Germany signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact in August 1928. It renounced the use of violence to resolve international conflicts. Although Stresemann did not propose the pact, Germany's adherence convinced many people that Weimar Germany was a Germany that could be reasoned with. This new insight was instrumental in the Young Plan of February 1929 which led to more reductions in German reparations payment.
Gustav Stresemann's success owed much to his friendly personal character and his willingness to change. He was close personal friends with many influential foreigners. The most noted was Briand, with whom he shared the Peace Prize.
Stresemann was not, however, in any sense pro-French. His main preoccupation was how to free Germany from the burden of reparations payments to Britain and France, imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. His strategy for this was to forge an economic alliance with the United States. The U.S. was Germany's main source of food and raw materials, and one of Germany's largest export markets for manufactured goods. Germany's economic recovery was thus in the interests of the U.S., and gave the U.S. an incentive to help Germany escape from the reparations burden. The Dawes and Young plans were the result of this strategy. Stresemann had a close relationship with Herbert Hoover, who was Secretary of Commerce in 1921-28 and President from 1929. This strategy worked remarkably well until it was derailed by the Great Depression after Stresemann's death.
During his period in the foreign ministry, Stresemann came more and more to accept the Republic, which he had at first rejected. By the mid-1920s, having contributed much to a (temporary) consolidation of the feeble democratic order, Stresemann was regarded as a "Vernunftrepublikaner" (republican by reason) - someone who accepted the Republic as the least of all evils, but was in their heart still loyal to the monarchy. The conservative opposition criticized him for his supporting the republic and fulfilling too willingly the demands of the Western powers. Along with Matthias Erzberger and others, he was attacked as an "Erfüllungspolitiker" ("fulfillment politician").
In 1925, when he first proposed an agreement with France, he made it clear that in doing so he intended to "gain a free hand to secure a peaceful change of the borders in the East and [...] concentrate on a later incorporation of German territories in the East". In the same year, while Poland was in a state of political and economic crisis, Stresemann began a trade war against the country. Stresemann hoped for an escalation of the Polish crisis, which would enable Germany to regain territories ceded to Poland after World War I, and he wanted Germany to gain a larger market for its products there. So Stresemann refused to engage in any international cooperation that would have "prematurely" restabilized the Polish economy. In response to a British proposal, Stresemann wrote to the German ambassador in London: "[A] final and lasting recapitalization of Poland must be delayed until the country is ripe for a settlement of the border according to our wishes and until our own position is sufficiently strong". According to Stresemann's letter, there should be no settlement "until [Poland's] economic and financial distress has reached an extreme stage and reduced the entire Polish body politic to a state of powerlessness".
Gustav Stresemann died of a stroke in October 1929 at the age of 51. His massive gravesite is situated in Berlin's Luisenstadt Cemetery at Südstern in Kreuzberg, and includes work by the German sculptor Hugo Lederer. Stresemann's sudden and premature death, as well as the death of his "pragmatic moderate" French counterpart Aristide Briand in 1932, and the assassination of Briand's successor Louis Barthou in 1934, left a vacuum in European statesmanship that further tilted the slippery slope towards World War II.
Gustav and Käthe had two sons, Wolfgang and Joachim Stresemann.
Changes
Amon Amarth (band)
Amon Amarth is a melodic death metal band from Tumba, an outer quarter of Stockholm, Sweden. They signed a recording contract with the US-american label "Metal Blade Records". The band was founded in 1996.
Their lyrics are mostly about viking battles and viking gods, but they do not want to be called a "Viking Metal band".
Their most recent album, "Jomsviking", was released on March 25, 2016 and was #1 on the music charts in Germany and Austria.
Amon Amarth band was formed from the previous band, Scum, which was formed in 1988. After a 1991 demo, the band broke up. Johan Hegg convinced the other members to come together again, and they formed Amon Amarth in 1992. They recorded their first demo, "Thor Arise" (1993), with Johan Hegg on vocals, Anders Hansson on guitar and Ted Lundström on bass. It was never released because it was low quality. However, the band caught the attention of a lot of extreme metal fans. In 1994 another demo, "The Arrival of the Fimbul Winter", was recorded and 1,000 copies were released.
They then signed with Metal Blade Records and released their first album, "Once Sent from the Golden Hall". The album made Amon Amarth famous internationally. In June of 1998, Amon Amarth was about to go on tour with Deicide, Six Feet Under, Brutal Truth when guitarist Anders Hansson left and was replaced by Johan Soderberg. After the tour Martin Lopez quit to join Opeth and Fredrik Andersson (ex-A Canorous Quintet) came in. With him in Spring 1999 the band recorded and released its second full-length, "The Avenger".
They released "The Crusher" in 2001, and went on tour to support it with Marduk, Vader. It was planned to be held in the United States, but was cancelled because of the September 11 attacks. It was held a year later later instead, but this time without Marduk. In April 2002 the band toured Europe with Vomitory and in August performed at Wacken Open Air in front of 12,000 fans. "Versus The World", their 4th studio album, was released on 18 November 2002. The bonus edition of the album included their earlier demos. Touring continued until Spring of 2004 when the band started working on the "Fate of Norns" album which was released on 6 September 2004. With Oden on Our Side was released two years later, and Allmusic said about the band, "Amon Amarth continue to be champions of the worldwide death metal tournament."
They went on tour in Australia and New Zealand for the first time in January of 2008. They toured with Dimmu Borgir after finishing another tour with Sonic Syndicate and Himsa.
Amon Amarth extended its record deal with Metal Blade Records in 2008 for three more albums. After extending its record deal, the band released "Twilight of the Thunder God". The album had many guest appearances, including Lars Göran Petrov, Roope Latvala, and Apocalyptica. The album came with an eight-page comic strip based on Norse mythology which was released by magazines in Europe. "Twilight of the Thunder God" was very successful and reached number 6 in Germany, number 10 in Finland, number 11 in Sweden, number 14 in Austria, number 21 in Switzerland. It ended up at the number 7 position in Revolver Magazine’s Top 20 Albums that year.
The band went on another North America tour in October 2008 along with Ensiferum, Belphegor and The Absence. Amon Amarth played its first show in India, headlining the Deccan Rock Festival in Bangalore on 5 December 2009 and played with Slayer during their European tour.
They released their 8th album, "Surtur Rising", on 29 March 2011. Metal Blade Records released their first single, "War of the Gods," on 27 January 2011 via YouTube. To support the album, the band went on a 4-month world tour with Children Of Bodom and Ensiferum, among others.
Amon Amarth performed at Wacken Open Air in 2012, Hellfest 2013, Download Festival 2013, Sweden Rock Festival and Mayhem Festival 2013.