ruhr nd hyperinflation

Cards (10)

  • Passive resistance

    A way of opposing somebody without using any kind of force
  • Hyperinflation
    Extremely high inflation where money becomes almost worthless
  • Enmities
    Hatred or bad feelings that someone might have
  • The German government ordered workers to follow passive resistance by stopping work and not producing anything the French could take
  • The German government printed more money to pay workers, but this led to hyperinflation as there was more money chasing fewer goods
  • Hyperinflation resulted in prices running out of control, e.g. a loaf of bread costing 250 marks in January 1923 rising to 200,000 million marks in November 1923
  • Hyperinflation ruined the German economy and particularly badly hit middle-class people with savings
  • Children used stacks of worthless money as building blocks, and people needed trolleys to carry enough money to buy a loaf of bread
  • The French invaded the Ruhr, Germany's main industrial area, to try to recoup reparations owed under the Treaty of Versailles
  • Germany's army was limited to 100,000 soldiers under the Treaty of Versailles, so they could not fight back against the French invasion