PDF file: History - Advanced Higher - Germany - Education Scotland

THEME 2: A PERIOD OF RELATIVE STABILITY
During the years 1924 to 1929, the Weimar Republic seemed to flourish. Living
standards rose, industrial production increased, exports grew. These developments
took place amid a background of international negotiations that helped to stabilise the
German economy and seemed to have sorted out the question of reparations
agreements.
In foreign affairs too, Germany moved back into a world of better relations with the
countries that had so recently been her enemies. French troops left the Ruhr and
Allied troops began to leave the Rhineland. Germany’s changed status was marked
by her entry into the League of Nations.
Yet all was not entirely well. Foreign money poured into Germany, attracted by high
interest rates, and might just as easily leave. Extremist political parties on left and
right continued to denounce the Republic and its policies. Those who accepted the
Weimar political system were fragmented in different political parties and did not find
it easy to co-operate with one another. The Army continued to fail to offer
enthusiastic backing for the Weimar Republic.
The concepts of ideology and authority pervade this part of the course as people with
differing political beliefs clashed and the government continued to struggle to assert
really effective and generally accepted authority.
Issues to consider / investigate / discuss
• How soundly-based was Germany’s economic recovery of
1924-1929?
• How ready were Germans at this time to now accept the
territorial arrangement made in the Versailles Treaty?
• How secure and stable was the Weimar political system?
History: Germany: Versailles to the Outbreak of World War II - 1918-1939 (AH) 21