French and Belgian troops occupy the Ruhr

The Treaty of Versailles may have ended the First World War, but it did not entirely stop conflict. Germany was required to pay high financial reparations and deliver raw materials to the Allies to compensate them for damage incurred during the war. When Germany fell behind in deliveries due to economic troubles, French and Belgian troops marched into the Ruhr region on 11 January 1923 to seize the materials owed to them.

The German government called on the inhabitants of the occupied areas to offer passive resistance, and halted the payment of reparations. Whilst workers went on strike, gangs of radicals in industrial centres even conducted a campaign of sabotage, and French troops retaliated by executing dozens of civilians. With the German government printing money to pay strike wages, inflation caused an economic and social crisis. The occupation of the Ruhr ended only in August 1925.