ABSTRACT
The Weimar constitution was hailed as the most democratic yet seen anywhere, and included an extensive catalogue of human rights, largely influenced by the 1849 constitution of the Frankfurter Parlament. The constitution also stipulated various social aims, including full employment and adequate housing. The Austrian Republics first constitution, agreed in 1920, bore strong resemblances to that of the Weimar Republic: a federal system gave the various provinces significant autonomies, the indirectly elected Bundesprsident had only symbolic powers, and the main house of parliament the Nationalrat was elected by proportional representation. The Wall Street Crash gradually revealed the underlying instability of the German economy, particularly once foreign investors had withdrawn their funds. An international commission headed by the American banker Owen Young drew up a plan envisaged as the final settlement of Germanys outstanding reparations. The 1920s saw economic growth and rising affluence in the United States.
