In September 1929 Gustav Stresemann, the German foreign minister, gave a speech at the League of Nations. He had been the chief architect of the Weimar ‘recovery,’ acting variously as chancellor and foreign minister but always in government. He said, ‘The economic position is only flourishing on the surface. Germany is in fact dancing on a volcano. If the short-term loans are called in by America, a large section of our economy would collapse.’
Stresemann died on 3 October 1929 and so did not live to see the Wall Street Crash and the worldwide economic Depression which followed. His words were prophetic and the ending of US loans resulted in the German economy becoming the worst hit in the worldwide recession that followed the Wall Street Crash.
Your organisation does not have access to this article.
Sign up today to give your students the edge they need to achieve their best grades with subject expertise
Subscribe
