8. What was the impact of the Wall Street Crash on the Weimar Republic?

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About this Lecture

Lecture

In this module, we think about the impact of the Wall Street Crash on the Weimar Republic, focusing in particular on: (i) the coincidence of the Wall Street Crash with the death of Gustav Stresemann on 3 October 1929; (ii) the extent to which Germany was hit worse than other advanced economies (e.g. Britain, France) and the reason for this difference; (iii) the pattern of rising unemployment between 1929-32 – which industries were impacted first? which sectors (if any) were left relatively unaffected?; (iv) the extent to which unemployment in Germany was a gendered phenomenon, i.e. were women impacted more than men?; (v) the extent to which the social security system provided a viable safety net for the unemployed in this period; and (vi) the political consequences of rising unemployment – the election of Heinrich Brüning as Chancellor, the rising popularity of far-right and far-left political parties, etc.

Course

In this course, Professor Matthew Stibbe (Sheffield Hallam University) explores Weimar Germany through twelve key questions: (1) Was Weimar Germany doomed to fail from the start?; (2) Why did Weimar fail in the early 1930s?; (3) How much of a problem was political extremism for the Weimar Republic?; (4) What kind of elections took place in Weimar Germany?; (5) How did the design of the West Germany constitution aim to avoid the problems faced by Weimar Germany?; (6) What was the impact of hyperinflation in Weimar Germany?; (7) How successful was the Weimar economy in the years 1924-29?; (8) What was the impact of the Wall Street Crash on the Weimar Republic?; (9) Did living standards improve in the Weimar period?; (10) What was Weimar culture?; (11) Did the lives of women improve in the Weimar period?; and (12) How did ethnic minorities fare in the Weimar period?

Lecturer

Matthew Stibbe is Professor of Modern European History at Sheffield Hallam University. He is a specialist in twentieth-century German and European history, and currently serves on the committee of the German History Society. His most recent publications include (as co-editor with Kevin McDermott) Eastern Europe in 1968: Responses to the Prague Spring and Warsaw Pact Invasion (2018) and (as co-editor with Ingrid Sharp) Women's International Activism During the Inter-War Period, 1919-39 (2018).