Gustav Stresemann and the Golden Years
Bankrupt
If a business or company is financially ruined.
Chancellor
The German Prime Minister.
Culture
What goes into making or defining a nation – its heritage and traditions.
Decadent
If you are self-indulgent. You are morally in decline and your standards are viewed as being lower than they ought to be.
Depression
This is a time when a country’s economy is in decline and is usually accompanied by a fall in prices, unemployment and less business being carried out.
Export
To send goods abroad for trade and sale.
Industrialist
A person who owns or runs a large industrial enterprise.
League of Nations
An international organisation set up after the First World War. It was created in the hope that future wars could be avoided.
Loan
A sum of money that is lent to someone. Interest on the loan is usually charged.
Manager/Managerial
Someone/people who are in charge of a business.
Pact
A formal agreement (usually between two or more countries).
Passive Resistance
Protesting by refusing to cooperate. Protesting in a peaceful way.
Prosperity
Being wealthy or “well off”.
Putsch
An armed uprising. This is when an attempt is made to seize power using violent methods.
Republic
A country which does not have a monarchy (a royal family). The country is ruled by a president.
Reparations
Compensation. The Allies demanded that Germany pay for war damage caused during the First World War.
Ruhr
An industrial area within Germany. This was occupied by France and Belgium in 1923 when Germany failed to keep up with reparations payments.
Rural
The countryside – often agricultural and farming areas.
Stock Exchange
A place where stocks and shares are bought and sold.
Urban
Built up area, like a large town or city.
Wall Street Crash
When the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street collapsed (1929) and share prices fell sharply as a result. This caused widespread depression throughout the world from late 1929 onwards. America recalled short term loans that it had arranged with Germany.
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