At the beginning of 1929, the Weimar Republic was and had been in a period of stability from 1924. It seemed as if the German economy had been finally beginning to heal itself and political recovery coupled with apparent success in foreign affairs strengthened the idea that the Weimar Republic was becoming stable at last after all the challenges of the early 1920s. In comparison to the years before and after, this period was ‘stable’. Thus, though the Weimar Republic had made economic, political and foreign policies to stabilize Germany in the short term, they were based on unstable foundations, which would not create long term stability or survival of the Weimar Republic.
The stabilisation of German currency through the introduction of the Rentenmark, which ended the hyperinflation in 1923, and the introduction of the Dawes plan in 1924 helped Germany start to economically recover from the war. The Dawes plan changed Germany’s reparations according to its ability to pay them. It also included an American loan and the plan led to the evacuation of the Ruhr by French troops that were now satisfied that Germany would pay reparations. Germany seemed to make a remarkable economic recovery in this period. Between 1924 and 1929, German industry had regained up to 80-90% of its pre-war output, and Germany had repaid 23 billion marks in reparations. Thus, through greater efficiency and improved technology, increased higher levels of productivity were reached during this period. This recovery also led to increased wages which in turn led to better social welfare from the government that gave the German public the idea that the economy was recovering and the Republic was becoming more stable.
However, this recovery can be exaggerated due to being compared to the periods before and after it. German economic stability was largely based on and vulnerable to