topic 1 - invasion of the Ruhr and hyperinflation

what happened in January 1923?

germany couldn’t pay the second reparations payment

what did france and Belgium do in response?

they sent 60,000 troops to invade the Ruhr

why did they choose the Ruhr?

it was a hugely important industrial area and was also in the demilitarised rhineland area meaning that the german army couldn’t intervene

what did the German government order workers in the Ruhr to do?

go on strike as a form of passive resistance

what was a negative of passive resistance?

it cost the government a lot of money as they were responsible for paying the striking workers but weren’t making any money from the area

what happened in February 1923?

the strike proved to be hugely successful and paralysed the area

what happened in march 1923?

paramilitary groups in the area began active resistance to sabotage the french which led to bloody confrontations between workers and troops

what happened in the summer of 1923?

the government continued printing even more money to pay the striking workers which led to hyperinflation

what happened in September 1923?

the new chancellor called off passive resistance

who was the new chancellor?

Stressemann

why did he call off passive resistance?

to help the government during the hyperinflation crisis as they were no longer responsible for paying workers wages

what was the effect of hyperinflation?

money completely lost its value over night and many lost their lives savings

increased poverty rates led to …

declining health and order but caused suicide, crime and prostitution to increase

what did people begin to look for during hyperinflation?

a scapegoat

how did peasants cope with hyperinflation?

quite well as they didn’t usually rely on savings - many were farmers meaning they were both self sufficient and in demand

how did the lower middle class (mittlestand) cope with hyperinflation?

quite well as they were often shopkeepers and craftsmen who did well if they were willing to exploit the demand of the market

how did the upper middle class (mittlestand) cope with hyperinflation?

they were one of the worst affected groups as the often relied on fixed salaries and savings

how did industrial workers cope with hyperinflation?

their wages weren’t fixed but couldn’t keep up with the rate of inflation however they often didn’t have huge savings so they didn’t loose loads of money

how did civil servants cope with hyperinflation?

badly as they were on fixed salaries which fell in value

how did pensioners cope with hyperinflation?

very badly as they relied on savings which had completely lost its value

how did businesses cope with hyperinflation?

quite well as they could buy short term loans to boost their businesses and pay them back easily - they also made money off of foreign transactions

how did the government cope with hyperinflation?

quite well as they were able to pay off the war debt but not the reparations