Describe the effects of hyperinflation on Germany in 1923. (9) The Weimar government was short of money after the First World War and so began to print more and more banknotes. The sudden flood of paper money into the economy, on top of the general strike - which meant that no goods were manufactured, so there was more money, chasing fewer goods - combined with a weak economy ruined by the war, all resulted in hyperinflation. Prices ran out of control, for example, a loaf of bread, which cost 250 marks in January 1923 had risen to 200,000 million marks in November 1923. German's currency became worthless.
Germany now needed more money which resulted in more debts which were piling up from outstanding reparation payments. This shows that the Nazis really didn’t help Germany and its economy as all they wanted was more money to spend on the military, not to help re-build the previous strong Germany. Resulting in way more debts than they had started 1933 with. Although Germany faced many financial problems during the 1930’s, the Nazis did not make it much more worse than it already was. Without the Nazis, deals which had been set up between Hungary and Germany would not have existed meaning products being made would not have sold to that extra market, and Germany would not have gained some products too.
One thing the Germans were not happy in the treaty of Versailles is the War Guilt Clause, take blame for the war. Because of this they had to the reparation to the big three. The German government didn’t have the money to pay for the reparation as the country just lost a war and the factory are destroy and the environment is in a poor state. So then the USA banks lend Germany government loans. Its was all going well as Germany was getting in a better state and they are paying their reparation until 1929.
The impact of the TOV on the Weimar republic to 1929 was more significant than any other factor. How accurate is this statement? The impact of the Treaty of Versailles on the Weimar republic was more significant than another factor leading to its collapse, however it’s downfall cannot be attributed to any single factor. The Treaty of Versailles had major economic, social and political impacts on Germany after WWI. However these were compounded by other factors such as fundamental flaws in the democratic system, hyperinflation, the occupation of the Ruhr and the onset of the great depression.
Stalin’s five year plans did improve the Russian economy due to heavy industry increased the production of steel, iron, oil and coal. However, the five year plan was unsuccessful in terms of consumer goods and labour productivity. Additionally, the plans did not fully succeed in fulfilling Stalin’s targets for war preparation. Heavy industry was successful in improving the economy primarily due to the first three five year plans. Evidently, Industries like coal steel and iron grew enormously.
6) Hoovervilles were named after Herbert Hoover because he was the president at the time of the great depression. The American people felt like he was to blame for the terrible economy because he raised taxes when he promised that he wouldn't as well as creating the Smoot Hawley tariff which eventually cut America off from foreign trade, tightening the grasp that the depression already had on the U.S. The negative view that the American people had of Hoover was not fair because he put forth more effort than any other president before him to pull America out of a
John majors government came into office after the downfall of Margret Thatcher, which ultimately created divisions within the party. Not only did the party suffer from the internal conflict but also faced the problems of the recession after the ‘Lawson boom’. In order to stabilise the economy he joined the ERM getting a good deal but ultimately resulting in ‘black Wednesday’ causing Major to raise interest rates to 15%. This was political suicide and he soon lost the support of the press we had once relied so much on to get re-elected in 1992. The housing market also plummeted leading to negative equity, which the majority of the working class could not afford resulting in the repossession of their houses combined with the drastic increase in unemployment Britain was in a mess.
The First World War increased rather than narrowed political divisions within Germany. How far do you agree with this judgement? Although initially it seems that the First World War narrowed the existing political divisions in Germany of the pre-war decade, as the war progressed, the resentment grew, in part because of the huge losses and the economic crisis that hung over the country. Therefore because of this the political divisions increased, to the point that by the end of the war the polarisation of German politics was clear. To begin with, despite the demonstrations against war held on the 28th and 29th of July in Berlin, with crowds of 100,000 strong, once the war had broken out there was a general consensus on the side of national duty and what was considered to be morally right, largely because the government presented it as a defensive campaign against Slav aggression.
In 1929, experts started to sell their shares heavily before the values fell even further. Eventually, everyone wanted to sell their shares but nobody was buying. This led to complete collapse of prices and thousands of investors lost millions of dollars. Tariffs – Due to America putting Fordney McCumber Tariffs on European goods, Europe responded by also putting tariffs on American goods so US business men found it hard to sell goods to European
American businesses lost vast amounts of money and to repay the debt they asked German banks to repay the money they had borrowed. Peoples vote turned to leaders who blamed reasons for the Depression. The Nazi's The Weimar Republic was not to blame for the huge economics problems Germany were in at the time. Though to stop hyperinflation reoccurring the Chancellors raised taxes, cut wages and reduced unemployment