The Weimar Republic

• Stressemann became chancellor, he hadlots of support and was a better politician than Ebert

• Europe's economy was coming out of post war depression

• Stressemann built up the economy and prosperity

• Under the Dawes plan, reperations were more spread out and more money was being pumped int the into industry

• This was one of the most sucessful areas for Stressemann

• Stressemann signed the Locarno treaties, saying they wouldn't change borders

• Consequently, Geramny was accepted into the league of nations and then he slowly started to work on reversing treaty terms, like reperations and eastern borders

• When he died, he had negotiated the young plan, meaning there were les reperations and no troops in the rhineland

• Writers and poets flourished in Berlin and Artists produced poerful paintings

• The famous bauhaus architectual style was developed

• A golden age for the cinema, Marlene Dietrich and Fritz Lang (director)

• Berlin had a great nightlife

• Cencorship was removed

• Politics became more stable

• Even Ebert's leading opponent said Germans are becoming reconciled to the way things are

• The weimar parties got more votes, extreme parties got very few, the Nazi party had less than 3% of votes

• All men and women over 20 could vote, and the bill of rights gave everyone freedom of speech and religion, and equality

Right from the beggining, proportional representation and article 48 were major flaws in the weimar republic.

Proportional representation meant in reichstag (parliament) there were lots of little parties being represented, which meant the government was weak, and  article 48 meant the president could issue decrees in an emergency, which allowed hitler to take power.

• Economy was precarious- it all depended on the Americans

• Industrial work and big buisnesses thrived, but peasant farmers and middle classes were the losers

•  Farmers had little demand for their food, small shoopkeepers became disillusioned and university lecturers earnings fell

• They felt that the government offered them little

• To those in villages and towns, the culture of the cities seemed to represent moral decline, which was made worse by immigants

• The wandervogel organisation was a reaction to Weimar culture

• They wanted a return to simple country values, a feeling the Nazis would harness in the coming years

• The Nazis and communists were both building up their parties in these years

• There were 4 different chancellors

• 30% of the votes went to non weimar parties

• Hidenburg was elected as president, and he was opposed to democracy

• Nationalists attacked Stressemann for joining the league of nations and signing the Locarno pact

• They saw it as an acceptance of the treaty of versailles

• Communists also attacked Locarno, seeing it as a plot against the communists in Russia