1914-1923 Hardships

Throughout the growing history of Germany they continued to fight battle after battle and struggle after struggle to get to where they are today. In particular, from 1914- 1923 Germany went through a period of complete devastation. After World War I Germany was left to pay 132 billion marks in gold with six percent interest as reparation payments for ‘losing’ the war as if the war itself was not already costly enough (209). As Germany refused these payments, France moved in to forcefully take the money by occupying the Ruhr district and taking Germany’s coal straight from the mines (210). This was the beginning of a disaster. Without the coal coming from their own soil, Germany had to buy from abroad costing them a lot of money they did not have. This ran up a huge debt in the government which in turn the government printed more money. With the printing of more money, inflation sky-rocketed (210). In the United States we understand inflation and can relate when we look at our struggling economy, but we have never seen inflation as Germany had it at this time. People would convert their wages immediately into goods because in only a couple hours later that same amount of money would buy you almost nothing. For example, if you wanted to exchange one U.S. dollar with German marks, the equivalent would be somewhere around 240 million marks per one U.S. dollar. The situation was so bad for the people of Germany that they went back to the old ways of bartering (210). I cannot imagine living in this time of struggle and would have absolutely no idea what to do in this situation. German’s view of themselves and others most likely changed a lot during this time. Before they were strong and fought for what they wanted, but now the people were just waiting for anyone to stand up and pull them out of this deep hole they dug themselves into. Their view of Britain and France was most likely filled with hatred and disgust, but at the same time they couldn’t do anything about it. They went from being so powerful and confident in their growing country to unsure and dependent. In August of 1923, Gustav Stresemann became chancellor and took the first step to repairing broken Germany with capitulation (210). Unfortunately, Germany was beginning to separate. Rhinelanders wanted to secede and Saxony and Thuringia were forming their own government systems and armies. People were beginning to think of anything to save themselves from this economic downfall. Luckily, Stresemann sent in the army and stopped this separation and helped to keep the country together (211). General von Seeckt also took charge when he saw Germany headed for rock bottom. He knew his first step was to stabilize the mark by prohibiting the printing of more bank notes. This would help to stop the increasing rate of inflation. He introduced to the country the Rentenmark and the Rentenbank, which had no negative history behind it like the previous mark. The people established trust in this new currency knowing it could only help them (211). After a stabilizing the mark, things really started to look brighter in the future for Germany. Britain and France had new governments in power that were more caring toward German’s wants and needs and all together it looked as if this period of hardship was coming to an end (212). I think Bernhard Harms, an economist at University of Kiel, said it very well when he said, “If we cannot achieve heaven on earth, at least we can reach for the stars.” (213). This shows us that although Germany and all other countries may never be perfect and there will always be areas of hardship and struggle, there will always be a light at the end of the tunnel and we should keep pushing on. Germany was beginning to give up and lose sight of what they truly wanted as individual states were separating and forming governments of their own. If they would have separated and given up, Germany could be a completely different place than it is today.

 One dollar was worth millions of marks during this time of inflation.

The German State

     “A constitutional enigma, booty for our neighbors, the butt of their ridicule, divided among ourselves, weakened by our partition, strong enough to harm ourselves, powerless to save ourselves, insensitive to the honor of our name, lacking unity on principles but violent in asserting them nevertheless, a great and yet despised people, fortunate in theory but in fact most pitiable.” (86-88). This quote by Friedrich Carl von Moser, a member of the Imperial Council, is just one example of the challenges Germany had to go through to become a nation state. To me, I feel this quote is showing how German lands had good intentions and ideas about being a united nation, but lacked the power and authority to make this dream a reality. This quote also mentions how German lands ‘lack unity.’ A nation needs to be united to be successful. If people living in the nation do not have nationalism and support their nation, then it will not succeed. I believe this is one reason why the United States was able to become so strong. A large majority of the people in our country are patriotic and would do almost anything for it. It is something that can bring the people together and make the nation stronger. A nation with support and nationalism succeeds and for a while, Germany was lacking this. This is why I find the Rhine Crisis of 1840 to be an important and compelling event in German history. France wanted to expand their borders into German lands and the people of Germany rebelled (118). This rebellion brought the nation together and promoted efforts to become more unified as a nation. Although this event may seem minor, it was a stepping-stone that needed to be taken on the path for Germany to one day declare themselves a nation. Other than becoming a more unified nation over the Rhine Crisis, there were several other factors that established a German identity. One major identity factor German lands have had is their German language. Before they were even a nation, they always had a common language that unified them (89).  When the amount of people that learned how to read and write jumped from about 15% in 1770 to about 50% in 1840, the German language carried on. More books and articles were being written in this language and the people were reading and becoming more educated about important topics happening in time (119). This made German culture flourish and once again was bringing German lands together into one unified nation. Along with the language, Germany began coming together over the importance of physical fitness and education. Gymnastics became very popular in German lands and represented not only the positive effects of physical fitness, but also growing belief of patriotism and national defense (119).  The Choral Society, otherwise known as Gesangverein, also became very influential in this time. It helped bring the nation closer together by promoting songs of patriotism and powerful speeches (120). Slowly, the German lands were becoming a nation. They had gone through many challenges but found key that patriotism was important. Their language and different movements were bringing the people together and eventually this bond will be strong enough to form what is the powerful Germany today.

