The Ruhr Crisis
IB 20th Century Topics
Causes
► The
French Fear of Security
 US and British Isolation
 Growing sympathy for Germany in Britain
Causes
► Reparations
 132 Billion Gold Marks (33 Billion dollars est.)
 French wanted them paid
►Owed
money to the US
►Wanted revenge on Germany
 Britain was ambivalent to reparations
►Needed
to pay the US too, but didn’t want to
collapse Germany
►Fear of German isolation
Some Background on the Ruhr
► The
Ruhr Valley was the Industrial Center of
Germany
► Coal and Steel Production
► Lumber
The Trigger
► Germany
fails to deliver lumber
► France declares Germany in default of
reparation payments
 January 11, 1923: Belgian and French Troops
invade the Ruhr
 German workers went on strike
1923 French Soldiers in the Ruhr Area
Results
► In
retaliation, Germany orders a strike and prints
money to pay the strikers (goes into
hyperinflation) In economics, hyperinflation is
inflation that is very high or "out of control".
► Fear Germany would become communist
► Middle Class in Germany wiped out
► The whole incident was humiliating and causes
Germans to lose faith in their government
German Hyperinflation
► In
economics, hyperinflation is inflation
that is very high or "out of control".
► Germany went through its worst inflation in
1923. In 1922, the highest denomination
was 50,000 Mark.
► By 1923, the highest denomination was
100,000,000,000,000 Mark.
► In December 1923 the exchange rate was
4,200,000,000,000 Marks to 1 US dollar.
Ruhr Valley
French troops occupying the Ruhr
Valley. Rough treatment of
Germans by black colonial French
troops led to German resentment
and humiliation
The Dawes Plan (1924)
Causes
1. The Ruhr Crisis & Hyper Inflation
The Plan
1. Made loans available to Germany
2. Froze payments for two years
3. Lowered payments
Result
1. Persuades France to withdraw troops
2. Germany could make payments
3. Germany adopts the policy of fulfillment