Germany recovered in two ways: economically and politically. Economically it put the short but devastating experience of hyperinflation behind it and brought back something approaching the “good times” at least. Politically it brought a level of stability both at home and abroad, as well as a degree of respectability. In this short piece I’m not going to consider how it happened or assess just how stable this in fact was (we know it was built on very shaky ground even if not entirely of its own making) but rather reflect on Weimar’s successes and give it some credit. And a lot of that credit deserves to be placed at the door of Gustav Stresemann.
Stresemann’s scrapping of the old mark, the review of the whole business of reparations repayments in the Dawes Plan (as well as a massive American loan) laid the basis for the Weimer Republic not merely to survive, but to thrive. Weimer was about to enter its ‘Golden Age’. By 1928 production was at last back to pre-war levels. The big winners were big industries, for example steel and chemicals, and landowners, particularly those who owned land in towns where prices were rocketing. But workers benefited too as pay and conditions steadily improved. And there would be a second, renegotiation, of Germany’s reparations with the Young Plan.
There was also a cultural renaissance in Germany seen in architecture, the arts, literature, theatre and music where experimentation was to the fore. Indeed, Weimar culture is still seen by many Germans as a ‘golden period’ in the history of German culture. There was a rapid development of a new ‘mass culture’ in German cinema, radio, and in cabaret and in clubs, and with jazz. The cinema was hugely popular: two million people went to the cinema every day. American films were very popular but the German film industry was the largest in Europe, in fact it produced more films than the rest of Europe put together. Marlene Dietrich was a true world star. Radio also showed itself to be very popular: in 1924 there were barely 10,000 listeners, but by 1927 the number had grown to just over one and a half million, and by 1931 it was over three and a half million. And in the music halls and clubs of Berlin and other German cities there was cabaret. Censorship was removed and cabaret artists performed political satires as well as displaying a sexuality that would have been unacceptable before the war. It wasn’t quite the sixties of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, but it was daring for its time. So, there was an economic recovery and there were good times to be had.
German pride was also bolstered by Stresemann’s foreign policy (he didn’t actually last long as Chancellor). Stresemann’s positive influence continued, however, as Foreign Minister. For his policy of ‘fulfillment’, fulfilling the terms of the hated Treaty of Versailles whilst all the time trying to revise, even bring about an end to those terms met with considerable success. He brought Germany in from the cold, negotiating the Locarno treaties that guaranteed Germany’s western borders as decided in the Treaty of Versailles. Germany had to accept the continued demilitarisation of the Rhineland but the Allied occupying force was withdrawn from the left bank of the Rhine, and as a direct result of the treaties, Germany entered the League of Nations as a permanent member of the Council, its status as a great power restored. Gustav Stresemann, Astride Briand, the French Foreign Minister and Prime Minister, and Austen Chamberlain, the British Foreign Secretary, all received the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts.
So, Germany was back amongst the European elite, back as a recognised power. The Treaty of Versailles was still hated but Stresemann’s policy of ‘fulfillment’ was making inroads into it. Weimar was not without its achievements.