Map of Germany in 1871

 Rhine Crisis of 1840: Germany shows its patriotism to stop France from intruding

 Friedrich Carl von Moser

Martin Luther Revolutionary

Statue of Martin Luther in Dresden, Germany

            Martin Luther undoubtedly changed German history. His words and beliefs started a chain reaction and showed individuals that they could actually stand up to the authorities and win. His revolution began with his writings of the 95 theses. He gained support from political leaders like Fredrick the Wise, which ultimately saved him his life. He encouraged his political authorities of Rome’s financial draining on all of the individuals and how this needed to be changed. I feel as though he opened the eyes of some of the political leaders and they knew they had to do something to make a change. Not only was Luther a political revolutionary, but also religious. Not only did he lead his followers with his 95 theses, but he also translated the bible into the German language. This was a huge step in changing religion in German- speaking lands. It made the book more accessible to a wider array of people and changed the church forever. His words made priests and nuns leave the church and get married and they began living the life of the congregation. He informed these individuals that there were simply two sacraments opposed to the seven that Rome was trying to convince the citizens. These findings only opened doors for others to find other flaws with the church system that was being forced upon them. Luther wanted more religious freedom within the church and soon others were realizing the same. The translation of the bible also set to stone the standard German language. With these small key ingredients such as having a standard set language and more religious freedom was just the beginning to a blossoming Germany. Luther spoke what he believed knowing the dangerous consequences he would encounter and I believe this is where he gained a lot of respect. If you are going to start a revolution you need to stay true to your word and fight for what you believe no matter what the outcome may be, and that is exactly what he did until the day he died. I feel as if the citizens of the Roman Empire were unhappy with the situation they were in but didn’t know what to do about it until Luther stepped forward with his ideals and paved the path to an improved political and religious system.

Picture of Martin Luther

Martin Luther appearing before the Diet of Worms
 

Peace of Westphalia

History has always been one of my favorite subjects to learn about in school. I find it fascinating to learn all the background details about why certain things have ended up the way they are today and how we have learned from our past experiences. Reading these first couple chapters about the history of Germany was something entirely new to me and a lot of the information I had never learned about before and it was really interesting and at times a little more complicated and confusing than our American history. The Thirty Years War and ultimately the Peace of Westphalia was a major event that I found to be very important in the history of Germany. I feel as if the Peace of Westphalia was a platform for not only Germany but also many other parts of Europe to start building and growing separately as individual territories. One of the best parts, in my opinion, of this Constitution was that it ensured that the empire would be multidenominational and each territory allowed individuals the rights to practice their own beliefs in private or as a whole. I believe this was a step closer to separating the powers of the church and state as we do in United States. Religion can be tricky because it is a personal belief and everyone believes differently. You will have conflict if you try to force a religious belief upon someone and that was one of the main reasons for the Thirty Years War. I think America was smart when separating the powers of church and state and although this may never be something that happens in Europe, the Peace of Westphalia was a great beginning and solved one of the major problems in their government system at that time. It’s sad to think that they needed a devastating war that weakened their population from 17 million to 10 million people to make this peace, but we can be glad that it ended with this positive outcome.

A painting done by Ernest Croft displaying the tragedy of the Thirty Years War

City of Düsseldorf, Germany; North Rhine-Westphalia

The writing of the Treaty of Westphalia

Why Germany?

       I am extremely excited for the D- term trip to Germany. This trip will be the first time that I have ever been outside of the United States and I am not only excited, but also a little nervous. I am not entirely sure what to expect yet but I know that this trip will be full of new experiences and I am sure to learn a lot. The main reason I chose to study abroad in Germany was because I am about 75% German. My father is mostly German and was actually born in Germany and my mother is about 50% German. I wanted to learn more about my family’s past and my family’s heritage. It will be interesting to learn more about my family’s background and experience the German culture as my ancestors did many years ago. I feel that the best way to learn about a certain culture is to actually be immersed in it yourself and get a hands on feel for the different customs and the different ways of life. I’m also anxious to see all the different castles and churches with the outstanding architecture and design. Not only will sight seeing and learning about the German culture be rewarding, but studying abroad will also help me in my future. Although this is a fairly short trip, I am sure that it will open my eyes to many new and intriguing things that will be useful later on in life. I am majoring in Education and as a teacher it is important to have broad horizons and having several different experiences such as studying abroad to foreign countries are great to help to broaden your perspective on life. I will come home with many stories to share with not only my class in the future but also my friends and family. I will be able to inform my younger siblings about their family’s heritage and the different lifestyles they live in Germany. This trip to Germany will most likely be very influential and mark the first time that I am leaving the United States, but most certainly not the last. It is not very often that you get opportunities like this to study abroad and to visit so many educational places in one short visit and I am going to take advantage of it in every way possible. 

Library of Heidelberg University- the oldest University in Germany

German Flag: Yellow - a symbol of generosity; red- bravery and strength; black- determination