Compliance Policy

The foreign policy strategy of the Weimar Republic, from the acceptance of the London ultimatum in 1921 to the occupation of the Ruhr in 1923 , was called “fulfillment policy” in the narrower sense . This strategy envisaged fulfilling the demands of the Western powers, which were considered exaggerated, to such an extent that they ultimately became apparent should.

The term was used in this sense by the politicians of the Weimar coalition themselves. In contrast, the right mostly used the term in a defamatory context. After 1923 out, the term was continued and repeatedly used to defame the foreign policy of the German Reich. Above all, "[the] political right branded Stresemann's policy as a policy of fulfillment and a sell-out of German interests."

Since Germany was politically, militarily and economically too weak to force a revision of the Versailles peace treaty , German foreign policy under the leadership of Chancellor Joseph Wirth ( center ) and reconstruction and foreign minister Walther Rathenau ( DDP ) tried to make reparations payments under the treaty as far as possible complete. This was intended to demonstrate the total breakdown of the German economy and the unsatisfiability of international payment claims. The Allies, especially France, did not see the “fulfillment policy” as an actual oath of disclosure of Germany's economic performance. Rather , against the background of the steadily increasing debt and inflation rate in Germany, they called for a consistent fiscal policy of budget consolidation. However, such a policy was basically only adopted with the currency reform in November 1923. The associated stabilization of the currency made it possible in 1924 to reorganize reparation payments under the Dawes Plan .

By the right, the protagonists of this foreign policy strategy were defamed as "fulfillment politicians" and became victims of Fememorden in the Weimar Republic . Among other things, the center politician Matthias Erzberger († August 26, 1921) and the liberal Foreign Minister Walther Rathenau († June 24, 1922) were shot by the Consul organization .

literature

Eberhard Kolb : The Weimar Republic. (= Oldenbourg floor plan of the story , vol. 16). Oldenbourg, Munich 2002. ISBN 3-486-49796-0 .
Gottfried Niedhart : The foreign policy of the Weimar Republic. (= Encyclopedia of German History , Vol. 53). Oldenbourg, Munich 2013. ISBN 978-3-486-71600-9 .
Heinrich August Winkler : Weimar 1918-1933: the history of the first German democracy. CH Beck, Munich 1998. ISBN 3-406-43884-9 .

Individual evidence

^ Kursbuch Geschichte, Berlin 2010, p. 344.

[1] Kursbuch Geschichte, Berlin 2010, p. 344.