Picture: The not-so-roaring Twenties

Due to the political and economical crisis in Germany following the First World War that also conducts a radical decrease of the Army, many soldiers were unemployed over night. This specification of the Treaty of Versailles struck especially young men who joined the armed forces directly from school and knew nothing besides military and fighting, officers and war invalids. Inflation and several several attempted coups (like the Kapp-Putsch or the Hitler-Ludendorff-Putsch) made the situation even worse. Plenty of veterans can’t find their places in society and/ or a job, so many veterans ended up on the streets. But from 1924 on, the situation got better, due to political treatys that adjusted the Teaty of Versailles to the German economy’s potential and the introduction of the Rentenmark to stop inflation. In this picture from 1923, a Berlin citizen gives money to a highly decorated war invalid (source: Bundesarchiv).