ruhr crisis/hyperinflation

When did Germany announce that they couldn’t repay the reparations?

December 1922

What was the Ruhr?

A major industrial area in Germany

What did France and Belgium do during their invasion of the Ruhr?

Seized factories, mines, railways, products and supplies

What did the Weimar government encourage to do in response?

Passive resistance - striking, sabotaging machinery

Why did passive resistance against the occupation fail?

France and Belgium brought in their own workers

What did the public believe about the Ruhr crisis?

That the Weimar gov. was doing too little

4 steps of invasion to hyperinflation

1. Ruhr occupation caused a shortage of essential goods, causing prices to go up

2. Gov. continued to pay wages of the Ruhr workers and purchased foreign coal

3. There wasn’t enough money, so the government decided to print more and more money (2,000 printers btw)

4. There were too many marks, and the German mark became worthless

How much was one US$1 worth in marks?

200 billion marks

Positive impacts of hyperinflation?

• People in debt paid off loans easily

• Hyperinflation led to major profits as prices rose faster than wages

• People began being paid in essentials than in cash

Negative impacts of hyperinflation?

• Major food shortages as farmers didn’t want to sell food for worthless money

• Unemployment + redundancies rose, and many starved in the working class

How did hyperinflation affect the middle classes?

• Life savings and pensions were worth nothing.

• Many went bankrupt, businesses had more redundancies

• Extremist parties grew in popularity

• Many turned against the gov. - Weimar republic highly weakened