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Government and opposition, 1924-29 - Coggle Diagram
Government and opposition, 1924-29
The impact of the Ruhr invasion
Causes of inflation
policy of passive resistance by Cuno was unsuccessful and expensive
contributed to collapse of mark
loss of tax revenues and export earnings from Ruhr
shortages of materials pushed up prices
The leadership of Stresemann
Chronology
August 1923 - Stresemann Chancellor
Sep 1923 - passive resistance called off
Nov 1923 - Munich Putsch fail, Rentenmark introduced & inflation curbed, Stressman gov falls but remains as foreign minister.
April 1924 - Dawes Plan reorganises reparations in Germany's favour
October 1925 - Locarno Conference; Germany accepts the Western borders
April 1926 - Treaty of Berlin with USSR extends Rapallo pact of 1922
September 1926 - Germany joins League of Nations
June 1929 - Young Plan eases reparations, but is hated by many Germans
Dawes Plan 1924
scaled down reparations payments & arranged American loans
DNVP and smaller right wing groups bitterly attacked policy of compromise
allowed recommencement of reparation payments = French evacuation of Ruhr in 1924-25
Locarno treaties 1925
Germany promised to respect Western frontier and keep troops out of Rhineland
avoided similar commitment with Eastern frontier
1926 - awarded Nobel Peace prize.
Acceptance into League of Nations 1926
permanent member of council
could air Germany's grievances - e.g German minorities under foreign rule and the failure of other nations to copy German disarmament
1928 Kellogg-Briand Pact
condemned recourse to war as means of solving international disputes
signed as equal among 64 other states
Young Plan August 1929
reduced total reparations bill by 75%
lessened the annual payments
opposed by nationalist groups (e.g Alfred Hugenburg of DNVP) who forced referendum in Dec 1929. Right wing lost by 14% of votes
provided Hitler with propagandist opportunity
Governmental change and opposition
Key events
May 1924 election
- extremism from left and right declined. Overall support for pro-republican parties
December 1924 election
- moderate parties improve position, extremists less well
(KPD falls from 62 to 45 seats, Nazis fall from 32 to 14 seats.)
Feb 1925
- President Ebert dies
April 1925
- Hindenburg elected President
1928 elections
- moderate parties make gains in elections
SPD 131 seats Dec 1924, 153 seats May 1928
3rd October 1929
- Stresemann dies
29th October 1929
- wall street crash
Hindenburg as President 1925
strongly conservative, nationalist views
disliked democracy, intolerant of cultural 'modernism' of the Weimar years
gave Republic an air of respectability that helped to reconcile some of those on the right with acceptance of the regime
Political developments 1925-29
Jan 1925 -
DNVP
began to work with Republic rather than against it = prospect of greater stability
1929 voted for renewal of 1922 law banning ex-Kaiser from ever returning to Germany
High turnover of governments - six different coalition govs between Nov 1923 and June 1928. Politics more dominated by right
Zentrum
split between left and right wing
SPD
single largest party
did not serve in any government Nov 1923-28
poorly led, and leaning more left.
Extremist groups
performed poorly in polls
Nazi party
1928 - only 2.6% of vote and 12 Reichstag seats
speaking law on Hitler removed
party allowed to reform after 1925
Annual party rallies Weimar 1926, Nuremburg 1927
Anti-Young Campaign 1929
Communists
'Red Fighting League' July 1924. Clashed with SA
1928 - 54 seats in Reichstag
'Grand Coalition' 1928
SPD, Zentrum, DVP, DDP
constant disagreements between DVP/DDP and SPD
led my Hermann Muller
longest period of government in Weimar - 2 uears
brought down by Wall Street Crash 1929