Economic and political crises faced by Germany's Weimar Republic

NARRATOR: Germany, 1923 - four years after its founding, the Weimar Republic is threatened with national bankruptcy. Many face ruin. The aftermath of the Great War is still apparent. French forces have occupied the Ruhr Area to enforce the payment of war reparations. Strikes break out. The government in Berlin decides to print money to offset economic losses and to pay off debts.

HANS-ULRICH WEHLER: "The money-printing machines were running since August 1914, and the German people paid the bill with hyperinflation. If you earned a grotesque two million in the morning but wanted to buy bread in the afternoon, you'd have to pay two billion."

NARRATOR: Very quickly, cash, savings, and pensions lose their value. The never-never budgeting drives millions into poverty and stokes mistrust against the democracy.

HANS-OLAF HENKEL: "My grandfather had a thick package of banknotes at home. I still have it today. There's a banknote with two billion marks written on it. You can't imagine what that meant for the people. Suddenly their savings were worthless."

NARRATOR: Demagogues on the extreme right and left try to capitalize on the crisis. On October 23 the so-called Proletarian Hundreds rise up in Saxony and Thuringia. Their objective: a Russian-style revolution. German armed forces crush the rebellion. There are deaths and injuries. Also in Bavaria, forces join against the Republic. Here from the radical right. The head of one splinter group hopes to lead the opponents to democracy - Adolf Hitler. On the 8th of November, 1923 in Munich, the Nazi leader calls for a national revolution.

GÜNTER GRASSMANN: "The atmosphere in the hall wasn't so much enthusiastic as frightened. We weren't really sure what these people actually wanted."

NARRATOR: The next day, the rebels try to march to the Field Marshals' Hall in the center of Munich. The Bavarian police open fire. Hitler is arrested, but is released after nine months in prison.

OTTO GRITSCHNEDER: "He had already been convicted many times before. If the court hadn't been so stupid and set him free, then he'd have been inside until at least 29 or 30, and then it would have been over anyway."

NARRATOR: The Weimar Republic of 1923 had to contend with a number of crises. Chancellor Gustav Stresemann battles to hold them at bay. He sets the course for economic recovery with a new currency. And he pushes for an agreement with the victorious powers of the Great War. He is regarded as the savior of the young democracy, and during his reign lays the groundwork for what would later be known as the Golden Twenties.