1923 – YEAR OF CRISIS!
1) Why did the French invade the Ruhr in 1923?
Because Germany had not paid any
reparations in 1922, and under the terms of
Versailles France was allowed to invade and
help herself to what she wanted from
Germany.
1923 – YEAR OF CRISIS!
2) How did the Germans react to the French invasion?
PASSIVE RESISTANCE
• The Germans couldn’t fight the French – small
army and too weak after the war, so they
everyone in the Ruhr went on strike instead =
Passive Resistance.
1923 – YEAR OF CRISIS!
3) What economic problem did Passive Resistance lead
to?
1923!!! - HYPERINFLATION!!! – 1923!!!
• The German government had told all its
workers to stop working, but it still had to pay
them! It did this by printing loads of money,
but this meant that money lost all its value!!
1923 – YEAR OF CRISIS!
4) Give examples of how Hyperinflation made life
difficult for Germans.
• Money lost all its value – at one stage an egg cost 80
million marks.
• People had to carry money around in wheelbarrows.
• By the time you got to the front of a queue the price
of what you were buying had doubled.
1923 – YEAROF CRISIS!
5) Give two groups of people who really suffered from
Hyperinflation?
• 1) Pensioners – they were on a fixed income.
There was no way this could keep up with the
crazy prices.
• 2) People with savings in the bank. Their
savings had lost all their value.
1923 – YEAR OF CRISIS!
6) Which man solved Hyperinflation, and how did he do
it? [2 key measures]
STRESEMANN
1) Ended Passive Resistance
2) Introduced a new currency – the
Rentenmark
1923 – YEAR OF CRISIS!
7) Why was ending Passive Resistance so unpopular
with right-wing extremists like the Nazis?
It was like “giving
in” to the French.
• It was as if Stresemann was saying the Treaty
of Versailles was fair, and that Germany
should be paying reparations.
1923 – YEAR OF CRISIS!
8) What did the Nazis do at the end of 1923 which
showed how angry they were?
The Munich Putsch
Hitler and the Nazis tried to start a national
revolution in Munich. It failed.
1923 - YEAR OF CRISIS!
9) Why did the Munich Putsch fail?
• Hitler had assumed the army and police would
support him and join in.
• They did not.
1923- YEAR OF CRISIS!
10) What important lesson did Hitler learn from the
failure of the Munich Putsch?
• That he would have to take power legally, and
GET VOTED IN TO POWER.
• He had tried a violent revolution and it had
failed.
1923 – YEAR OF CRISIS!
11) What is the correct order of the following 5 events
of 1923?
•
•
•
•
•
Ending of Passive Resistance
Hyperinflation
Munich Putsch
Invasion of the Ruhr
Passive Resistance
1923 – YEAR OF CRISIS!
Correct order of events:
1) Invasion of the Ruhr
2) Passive Resistance
3) Hyperinflation
4) Ending of Passive Resistance
5) Munich Putsch