Hermann R. Dietrich

For the Raiders of the Lost Ark character, see Hermann Dietrich (fictional character).
Hermann Dietrich
Vice-Chancellor of Germany
In office
30 March 1930 – 1 June 1932
ChancellorHeinrich Brüning
Preceded byOskar Hergt (1928)
Succeeded byFranz von Papen (1933)
Reich Minister of Finance
In office
26 June 1930 – 1 June 1932
ChancellorHeinrich Brüning
Preceded byHeinrich Brüning (acting)
Succeeded byLutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk
Member of the Reichstag
In office
1920–1933
ConstituencyNational List (1932-1933)
Baden (1920-1932)
Personal details
Born
Hermann Robert Dietrich

(1879-12-14)14 December 1879
Died6 March 1954(1954-03-06) (aged 74)
Political partyGerman Democratic Party
OccupationPolitician

Hermann Robert Dietrich (14 December 1879 – 6 March 1954) was a German politician of the liberal German Democratic Party and served as a minister during the Weimar Republic.[1]

Finance Minister of Germany

In 1930, Dietrich succeeded Paul Moldenhauer as Finance Minister of the Weimar Republic.[2][3] In the midst of the Great Depression, Dietrich became the "chief proponent" of government contracts in 1930[4] in an attempt to offset the drastic increase in unemployment.[5] Because the contracts were contingent on the reduction of prices, he and the Provisional National Economic Council had to authorise the reduction of wages in the German industrial community.[5]

Dietrich, along with the economists Heinrich Brüning and Adam Stegerwald, firmly believed that accelerating the pace of the agricultural sector at the cost of Germany's industrial capacity would solve unemployment.[5] He was initially opposed to the deflationary policy pushed by Brüning, but later changed his position and said it was a "necessary measure" along with the cut in civil workers' salaries.[6][7]

During President Paul von Hindenburg's bid for re-election, Dietrich was one of few elites in the cabinet barred from speaking at the president's candidacy campaigns for allegedly being "too far left".[8]

References

  1. ^ Frölich, Jürgen (2005). "'He served the German people well'. Der politische Weg Hermann Dietrichs vom badischen Nationalliberalen zum baden-württembergischen Freidemokraten". Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins (in German). 153: 619–640. ISSN 0044-2607.
  2. ^ "Dictator Plan for Germany is Postponed". Indianapolis Times. 27 June 1930. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  3. ^ Saldern, Adelheid von (1966). Hermann Dietrich Ein Staatsmann der Weimarer Republik (in German). Boldt. p. 100. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  4. ^ Meyer, Gerd (1991). Die deutsche Reparationspolitik von der Annahme des Young-Plans im Reichstag (12. März 1930) bis zum Reparationsabkommen auf der Lausanner Konferenz (9. Juli 1932) (in German). Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität. p. 28. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  5. ^ a b c Mommsen, Hans (1 March 1998). The Rise and Fall of Weimar Democracy. UNC Press Books. pp. 369, 308.
  6. ^ Stalmann, Volker (2009). Linksliberalismus in Preussen: die Sitzungsprotokolle der preussischen Landtagsfraktion der DDP und DStP 1919-1932 (in German). Droste. p. 1157. ISBN 978-3-7700-5288-2. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  7. ^ Meier, Desiderius (19 April 2021). Hermann Dietrich: Bürgertum und Liberalismus in der Weimarer Republik (in German). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. XLIV. ISBN 978-3-11-068682-1. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  8. ^ Mommsen, Hans (1 March 1998). The Rise and Fall of Weimar Democracy. UNC Press Books. p. 407.
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