1923 – YEAR OF CRISIS!

1) Why did the French invade the Ruhr in 1923?

Because Germany had not paid any reparations in 1922, and under the terms of Versailles France was allowed to invade and help herself to what she wanted from Germany.

1923 – YEAR OF CRISIS!

2) How did the Germans react to the French invasion?

PASSIVE RESISTANCE

• The Germans couldn’t fight the French – small army and too weak after the war, so they everyone in the Ruhr went on strike instead = Passive Resistance.

1923 – YEAR OF CRISIS!

3) What economic problem did Passive Resistance lead to?

1923!!! - HYPERINFLATION!!! – 1923!!!

• The German government had told all its workers to stop working, but it still had to pay them! It did this by printing loads of money, but this meant that money lost all its value!!

1923 – YEAR OF CRISIS!

4) Give examples of how Hyperinflation made life difficult for Germans.

• Money lost all its value – at one stage an egg cost 80 million marks.

• People had to carry money around in wheelbarrows.

• By the time you got to the front of a queue the price of what you were buying had doubled.

1923 – YEAROF CRISIS!

5) Give two groups of people who really suffered from Hyperinflation?

• 1) Pensioners – they were on a fixed income. There was no way this could keep up with the crazy prices.

• 2) People with savings in the bank. Their savings had lost all their value.

1923 – YEAR OF CRISIS!

6) Which man solved Hyperinflation, and how did he do it? [2 key measures]

STRESEMANN

1) Ended Passive Resistance

2) Introduced a new currency – the Rentenmark

1923 – YEAR OF CRISIS!

7) Why was ending Passive Resistance so unpopular with right-wing extremists like the Nazis?

It was like “giving in” to the French.

• It was as if Stresemann was saying the Treaty of Versailles was fair, and that Germany should be paying reparations.

1923 – YEAR OF CRISIS!

8) What did the Nazis do at the end of 1923 which showed how angry they were?

The Munich Putsch

Hitler and the Nazis tried to start a national revolution in Munich. It failed.

1923 - YEAR OF CRISIS!

9) Why did the Munich Putsch fail?

• Hitler had assumed the army and police would support him and join in.

• They did not.

1923- YEAR OF CRISIS!

10) What important lesson did Hitler learn from the failure of the Munich Putsch?

• That he would have to take power legally, and GET VOTED IN TO POWER.

• He had tried a violent revolution and it had failed.

1923 – YEAR OF CRISIS!

11) What is the correct order of the following 5 events of 1923?

• Ending of Passive Resistance• Hyperinflation• Munich Putsch• Invasion of the Ruhr• Passive Resistance

1923 – YEAR OF CRISIS!

Correct order of events:

1) Invasion of the Ruhr2) Passive Resistance3) Hyperinflation4) Ending of Passive Resistance5) Munich Putsch