This is a man in Berlin during the height of The Great Depression who is unemployed like many others in Germany at the time. Around 1.5 million Germans were unemployed by the end of 1929 ("The Great Depression in Germany - Weimar Germany"). This number only grew throughout the depression. The man in the photograph is unemployed and begging in the streets of Berlin for any money or spare change that someone might be willing to give him. This shows the heightened differences among the classes in and of itself because the people who have enough extra money to give to someone else even in these desperate times are doing better financially than others. People who are willing to give money to help another person that they do not even know, are most likely making enough to provide for both themselves and their family. This shows a class separation between the more wealthy and the working or poor class. Some people of the upper class, such as this woman, are willing to give to people of the lower classes who are not doing as well, while others may not be as willing to do so.-Jake
("The History Place - Rise of Hitler: Great Depression Begins.")
It is important to note that, like what happened during the Great Depression in America, the money in Germany did not simply disappear. Instead, it had lost its value. The wealthy did not feel the impacts from this quite as much as the poor did, but no one was able to completely escape the destruction. For example, take a single ounce of gold. In 1913, it would cost the typical German citizen 170.00 Marks to buy this. But, as the German economy started to collapse, inflation—caused by the printing of more money, and therefore reducing its value—caused the Mark to become practically worthless. This hyperinflation, as it was called, meant that the single ounce of gold cost, by the end of November 1923, an astronomical 87 quadrillion Marks. The path of this inflation is illustrated by the chart to the right. While buying gold may not have been on everyone’s agenda at that time, when it is compared to buying bread, meat, or gas, it becomes evident that the wealthy may still have been able to afford basic necessities, but the poor would not. The money was still there, but it was now practically worthless. -Chris
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Since money was worth so little, many found more practical uses for it. For example, rather than buying toys, children often played with Marks. Many in the lower and middle classes deemed using currency as toys, wallpaper, wastepaper, and even fuel for fires as being cheaper and more worthwhile than actually purchasing these items. Hyperinflation is said to be "among the worst catastrophes that can befall an economy" (Hyperinflations Definition). This proved true as "the average price level increased by a factor of 20 billion, doubling every 28 hours" in Germany (Germany's Hyperinflation). This devastated the economy and caused widespread poverty. -Hayley |
The Crippled German Economy
-Tristan
Much of the disparity between social classes in Germany came as a direct correlation to the collapse of the German economy. Before World War 1, Germany's economy was not just expanding but prospering due to a growing workforce during industrialization and the fact that "German industrialists had enjoyed prosperous times in the mid- to late-1920s, thanks to foreign loans and investment"("The Great Depression"). After Germany's loss in WW1, factory workers, primarily lower class, now were unemployed because they were not needed to build anything for the war. However the German economy didn't truly begin to suffer until the American economy suffered. Germany's economy was not at all self-sufficient because it relied on international trade and foreign capital. The poor were now jobless while the middle class was now poor. According to a news correspondent in Germany at the time, “60 per cent of each new university graduating class was out of work”("The Great Depression"). The citizens at the time were now in one of two categories: the dying and jobless or the poor and scraping by. This time would bring German citizens together in suffering and an opportunity for the most infamous leader of all time to take power, Adolf Hitler.-Tristan
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Christopher Isherwood who lived in Germany at the time of the depression-
"Morning after morning, all over the immense, damp, dreary town and the packing-case colonies of huts in the suburb allotments, young men were waking up to another workless empty day, to be spent as they could best contrive: selling boot-laces, begging, playing draughts in the hall of the Labour Exchange, hanging about urinals, opening the doors of cars, helping with crates in the market, gossiping, lounging, stealing, overhearing racing tips, sharing stumps of cigarette ends picked up in the gutter."("The Great Depression") |
Tristan's Sources:
-"The Depression and Germany." YouTube. Richerhistory, 7 Feb. 2013. Web. 07 Dec. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EV4v5OVK95E>.
-Picture of kids stacking marks- "Rise and Fall of Weimar Republic." "Rise and Fall of the Weimar Republic"Awkward Revision, n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2014. <http://awkwardrevision.weebly.com/rise-and-fall-of-weimar-republic.html>.
