Gustav Stresemann took over the Weimar Republic as the head of a broadly based coalition in 1923, and helped stabilize the country. In 1925 Stresemann signed the Treaties of Locarno, and in the following year Germany was elected to the League of Nations. A new currency, the Reichsmark, was established and some economic recovery began.
Stresemann had been born in Berlin and educated at the universities of Berlin and Leipzig, entering the Reichstag in 1907. During World War I he supported German imperialist policies, but after Germany’s defeat Stresemann joined the new republican government. He strenuously opposed the Treaty of Versailles, and for his efforts won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1926.
Gustav Stresemann, a member of the controversial German People’s Party, worked diligently at ridding the restraints which the Treaty had placed on Germany and restore Germany’s sovereignty. And he was successful in getting rid of some of the most hated aspects of the treaty. He was able to convince the Americans that Germany would pay reparations from the World War I if there was a softening on the amount. The Dawes Plan was implemented which restructured reparations on the basis of Germany’s ability to pay. The total amount of the reparation was scaled down to an undecided figure. Furthermore, loans were secured from America to enable Germany to recover. In 1924 Stresemann arranged for the evacuation of foreign troops from German territories and in 1928, the reparation debt was reduced to eight billion gold marks, amortized over fifty-nine years. The occupation of the Rhineland ended five years early and the Army Commission was disbanded.
