page_title: Gustav Stresemann
section_title: In the Weimar Republic
hierarchical_section_title: Gustav Stresemann / In the Weimar Republic
caption_attribution_description: English: grave of former de:Reichskanzler Gustav Stresemann at Luisenstädtischer Friedhof in Berlin. Sculptor: Hugo Lederer Deutsch: Grabstätte des früheren de:Reichskanzlers de:Gustav Stresemann auf dem Luisenstädtischen Friedhof in Berlin, gestaltet von de:Hugo Lederer
context_page_description: Gustav Stresemann was a German liberal politician who was Chancellor and Foreign Minister of Germany during the Weimar Republic. He shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1926.
  Stresemann's politics are hard to define. Today, he is generally considered one of the most important leaders of Germany and a staunch supporter of democracy in the fragile Weimar Republic. He is noted as one of the first to see European economic integration. Arguably, his most notable achievement was reconciliation between Germany and France, for which he and Aristide Briand received the Peace Prize.
context_section_description: On 13 August 1923, in the midst of the Ruhr Crisis, he was appointed Chancellor and Foreign Minister of a grand coalition government. As Chancellor, Stresemann went a long way towards resolving the crisis.  In the so-called year of crises (1923) he showed strength by calling-off the popular peaceful resistance at the Ruhr. Since Germany was no longer able to pay the striking workers, more and more money was printed, which finally led to hyperinflation. Hans Luther, who was the current finance minister, ended this disastrous process by introducing a new currency, the Rentenmark, which reassured the people that the democratic system was willing and able to solve urgent problems.
  Stresemann's decision to end passive resistance was motivated by his view that making a good faith effort to fulfill the terms of Versailles was the only way to win relief from the treaty's harsher provisions.  He, like virtually every German, felt Versailles was an onerous Diktat that sullied the nation's honour.  However,  he felt that trying to fulfill the treaty's terms was the only way Germany could demonstrate that the reparations bill was truly beyond its capacity. He also wished to recover the Rhineland - he wrote to the Crown Prince on 23 July 1923: "The most important objective of German politics is the liberation of German territory from foreign occupation. First, we must remove the strangler from our throat".
  However, some of his moves - like his refusal to deal firmly with culprits of the Beer Hall Putsch - alienated the Social Democrats. They left the coalition and caused its collapse on 23 November 1923. Stresemann remained as Foreign Minister in the government of his successor, Centrist Wilhelm Marx.  He remained foreign minister for the rest of his life in eight successive governments ranging from the centre-right to the centre-left.
  As Foreign Minister, Stresemann had numerous achievements. His first notable achievement was the Dawes Plan of 1924, which reduced Germany's overall reparations commitment and reorganized the Reichsbank.
  After Sir Austen Chamberlain became British Foreign Secretary, he wanted a British guarantee to France and Belgium as the Anglo-American guarantee had fallen due to the United States' refusal to ratify the Treaty of Versailles. Stresemann later wrote: "Chamberlain had never been our friend. His first act was to attempt to restore the old Entente through a three-power alliance of England, France and Belgium, directed against Germany. German diplomacy faced a catastrophic situation". Stresemann conceived the idea that Germany would guarantee her western borders and pledged never to invade Belgium and France again, along with a guarantee from Britain that they would come to Germany's aid if attacked by France. Germany was in no position at the time to attack, as Stresemann wrote to the Crown Prince: "The renunciation of a military conflict with France has only a theoretical significance, in so far as there is no possibility of a war with France". Stresemann negotiated the Locarno Treaties with Britain, France, Italy, and Belgium. On the third day of negotiations Stresemann explained Germany's demands to the French Foreign Secretary, Aristide Briand. As Stresemann recorded, Briand "almost fell off his sofa, when he heard my explanations". Stresemann said that Germany alone should not make sacrifices for peace; European countries should cede colonies to Germany; the disarmament control commission should leave Germany; the Anglo-French occupation of the Rhineland should be ended; and Britain and France should disarm as Germany had done. The Treaties were signed in October 1925 at Locarno. Germany officially recognized the post-World War I western border for the first time, and was guaranteed peace with France, and promised admission to the League of Nations and evacuation of the last Allied occupation troops from the Rhineland. Germany's eastern borders were guaranteed to Poland only by France, not by a general agreement.
  Stresemann was not willing to conclude a similar treaty with Poland: "There will be no 
caption: Stresemann's tomb at the Luisenstädtischer Friedhof Cemetery, Berlin
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