-Political Cartoon of German under Reparations & German Inflation Graph- "Capitalism in Crisis: The Great Depression." Cla.calpoly.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2014. <http://cla.calpoly.edu/~lcall/213/outline.depression.short.html>.
-Article about Germany during The Great Depression- "Great Depression in Germany." Alpha History: Nazi Germany. Llewellyn, Jennifer Et Al., n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2014. <http://alphahistory.com/nazigermany/the-great-depression/>.
Christopher’s sources-
"How Deflation Creates Hyper-inflation." :: The Market Oracle. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2014. <http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article7792.html>.
Jake's Sources-
"The History Place - Rise of Hitler: Great Depression Begins." The History Place. The History Place, 1996. Web. 05 Dec. 2014. <http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/begins.htm>.
"The Great Depression in Germany - Weimar Germany." Alpha History. Alpha History, n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2014. <http://alphahistory.com/weimargermany/great-depression/>.
Hayley's Sources:
Treadway, Peter. "Lesson From The Past." The Bronx Times & Bronx.com -. The Bronx Times, 13 Apr. 2011. Web. 07 Dec. 2014.
Jennen, Birgit. "German Inflation Fears Fade." Bloomberg Business Week. Bloomberg, 09 Jan. 2014. Web. 07 Dec. 2014.
"Hyperinflation." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 June 2014. Web. 07 Dec. 2014.
Dalrymple, Theodore. "Inflation's Moral Hazard." Inflation's Moral Hazard by Theodore Dalrymple, City Journal Summer 2009. N.p., Summer 2009. Web. 07 Dec. 2014.
Zarlenga, Stephen. "Germany's 1923 Hyperinflation." Germany's 1923 Hyperinflation. N.p., 1999. Web. 07 Dec. 2014.
"Hyperinflation Definition." Investopedia. Investopedia, n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2014.
London, C. R. "Germany's Hyperinflation." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 15 Nov. 2013. Web. 07 Dec. 2014.
-"The Depression and Germany." YouTube. Richerhistory, 7 Feb. 2013. Web. 07 Dec. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EV4v5OVK95E>.
-Picture of kids stacking marks- "Rise and Fall of Weimar Republic." "Rise and Fall of the Weimar Republic"Awkward Revision, n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2014. <http://awkwardrevision.weebly.com/rise-and-fall-of-weimar-republic.html>.
-Political Cartoon of German under Reparations & German Inflation Graph- "Capitalism in Crisis: The Great Depression." Cla.calpoly.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2014. <http://cla.calpoly.edu/~lcall/213/outline.depression.short.html>.
-Article about Germany during The Great Depression- "Great Depression in Germany." Alpha History: Nazi Germany. Llewellyn, Jennifer Et Al., n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2014. <http://alphahistory.com/nazigermany/the-great-depression/>.
Christopher’s sources-
"How Deflation Creates Hyper-inflation." :: The Market Oracle. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2014. <http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article7792.html>.
Jake's Sources-
"The History Place - Rise of Hitler: Great Depression Begins." The History Place. The History Place, 1996. Web. 05 Dec. 2014. <http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/begins.htm>.
"The Great Depression in Germany - Weimar Germany." Alpha History. Alpha History, n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2014. <http://alphahistory.com/weimargermany/great-depression/>.
Hayley's Sources:
Treadway, Peter. "Lesson From The Past." The Bronx Times & Bronx.com -. The Bronx Times, 13 Apr. 2011. Web. 07 Dec. 2014.
Jennen, Birgit. "German Inflation Fears Fade." Bloomberg Business Week. Bloomberg, 09 Jan. 2014. Web. 07 Dec. 2014.
"Hyperinflation." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 June 2014. Web. 07 Dec. 2014.
Dalrymple, Theodore. "Inflation's Moral Hazard." Inflation's Moral Hazard by Theodore Dalrymple, City Journal Summer 2009. N.p., Summer 2009. Web. 07 Dec. 2014.
Zarlenga, Stephen. "Germany's 1923 Hyperinflation." Germany's 1923 Hyperinflation. N.p., 1999. Web. 07 Dec. 2014.
"Hyperinflation Definition." Investopedia. Investopedia, n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2014.
London, C. R. "Germany's Hyperinflation." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 15 Nov. 2013. Web. 07 Dec. 2014.