A golden age Weimar between 1924 29 B

A golden age? Weimar between 1924 -29 B aim – to assess Weimar’s economic success from 1924 -1929 A/A* - to assess Weimar’s economic success from 1924 -1929 and explain what impact this would have on society and politics “Germany is dancing on a volcano. If the short term credits are called in, a large section of our economy would collapse” 1928 “A wonderful ferment is working in Germany. Life seems more free, more modern, more exciting than in any place I have ever seen” 1928 Starter Based on your knowledge of the Weimar Republic which source is more trustworthy? Why?

Enter Stresemann Becomes Chancellor on 12 th August 1923 and only lasted 100 days. What are his immediate priorities? How did Stresemann solve the economic problems?

Economy Positive features Negative features Economic growth and development • • A sluggish agricultural sector • Improved living standards • Economic weakness • Dependence on USA • Problematic unemployment • Social tension

• Annotate your diagram with facts to back up each effect of the economic recovery

A fundamentally sick economy? Borchardt: Germany living beyond its means, public spending was out of control. To sympathetic in the labour market – wages grew while production stagnated. By increasing social insurance contributions there was less money to invest, profits fell and signs pointed to a depression in 1928. Holtfrerich: Business leaders discouraged industrial and agricultural investment. Consequently growth remained at low levels and there was no means of creating new jobs. In 1928 the economy was temporarily off the rails.

• As a German economist, write a report evaluating the success of the economy and the reasons for this

Political problems – coalition politics What trends do you notice from this table? What do you think caused these trends?