Stresmann & Improved Relations with Europe (WJEC Eduqas GCSE History): Revision Note

Summary & Timeline

In November 1923, Gustav Stresemann lost his position as Chancellor and was appointed Germany’s Foreign Minister. The next few years saw Germany’s relations with other countries improve dramatically through the signing of the Locarno Pact, the Kellogg-Briand Pact and Germany’s entry into the League of Nations. 

One of the consequences of this was increased investment in Germany, particularly from the USA, which led to things becoming more stable both politically and economically. The arts and culture also flourished in this time and some women took advantage of the new freedoms that the Weimar Republic offered. 

The Locarno Pact

• The Locarno Pact was a series of agreements between Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Belgium

  • The nations met in Locarno, Switzerland, on 16th October and signed the pacts on 1st December 1925

  • All nations entered the agreements as equals

    • This was unlike the diktat of the Treaty of Versailles

The Terms of the Locarno Pact

• France and Germany promised to keep the peace with each other

• Germany accepted its western borders as stated in the 1919 Treaty of Versailles

  • This infuriated the extremist parties in Germany

• All members promised to keep the Rhineland demilitarised

• To explore the possibility of admitting Germany into the League of Nations

Impact of the Locarno Pact

• Stresemann considered the Locarno Pact as his greatest achievement because the terms:

  • Reduced the possibility of future wars

  • Improved the reputation of the Weimar Republic nationally and internationally

• In 1926, the Nobel Prize was awarded to Stresemann and French Foreign Minister Aristide Briand

The League of Nations

What was the League of Nations?

• The League of Nations was a forum where countries could discuss problems before resorting to armed conflict

• Woodrow Wilson, the American President, played a leading role in the creation of the League of Nations

• It was based on his 14 Points

  • Part 1 of the Treaty of Versailles established the League

  • The League did not formally meet until 10th January 1920

  • For a country to join the League of Nations as a permanent member, it had to receive two-thirds of the members’ votes

  • A country could leave the League if it gave two years' notice

Why was Germany originally not a member of the League of Nations?

• Clemenceau, the French President, wanted revenge at the end of the First World War

  • He believed that Germany had started the conflict and should be punished

• Due to Clemenceau’s anger, the Treaty of Versailles specifically banned Germany from joining the League of Nations 

What caused Germany to join the League of Nations?

• As a result of the Locarno Pact, the League of Nations met with Stresemann to discuss membership

  • The Council settled serious disputes between countries

  • In September 1926, the League agreed to accept Germany as a member

Impacts of joining the League of Nations

• Joining the League had both positive and negative impacts on Germany

Positive impacts

• Boosted German citizens’ confidence in the Weimar Republic

• Gained support for moderate parties

Negative impacts

• Some people did not want anything to do with the League of Nations

  • It was associated with the hated Treaty of Versailles

• Created anger among extremist parties

Kellogg-Briand Pact

• French foreign minister Aristide Briand met with US Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg to discuss further steps towards world peace

  • Although the USA was not in the League of Nations, they still believed in achieving world peace

• On 27th August 1928, they assembled Germany and 61 other countries to sign the Kellogg-Briand Pact

What did the Kellogg-Briand Pact agree upon?

• War should never be used as a means for resolving disputes between countries

Impacts of the Kellogg-Briand Pact

• The Kellogg-Briand Pact had positive and negative impacts on Germany

Positive impacts

• Boosted German citizens’ confidence in the Weimar Republic

• The world saw Germany as a respectable and trustworthy state

  • They could enter into treaties as equals to the other signatories

Negative impacts

• The pact did not remove the military restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles

  • This angered extremist parties

• Many Germans thought other countries would move towards disarmament 

• The pact did not promise this

  • Germany was still considerably weaker militarily than the rest of Europe, making Germany feel unsafe

US Investment in German Business

• The American economy experienced a boom at the end of the First World War

  • America’s factories had been untouched by the fighting 

  • It only joined the war in 1917

  • There was a large demand for American goods as European factories and economies gradually recovered from the war, adapted to peacetime

• At the same time, Britain and France started repaying the enormous loans they had taken out from the US during the war

  • America had a lot of money to invest and to many Americans, Germany looked like a good place to spend their money

  • The USA gave $25 billion to German industry from 1924-30

• Germany’s industrial output increased by 50% between 1923 and 1928

Political and Social Developments

Political Developments

• Although no political party ever won a majority of seats in the Weimar Republic, 1924-29 was a period of much greater political stability

  • The moderate Social Democrats increased in popularity

  • Extremist parties like the Nazi Party and the KPD (communists) gained fewer votes

• Much of this stability was down to the actions of Stresemann and Hindenburg

  • Stresemann had solved the hyperinflation crisis and made Germany more popular and respected abroad

  • Hindenburg, a Field Marshal and former war hero, was elected President in 1925 

    • He was a member of the ‘old guard’ and by becoming president, he seemed to symbolise an acceptance of the Republic and democracy

Social Developments

• More than two million homes were built in Germany between 1924 and 1931

  • Homelessness was reduced by over 60 per cent by 1928

  • The quality of many German homes was also improved

• The Unemployment Insurance Law was passed in 1927

  • This required workers and employers to pay into a national scheme that provided benefits for people who had lost their jobs

  • War veterans and war widows also received benefits

• The wages of many Germans who were in work increased, leading to an improvement in their standard of living

  • By 1928, Germany had some of the best-paid workers in Europe

• The Weimar Constitution had given all women over 20 the right to vote and also introduced increased equality in education, pay and opportunities

  • This led to an increase in the overall number of women who were employed and a particularly large increase in the number of professional women

  • There were 100,000 female teachers and 3,000 female doctors in Germany by 1933

• Socially, women enjoyed more freedoms than they had before the war.

  • Many socialised unescorted and smoked tobacco, drank alcohol and embraced what were considered to be daring fashions at the time

Cultural Developments

• Before the war, arts and culture had been strictly censored in Germany

  • This was removed under the Weimar Republic, and there was an explosion of creativity in cinema, architecture, painting and the theatre

  • Berlin became the centre of the most exciting cultural developments in all of Europe 

  • German cinema created international smashes like Metropolis and the design school Bauhaus influenced buildings and furniture around the world