Gustav Stresemann was a leading German Statesman [Politian] in the 1920s. His work in a number of important government positions is widely regarded as being crucial to the improvements made in the ‘Golden Era‘ of the Weimar Republic.
Gustav Stresemann
Stresemann was a hardworking and honest politician who had the respect of many overseas political leaders. he used this respect to great effect and ensured the economic stability of the nation through the successful negotiation of the Dawes and Young plans. These limited the amount of reparations that Germany had to pay and used loans to stabilise a new Germany currency.
Stresemann and an end to German isolation
Sensible and progressive foreign policies enabled Germany to come out of the imposed isolation. Germany was finally allowed to become a member of the league of nations in 1925 as a result of the Locarno treaties. This, along with the previously mentioned economic developments ensured that German self esteem was significantly improved, and many of the woes of the early 1920s were forgotten as life, in general was improving for many Germans.
Continued Instabilities
However not all was well in Stresemann’s Germany. There was still political instability as no one party could gain a majority in the republic. This meant that decision making was difficult and could easily be overturned at the whim of a minority of parliamentarians. Unemployment did not fall, indeed it rose in the period: which lead to further economic problems.
Further to this it was the case that, despite a general upturn in German fortunes, the nation relied heavily upon the ongoing support of the USA. This support enabled not only the stability of Germany but enabled the high levels of payments that the Weimar government was making on benefits and health care. This reliance would, in time, prove to be disastrous for the German government and democracy.
Germany 1919 – 1945 Links
The Second Reich
Unification of Germany – Political systems within the Second Reich – German Society during the Second Reich – Collapse of the Second Reich
Weimar Republic
Interim Government – Founding of the Weimar Republic – Impact of the First World War on Germany – The Treaty of Versailles and its impact on Germany – Weimar Constitution – 1919-1923: Years of Crisis? – Spartacist Uprising – Kapp Putsch – Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold – Reparations – Hyperinflation in Germany, 1923 – 1924-1928: A Golden Era? – 1925 Presidential Election – Gustav Stresemann – German Foreign Relations 1919-1932 – Germany in the Great Depression – Failings of the Weimar Republic – Dada Movement
Rise of the Nazi Party
The Munich Putsch – Did the Economic Crisis of 1923 help the Nazi’s? – Origins of the Nazi Party – Rise of the Nazi Party
Nazi Germany
Totalitarian Regime in Nazi Germany – How did Hitler consolidate power? – Mein Kampf – Nazi methods of control – Opposition to the Nazi Regime – Organisation of the Nazi Party – Fuhrerprinzip – Kristallnacht – Youth and Education – Goering and the 2nd 4 Year Plan – Anti-Jewish Boycott, 1933 – Nazi Anti-Semitism – DAF (The German Labour Front) – Propaganda in Germany 1919-39 – Economic Policy of the Nazi Party – Kreisau Circle – The Confessing Church – Catholic Church – Edelweiss Pirates
Biographies
Ludwig Beck – Dietrich Bonhoeffer – Bishop Clemens von Galen – Carl Goerdeler – Robert Ley – Helmuth von Moltke – Martin Niemoller – Erwin Rommel – Hjalmar Schacht – Sophie Scholl – Albert Speer – Claus von Stauffenberg – Fritz Todt –