Hi,
I am currently reading the said book, and as of now have the following questions -
a) The author mentions that during the late twenties in Germany, the currency Mark was rapidly getting devalued. How does currency devaluation takes place. Please explain in a simple language for a non technical person.
b) Secondly he mentions that the currency devaluation was nicely made use of by the industrialists, who paid off all their loans during this period. How?
c) Though the Nazi party won the elections in 1933 and even before, they could not get the majority. What percentage of the votes were required to get a majority in the Parliament as well as for Presidential elections?
d) The author also mentions of a Prussian Diet during this time. How is it possible to have both the German Parliament and the Diet, in a Unified Germany?
Thanks a lot.
a) The worst period of inflation happened during the early 20s, culminating in the famous German hyperinflation in 1923. Reasons for this inflation were the increase of public debt during and after the war, the "Ruhrkampf" (that is a financialy ruinous civil insurection against the french occupation of the Rheinland) as well as the general insecurity about the height of the reparations (which had to be payed in Goldmarks and were therefore not directly influenced by the inflation). All of these financial burdens required either a severe decrease in public spending, which might have throttled the republic in it's childbed, or, ultimately equaly problematic, an increase of the money supply. Sadly money which isn't covered by goods and services loses it's value which roughly is exactly what happened. The republic printed money, which become worthless, which lead to the need to print even more money...
b) Simplified, while the money became worthless, goods (such as gold, land, foreign currency) more or less kept their worth. For example, you own a plot of land for which you have taken a loan of 20000 Mark. When you have taken the loan this was quite a bit of money. In 1923 it wasn't. In my desk i have a 10.000.000 Mark note from 1923. The money you owe to the bank is now next to worthless. The land isnt. Basicaly, everone whose wealth wasn't composed of now mostly worthless money was at an advantage. This includes The Reich itself which was easily able to pay back it's warbonds.
c) >50% While the NSDAP alone did not get the required votes in March 1933, the NSDAP + Kampffront Schwarz-Weiß-Rot (former DNVP) achieved the necessary majority.
d) The German Reich in it's form of the Weimar Republic was a federal republic. The prussian diet (Landtag) was simply the parliament of the state of Prussia, just like there was a saxon diet or a bavarian diet.
Also it is not clear who could and could not vote in Germany during this time ?
Thanks a lot.