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Sheet Introduction
Occupatoin of the Ruhr
In January 1923, French troops were sent into the industrial region of Germany known
as the Rhur. France claimed that Germany was refusing to pay the reparations that had
been imposed on it by the treaty of Versailles. During this French occupation, relations
between French troops and German citizens grew steadily worse and often resulted in
violence. The Germans refused to cooperate with France and went on strike. The main
economic result of this was the collapse of the German currency with the hyper inflation
of 1923. The Weimar Republic faced many threats to its existence during 1923, not only
from the French but also from leftwing and rightwing extremists inside Germany. One
of these threats came from Adolf Hitler.
a) Germany Before Weimar
Before 1918 Germany was ruled by the Kaiser or Emperor. He appointed his Chancellor
and ministers as the Government. They, in turn, made decisions and wrote laws which
were approved by the Reichstag. This system of government was supported by important
groups of people in Germany such as army officers, civil servants, judges, university
teachers, landowners and businessmen. For a long time these groups were the main
sources of power in German life and politics.
German trade unions had grown to a massive 2.5 million members by 1913. The unions
supported their own political party, the Social Democrats (SPD). The spectacular rise of
the SPD to be the biggest party in the Reichstag was the major event of the prewar
German politics.
When WWI broke out a minority in the SPG opposed the war. They said that the war was
not to defend Germany but to expand it. As the war progressed, the split between the two
groups of the SPD became wider.
As the war continued, ordinary Germans suffered more and more. There were shortages
of food, medicines and clothing. Early in 1918 Germany’s generals began to realise that
they would lose the war. They advised the Kaiser to ask for peace. In October 1918 the
Kaiser acted. He chose members of the SPD dominated Reichstag to form a new
government to negotiate peace.
But the changes came too late to halt the unrest and dissatisfaction with the war. Mass
meetings were held against the war. Revolution war in the air. By November 9, the
capital, Berlin had been taken over. The army generals told Kaiser Wilhelm that he had
to give up the throne to save Germany from civil war. Without the support of the army,
the Kaiser abdicated. The SPD took advantage of the great enthusiasm for change. A
new government was formed with Friedrich Ebert, as Chancellor. Germany was a
parliamentary democracy. The armistice agreement to end the war was signed on
November 11, 1918.
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Sheet – the Birth of the Weimar Republic
Sheet – The 1918 Revolution
Why did France invade and occupy the Ruhr?
France invaded the Ruhr on 11 January 1923 because Germany had fallen behind in its
reparation payments. However, French motives went deeper than just a desire to make a
debtor pay.
The 1919 Treaty of Versailles, which Germany had been forced to sign, stated that
Germany had to pay massive reparations to the victorious Allies. This was to compensate
the Allies for the damage caused to them by Germany during WWI. In 1921 a figure was
finally agreed upon – US $40 billion. For France, the issue of reparations was not
simply a matter of vengeance though most French people felt that Germany needed to be
punished for invading France in 1914. It was also a crucial matter for economic
survival. Much of the terrible fighting of WWI had taken place on French territory.
France had suffered terribly because of the war: 1.3 million people had died; 2.5 million
people had been driven out of their homes; France had lost one million cattle, 5 000
kilometres of railway, 23 000 factories and 52 000 kilometres of roads. The French
government believed that the only way to rebuild its shattered country was to squeeze
reparations out of Germany. As a result, it was likely to be very tough on Germany if the
latter tried to get out of paying its debts.
However, there was absolutely no way that Germany could possibly pay such an
enormous amount of money. Reparations were calculated at compound interest. This
meant that if, in any one year, Germany could not keep up with the interest payments, it
would end up owing more at the end of the year than at the beginning, even though it
might have made a sizeable payment.
Germany quickly got into trouble with its reparations. With the help of a London loan, it
made its first payment in 1921 but by late 1922 it was in trouble. Germany failed to
deliver a consignment of telegraph poles to France. The French premier, Poincare,
believed that Germany was simply trying to get out of paying its debts and he was
determined not to let Germany get away with it. The French view was: if Germany will
not pay, then we will go in and get it ourselves. Many at the time held the view that
Germany would do anything to get out of paying.
Sheet – France had...
Sheet – The Treaty of Versailles
Sheet – The Treaty of Versailles...Content recap
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Occupation and Resistance
The French occupation was often brutal while German opposition ranged from nonco
operation to violent resistance.
The Behaviour of the Germans
Germany was in no position to respond militarily to the French invasion. It could so little
but watch as French and Belgian troops marched into their country. The German people
felt a mixture of shame, anger and humiliation. However, the Weimar government was
able to capitalise on the resurgence of patriotism that bean to envelop the nation.
On 16 January 1923, the German Chancellor, Wilhelm Cuno, called upon the people of
the occupied areas to pursue a policy of ‘passive resistance’. Cuno discouraged any
violent action against the French as he know the French would retaliate in an extremely
forceful way. Instead, he urged the people to refuse to cooperate in anyway with the
invading forces. Reparation payments of any kind ended immediately. Public officials,
mine workers and transport workers refused to help French troops.
Spontaneous strikes broke out all over the Ruhr. German industrialists who had at first
shown some wllingness to cooperate with the French joined in the passive resistance.
One leading German industrialist, Fritz Thyssen, and some of his colleagues were
arrested by the French for their noncooperation. The British ambassador at the time,
Lord D’Aberon, commented about the French decision to arrest Thyssen and his
associated.
Lord D’Aberon, writing in 1923
“The French, by their invasion of the Rhur, and by their imprisonment of minedirectors
have done more to bring together all parties an all classes in Germany than it was
possible to effect by any other means. The mineowners and minedirectors who have
been imprisoned are becoming national heroes.”1
Sheet – The actions ...
1
McKay, M. Germany 191945, Longman, Harlow, 1989, Pg. 18
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