What Evans means by this is that the desperation of the people led them to polarising their votes and seeing radical leaders like Hitler as a solution to the mess that Germany had become. Hitler took advantage of this, and from there was able to play a huge role in the collapse of the Weimar Republic. The economic strain that Germany was placed under was also a major impact of the Depression on the collapse of the Republic. Firstly, the Depression had the obvious impact of the debt rising and the banking crises however, there were a number other impacts. Germany relied heavily on international trade for resources; almost one third of their resources came from overseas.
They could also start up their industries again. This could only happen with loans from America. In October 1929, the price of shares on the ‘Wall Street Stock Exchange’ collapsed and many Americans and American businesses went bankrupt. Now at this time, America was still loaning Germany some money but as they became bankrupt, so did Germany because the USA had pulled back their loans to Germany and expected Germany to also pay interest. Germany then fell into a deep economic depression.
When the stock market collapsed on Wall Street in October, 1929, it sent financial markets worldwide into a meltdown this was tragic for the German economy. The German economy was vulnerable because it relied on loans from America and exports to fuel it. German workers were laid off. Along with this, banks failed. Inflation soon followed making it hard for families to purchase expensive necessities with devalued money.
It deprived Germany of wealth-earning areas, such as the coalfields in Silesia. As well as this the treaty also imposed harsh reparations on Germany (£6,600 billion). Germany asked for reductions however the victors, especially France were not forgiving and needed money to pay debts to the US. With no gold reserves and a failing income Germany could no longer afford to pay and declared itself bankrupt. Why was the Ruhr occupied and what were the consequences?
Gladstone’s attack on Disraeli’s foreign policy was the most important reason for the Conservative defeat in the 1880 election; however it is also due to the economic depression which was happening at this time in history, as well as Disraeli’s ineffective domestic reforms. Disraeli’s foreign policy included his involvement with the Eastern Crisis in the 1870s, as well as events regarding South Africa and the Boers War. The most important reason as to why the Conservatives lost the 1880 election was Gladstone’s attack on Disraeli’s foreign policy. The most prominent example of Gladstone’s attacks was his Midlothian Campaign. This contributed to the loss of support of the Conservative party because during this tour, made by Gladstone, of the Conservative seat in Scotland, Midlothian, he gave a series of speeches in large towns such as Edinburgh, attacking Disraeli’s foreign policy.
The event that started the Great Depression was “Black Tuesday.” On this day, the stock market crashed. The so called “bubble” had burst. The roaring twenties were over. Banks were forced to close, as they had no more money for the massive amount of people that were making withdrawals. Many lost their jobs, and were forced to look for work elsewhere.
This was due to events like the devastating 1923 hyperinflation, and of course the Treaty of Versailles, which had tainted Weimar’s reputation from its inception. The Reichstag was in a constant state of flux as the parties struggled to create and maintain coalition governments, and this added to the public’s negative perception of a democratic republic. The economic slump from 1928-32 was undoubtedly responsible for the NSDAP’s rise in support, as it was the cause of social and political problems within Germany. Even prior to the Wall Street Crash in October 1929 the economy was in trouble – economic growth was uneven throughout the 1920s. Trade was in debt as imports exceeded exports; this was because Germany was
This was the main factor in Lloyd George’s fall as the British people felt betrayed by their leader, they felt that Lloyd George and the coalition had lied to them and made promises that they failed to deliver on. However it can be argued back that the bigger reason for LG’s fall demonstrated here was his failure to foresee the economic problems of Britain and plan ahead, but this would not be the view of the people whom desperately needed
This therefore caused the Russo-Japanese War to be partly responsible for the outbreak of the 1905 Revolution. Huge military defeats were caused by the Russo-Japanese War, which highlighted the weakness of the military and caused national humiliation, which contributed to the 1905 Revolution. The Russian Baltic fleet consisting of the 35 warships had sailed from northern Europe to the Far East, only to lose 25 warships in a defeat by the Japanese navy. The crushing of Russian’s military added impetus to the 1905 Revolution, as it made the people of Russia aware of the weakness of their military and ashamed to be Russian. They were losing to a nation very few had heard of and it was humiliating.
The effects of the great depression caused mostly by Wall Street crash and therefore the American investors urgently needed the return of money they had lent to businesses. German companies were dependent on these loans. After this, German industrial output fell and unemployment rose. This caused a disaster for export industries but high unemployment meant that domestic demands for goods fell too. This is shown in these statistics.