Occupation of the Ruhr

Occupation of the Ruhr
Part of the Aftermath of World War I and Political violence in Germany (1918–1933)
French soldiers and a German civilian in the Ruhr in 1923
Date January 11, 1923 – August 25, 1925 (2 years, 7 months, and 2 weeks) Location The Ruhr, Germany Result Dawes Plan
Belligerents
France  Belgium	Germany German protesters
Commanders and leaders
Raymond Poincaré Alphonse Caron Jean Degoutte	Wilhelm Cuno Wilhelm Marx
Casualties and losses
	137 civilians killed (est.)

The Occupation of the Ruhr (German: Ruhrbesetzung) was the period from 11 January 1923 to 25 August 1925 when French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr region of Weimar Republic Germany.

The occupation of the heavily industrialized Ruhr district came in response to Germany's repeated defaults on the reparations payments required under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. The French and Belgians intended to force Germany to supply the coal and other raw materials that were part of the reparations. With the active support of the German government, civilians in the area engaged in passive resistance and civil disobedience which largely shut down the economy of the region. A number of acts of sabotage and retaliation took place as well. An estimated 137 civilians were killed and 600 injured during the occupation.

The ongoing economic crisis in Germany worsened considerably as a result of the occupation.^[1] The government paid for its support of idled workers and businesses primarily by printing paper money. The action contributed significantly to the hyperinflation that brought major hardships to Germans across the country. After Germany successfully stabilized its currency in late 1923, France and Belgium, facing economic and international pressures of their own, accepted the 1924 Dawes Plan drawn up by an international team of experts. It restructured and lowered Germany's war reparations payments and led to France and Belgium withdrawing their troops from the Ruhr by August 1925.

The occupation of the Ruhr contributed to the growth of radical right-wing movements in Germany. Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party used the occupation as part of their justification for the Beer Hall Putsch of November 1923, which brought them wide public attention for the first time.^[2]