Editing Weimar Republic (section)

===Economic problems===

{{main|Dawes Plan|Reichsbank}}
The Weimar Republic had some of the most serious economic problems ever experienced by any Western democracy. It experienced a period of rampant [[hyperinflation]], sometimes high unemployment, and a large drop in living standards. From 1923 to 1929, there was a period of economic recovery, but the [[Great Depression]] of the 1930s led to a worldwide recession. Germany was particularly affected because it depended heavily on American loans.

The Weimar Republic was severely affected by the Great Depression. In 1926, about two million Germans were unemployed, which rose to around six million in 1932, with many blaming the Weimar Republic. As the Weimar Republic was very fragile throughout its existence, the depression was devastating and played a major role in the [[Nazi Party|Nazi]] takeover.

Most Germans thought the [[Treaty of Versailles]] was a punishing and degrading document because it forced them to surrender resource-rich areas and pay massive amounts of compensation. The punitive reparations caused consternation and resentment, but the actual economic damage resulting from the Treaty of Versailles is difficult to determine. While the official reparations were considerable, Germany ended up paying only a fraction of them. However, the reparations damaged Germany's economy by discouraging market loans. A number of factors came together in 1923, including printing currency to finance the costs of passive resistance to the [[occupation of the Ruhr]], to cause rampant hyperinflation. At the beginning of 1920, one US dollar was equivalent to fifty marks. By the end of 1923, one US dollar was equal to 4,200,000,000,000 marks.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pmgnotes.com/news/article/7334/German-Vampire-Note/ |title=German Vampire Notes |date=16 April 2019 |work=PMGNotes.com |access-date=1 May 2019 |archive-date=14 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114005649/https://www.pmgnotes.com/news/article/7334/German-Vampire-Note/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Princeton University|Princeton]] historian [[Harold James (historian)|Harold James]] argues that there was a clear link between economic decline and people turning to extremist politics.<ref>James, Harold, "Economic Reasons for the Collapse of the Weimar Republic", in {{harvnb|Kershaw|1990|pp=30–57}}</ref> That was made apparent when political parties on both the far right and far left wanted to disband the Republic altogether, making any democratic majority in Parliament impossible.<ref name="Weitz-2018"/>