Author: HP

Guided Reading - The Rhur and Hyperinflation of 1923

The Invasion of the Ruhr

The year 1923 would become known as the ‘difficult year’ for Germany, starting with events in the Ruhr region but then spreading throughout Germany. It would be a difficult challenge for the Republic.

Task 1: Read the story of the Ruhr below, highlight key facts and figures, and complete the activities.

Draw a small illustration for each box which captures the event:

By January, one of Germany’s biggest problems was that it was bankrupt. Its reserves of gold had been spent in the war. The Treaty of Versailles made things worse. This deprived Germany of wealth-earning areas, such as the coalfields in Silesia. The Treaty also made the German government pay reparations. Germany asked for reductions, but some Allied countries, especially France, needed money to pay war debts to the USA. With no gold reserves and falling income, by 1923 Germany could no longer pay reparations.

In December 1922, Germany failed to send coal to France. In retaliation, on 11 January 1923, 60,000 French and Belgian troops marched in the Ruhr and seized control of machinery and confiscated raw materials. They planned to take the resources by force and even took money from the banks.

The Ruhr was in the de-militarised Rhineland so the Germans could not resist, especially since France had an army of 750,000, Germany only 100,000. Therefore the government urged ‘Passive Resistance’, so the workers went on strike and refused to work which meant German industry ground to a halt. Many demonstrations were held and some machinery was sabotaged to stop the French working them. The government even printed more money to pay the workers. However, there was some violence and many workers were shot. The French army arrested the entire Ruhr police force to ensure zero resistance.

The invasion increased the German hatred of the French in particular for invading German land. They also resented the government for doing nothing, although, realistically, they had no choice, being outgunned. However, they looked weak in the face of a threat and like the Kapp Putsch, had left it for the workers to fix it. The occupation of the Ruhr crippled Germany as it now lost 80% of its coal, iron and steel and meant Germany couldn’t pay its debts. Unemployment in Germany increased and there was an extreme shortage of food and goods. The British, who hadn’t been involved, saw it as excessive and refused to support French actions.

Making Links! How much had reparations been? ____________________ Other than Reparations, what other provisions of the treaty are linked to the Invasion of the Ruhr? Why? ____________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Answer the below questions as your read through:

Give two reasons why Germany was unable to pay reparations by 1923.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Why were the French, in particular, so angry about Germany’s failure to pay?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Why were the Germans helpless to resist?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In your own words, describe what ‘passive resistance’ was.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
There were many consequences of the invasion of the Ruhr. Find a consequence for each of the below groups.
For France: _________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ For the German People: _______________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ For the Weimar Government:__________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What was unique about the atomic bomb from other bombs?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This paid off and the USSR’s first successful test was on 29th August 1949, just four years after the USA. By 1964, Britain, France, and China also had the atomic bomb. Atomic weapons could kill millions and destroy the world, so the two countries entered an ‘arms race’ with each side trying to create weapons more powerful than the other, in order to remain the most powerful country. They believed having lots of nuclear bombs would stop others wanting to attack each other.

Info on Use:
Great where you want:
to get student confidence up reading
you don’t have a textbook so need to get internet info
or at GCSE you just need them to have it in their books.
EXAMPLE 1 - Dual Coding with questions
You can change the title, delete the text in the boxes and alter the questions. This one is good for dual coding it you want them to draw a small image to help remind them what the paragraph was about.
EXAMPLE 2 - No dual coding, longer questions
A slight variation, this time without the dual coding but more space for question and answer. This one has more of a bringing together of information by noting the consequences, rather than just simple comprehension.
EXAMPLE 3 - Bringing Together
Similar to the other two but there are no questions here. This one just asks them to draw out the reasons something happened. Having the info in their books, plus their conclusions is useful for revision.