of the Versailles Treaty came in 1924 with the Dawes Plan (and furthermore, later with the Young Plan, 1929), which eased the rate at which Germans reparations were to be made and led to an influx of foreign capital, which greatly contributed to the prosperity of Germany during this period. The German industry was re-equipped and capital assets were rebuilt. This created more jobs and more homes than any time since 1914. However the Young plan was also the target of considerable hostility from the German right as they regarded it as capitulation to the Allies. Many Germans supported what the Government was doing at this time so they stopped listening to the extreme ideas of Nazis and Communists and voted instead for more moderate parties. As long as times were good for Germany, the extreme parties did badly in elections. This period between 1924-29 commonly became known as the Stresemann era- named after the dominant political figure of this time. However before his death Stresemann himself warned Germany not to take anything for granted as they were relying to heavily on foreign loans- Germany prospered only as long as the foreign aid flowed. He said: 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 would collapse. Stresemann was in fact correct in his prediction, with the Wall Street crash obliterating the German Bankin...