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Unlock This CourseRemember, Germany had to pay reparations in money and in goods such as coal and timber. Germany made its first payment in 1921, but by the end of 1922 it had fallen behind with its deliveries. The German government said it could not pay. The French prime minister, Raymond Poincaré, did not believe this. France had its own war debts to pay and wanted to make Germany keep to the treaty.
On 11 January 1923 about 60,000 French and Belgian soldiers marched into the Ruhr. Most of Germany's coal, iron and steel came from this one region. The plan was simple: if Germany would not hand over the goods, the soldiers would take them from the mines and factories.
Germany's army was far too small to fight back. So the chancellor, Wilhelm Cuno, called for passive resistance. Miners, railway workers and officials in the Ruhr refused to work for the French. The government promised to keep paying their wages.
The French replied harshly. They brought in their own workers, arrested people who refused orders and expelled around 150,000 Germans from the region. More than 100 Germans were killed during the occupation. In one clash, at the Krupp steelworks in Essen in March 1923, French soldiers shot dead 13 workers.
The occupation united Germans in anger against France, and for a time many backed the government. But it was a disaster for the economy. Germany's richest region was producing almost nothing, yet the government was paying millions of people not to work.
Key terms:
Hyperinflation had more than one cause. Think of it as a chain, with the Ruhr as the final link.
The results were startling. A loaf of bread that cost 250 marks in January 1923 cost 200,000 million marks by November. Before the war one US dollar was worth about 4 marks. By November 1923 it was worth about 4.2 trillion marks.
Money lost its value by the hour. Many workers were paid twice a day and rushed to the shops before prices went up again. People carried their wages in baskets and wheelbarrows. Children played with bundles of banknotes, and some families burned notes in the stove because they were cheaper than firewood. Shopkeepers were unwilling to sell goods for money that would be worth less by the evening, so many people went back to barter. Unemployment also began to rise in the autumn of 1923.
Savers lost most. Money put aside over a lifetime would no longer buy a loaf of bread. Pensioners and others on a fixed income found their payments worthless. People who had lent money to the government during the war were paid back in useless notes. Many of these losers were middle class, and they never forgave the Republic. Workers suffered too, because wages rose more slowly than prices.
Borrowers gained. Anyone with a debt or a mortgage could pay it off with money that was now worth almost nothing. Some big businessmen, such as Hugo Stinnes, borrowed heavily, bought up firms and repaid the loans cheaply. Farmers did quite well, because food was always in demand. People with foreign money, such as dollars or pounds, could buy goods and property very cheaply.
The government's own debts were wiped out, but the political cost was heavy. Many Germans blamed the Republic, not the war, for their ruin. Extremists saw their chance. Communists attempted a rising in Hamburg in October 1923, and in November came the events covered in the lesson The Munich Putsch, 1923. How the crisis was brought to an end is covered in the lesson Stresemann and Economic Recovery, 1924-29.
Don't say the Ruhr occupation was the only cause of hyperinflation. Prices had been rising since the war. The occupation was the trigger that turned inflation into hyperinflation. Also, don't write that everyone lost. Examiners reward answers that name winners as well as losers.
(c) 'The worst problem facing the Weimar Republic in the years 1919-23 was hyperinflation.'
How far do you agree? Explain your answer. [16 marks]
You may use the following in your answer:
You must also use information of your own.
I agree to a large extent. Hyperinflation hurt more Germans than any other problem, but the Republic also faced armed risings and the hatred caused by the Treaty of Versailles. I will judge each problem by how many people it affected and how long the damage lasted.
Hyperinflation was a very serious problem. After French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr in January 1923, the government printed money to pay workers on passive resistance. A loaf of bread rose from 250 marks in January 1923 to 200,000 million marks by November. Savers and pensioners on fixed incomes lost everything. These were often middle-class people who had supported order, and they now blamed the Republic. So hyperinflation reached into almost every home and turned moderate people against democracy.
However, the Kapp Putsch was a more direct threat to the government's survival. In March 1920 the Ehrhardt Brigade took over Berlin, the army refused to fire on the Freikorps and the government had to flee. This showed that the Republic could not rely on its own army. Yet the putsch lasted only about four days, because a general strike made it impossible for Kapp to govern. It affected fewer people than hyperinflation and it also showed that many workers would defend the Republic.
A third problem was the Treaty of Versailles, signed in June 1919. Germans called it a diktat and hated the war guilt clause, the lost land and reparations. Nationalists called the politicians who signed it the 'November criminals'. This mattered because it weakened the Republic from the start and lay behind the other problems: Kapp wanted to reject the treaty, and reparations led to the Ruhr occupation and so to hyperinflation.
Overall, my view is that the statement is largely right. The Kapp Putsch was dangerous but short, and it was defeated. The treaty did the longest-lasting damage, but as a slow poison, not a sudden crisis. Hyperinflation was the worst single problem because it affected the most people and destroyed trust among the Republic's own natural supporters. Even so, it would not have happened without the reparations set by the treaty.
What lifts this to the top level: it covers three aspects (the two bullets plus the treaty from own knowledge), argues both for and against the statement, and reaches a judgement using stated tests: how many people were affected and how long the damage lasted.
An answer that uses only the two bullet points cannot reach the top level. Plan a third problem of your own before you start, such as the Treaty of Versailles or the Spartacist uprising. Then say in your first lines how you will decide which problem was 'worst', and use the same tests in your conclusion.