2. The German Post-War Economy

3. Aftermath of the Great War After The Great War (1918), the victorious Allies met at Versailles to write a treaty that would formally end the Great War France & England wanted to punish Germany US President Wilson suggested his “14 Points,” measures designed to help the countries in the War to recover

4. The Treaty of Versailles Wilson’s 14 Points were ignored, except for Point #14, the idea of developing a “League of Nations,” in order to prevent all future war

5. Punishment: The Ottoman Empire: 1914

6. A-H 1 9 1 4

7. Europe 1 9 1 8

8. The German Post-War Economy Germany also lost territory in the Treaty of Versailles, but also: –Germany is forced to take sole responsibility for causing the War –Forced to accept a debt of $33 billion –This translated into 132 billion German marks

9. German’s War Debt In 1914, before the Great War: 1 US dollar = 4 German marks (so a German mark = roughly 1 US quarter)

10. The German Post-War Economy By the end of The Great War, inflation caused the mark to fall in value, so that 1 US dollar = 100 German marks (so a German mark is now worth 1 US penny)

11. The German Post-War Economy In 1923 Germany’s industries were in ruins, and they couldn’t pay their war debt. Angry at not getting paid what Germany owed them, France moved into Germany’s industrial section, the Ruhr Valley, and took it over.

13. The German Post-War Economy Germans could no longer make the money they used to in their industrial jobs The German people were depressed, economically and psychologically; conditions were bad…

14. The German Post-War Economy The government began to print more money, so… There would be more money available, so… Even if each mark was not worth as much, at least more people could get some money

15. The German Post-War Economy But the more marks they printed (without any more gold or silver to back them), the less each mark was worth Soon other countries wouldn’t accept German marks, so the value of the mark plunged But the German government kept printing them as fast as it could

16. The German Post-War Economy In September of 1923: 1 US dollar = 30,000,000 marks and then the German economy crashed completely…

17. The German Post-War Economy On November 30, 1923… 1 US dollar = 4,200,000,000,000 marks!!! This caused: –it to be cheaper to wallpaper your apartment with mark notes than to use the marks to buy wallpaper –people to bring wheelbarrows full of marks to the bakery to buy a loaf of bread

18. The German Post-War Economy And Germans lost faith in their government… so that by mid-1924, when the government got the economy under control again, Germans were shaken badly and had less confidence in their government… They were ready to listen to new ideas, to new people, to ANYBODY who seemed to have a plan and the confidence to make things better!

19. A Growing Political Party…