Great Coalition (Weimar Republic)

The Great Coalition was a grand coalition in the Weimar Republic formed in 1923 by the four main pro-democratic parties within the Reichstag:

• The SPD, a moderate socialist party
• The Centre Party, a centrist Catholic party
• The DDP, a liberal middle-class party
• The DVP, a centre-right party led by Gustav Stresemann

It was Gustav Stresemann who re-united these parties to work together in the time of crisis and to eliminate hyperinflation. The Great Coalition worked to fight challenges from the extreme right and left wings.

The Great Coalition called off the workers' strike to oppose the French invasion of the Ruhr (which convinced the SPD to leave the coalition), convinced the French and Belgian troops to leave the Ruhr, through passive resistance and subsequently introduced the Rentenmark to successfully fight hyperinflation.