How Did The Weimar Government Respond To The Great Depression In Germany

The Great Depression was the economic slump that began on October 29, 1929, which occurred after the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street crashed. Since many European countries were dependent on US loans, this recession spread into Europe and lasted nearly a decade. It caused unprecedented levels of poverty, hunger, unemployment and political unrest. In Germany, this meant that the US asked the banks and businesses to repay the money they had borrowed at high rates of interest. It also meant that the Weimar government became unpopular as it was seen as being unable to deal with the depression and not looking at its peoples’ interests, especially as they kept paying reparations to the Allies instead of stopping this to help their people. …show more content…
This reflected how Germany had been under the Kaiser, which were more prosperous times than Germany’s current situation. The democratic experiment caused by the Treaty of Versailles overthrew the Kaiser and since the start of the democracy, the people had faced two crippling depressions. The government was hindered in its approach to the Great Depression because of the memory of six years previously, the previous economic depression, which meant that the government’s approach to the Great Depression had to involve cuts and taxes instead of inflation. This meant that the Great Depression was particularly significant politically because it brought the Nazi Party to light as the Nazis had been repeating the same main messages since the previous depression: the Weimar government was indecisive, the Treaty of Versailles needed to be abolished, and the Communists needed to be overthrown. This was a very powerful message to those most vulnerable to the Depression: the middle classes, the unemployed and the elderly. Since the government was still paying reparations, which further hindered them in their approach to dealing with the Great Depression, the people wanted a