France Invades German Ruhr Valley



France Invades German Ruhr Valley

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At the conclusion of World War I, the Treaty of Versailles was signed and Germany was forced to pay for the total cost of the war, these were called “reparations”. The bill was tallied in April 1921, when the commission determined that damages caused by Germany amounted to $33 billion or 133 billion gold marks. Payments were to be made in cash or by such valuable items as steel and coal.

The Germans tried to uphold their obligations, and made an initial payment of $250 million in September 1921. However, because the German government was using every available dollar to pay for reparations no money was spent to assist the German people. This caused an economic crisis in Germany, which caused runaway inflation and a severe decrease in the German “Mark” – the name for their money.

With their economy in collapse Germany could not pay their war debt. In January 1923, an impatient France, accompanied by a token Belgian force, marched its Army into Germany’s Ruhr Valley (shown on the map above) and set up a military occupation. They claimed this region because it was one of Germany’s biggest suppliers of coal and iron. The French figured that control of the valuable industrial area would either force Germany to resume payments, or the French could simply take the value from the production of the coal mines and iron works.

1. Why did war reparations cause an economic collapse in Germany?

2. Give 2 reasons why France took control of Germany’s Ruhr Valley:

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