The advent of 1923 did not make Europe more peaceful, but on the contrary, it began to feel a strong atmosphere of tension. Because on January 11, France, despite the opposition of Britain and the United States, united with Belgium, sent troops to occupy the Ruhr industrial area in Germany under the pretext that Germany did not fulfill its obligation to pay reparations. This led to the far-reaching Ruhr crisis.

Due to the intense attrition of the war and the need for new industries in the Alsace-Lorraine region, France's domestic reserves of raw materials, especially coal, are seriously insufficient, and the shortage of funds remains a serious problem. The French government had hoped that the Treaty of Versailles would bring about huge reparations, but Germany delayed the payment of reparations on the grounds of inflation.

And French Prime Minister Raymond Poincaré is a hardliner on Germany. As early as the opening ceremony of the Paris Peace Conference, Poincaré made a speech denouncing the German Empire for being "born unrighteous and deserving to die in disgrace." ”

He also criticized Clemenceau for making too many concessions to Britain on the Farsay contract. It can be said that he can be regarded as the toughest politician in France against Germany.

Moreover, when Poincaré came to power in 1922, he declared in parliament: "Even if Germany is in a position to pay the reparations, the most important thing facing France, the Allies have the means to compel him to pay the reparations."

At the London Conference in mid-August, Britain and France did not reach any agreement on the German question, and Poincaré, who was present at the meeting, instead said, "Although France is empty-handed, it has no restraint." “

There are also reasons why Poincaré is so emboldened, and why France plays a dominant role in the Compensation Commission.

The Treaty of Versailles stipulated that Germany should pay an indemnity of 20 billion gold marks by May 1, 1921, and set up an indemnity commission to settle the question of the total amount and proportion of the reparations. The committee was based in Paris and consisted of one representative each from Britain, France, Italy, and Belgium (the United States sent only semi-official representatives because of its refusal to ratify the peace treaty). The representative of France, in his presidency, had the power to make the final decision by two votes each, thus placing France in a de facto leadership position on the question of German reparations.

In order to prevent Germany from defaulting on reparations, the Allies agreed in April 1920 that if Germany did not pay reparations, the Allies could impose sanctions. In July of the same year, the Reparations Commission convened a meeting of Germans in Spa to set the proportion of the amount of reparations to which each country should be paid. However, Germany delayed the payment, and by the beginning of 1921 the original payment of 20 billion gold marks was still about 12 billion short of the original payment.

At the London Conference in March 1921, the Reparations Commission forced Germany to accept the reparations schedule set by the Allies, but when Germany refused, the Allies decided to impose sanctions on Germany, and on March 8 they sent troops to occupy Düsseldorf, Duisburg, and Ruhrault on the east bank of the Rhine.

In April of the same year, the Reparations Commission decided that the total amount of reparations to be paid by Germany was 132 billion gold marks (including 12 billion that had not been paid by Germany by 1 May 1921).

On 5 May the Commission sent a payment schedule and an ultimatum to Germany, demanding that Germany pay 2 billion gold marks a year and 26 per cent of the value of its exports, and that it must pay 1 billion gold marks in reparations for 1921 by the end of May. If Germany did not give a satisfactory answer by 12 May, the Allies would occupy the Ruhr.

This led to the fall of the German Cabinet of Felenbach, which was replaced by the Cabinet of Wirther who accepted the total amount of reparations and the schedule of payment on May 11, and by August Germany had reimbursed 1 billion gold marks in reparations.

Having paid the above-mentioned reparations, Germany intends to delay future payments. In July and November 1922, Germany demanded a deferral of the remaining payments, citing the financial crisis. The British government supported Germany's request and proposed a reduction in the total amount of reparations and a moratorium on payments, but France was firmly opposed.

As a result, not only did the differences between Britain and France on the issue of reparations intensify, but the contradictions between Germany and France also intensified rapidly, and France decided to take military action against Germany.

The Ruhr industrial region is an important industrial region in Germany. It is located in western Germany, between the Ruhr and Lippe rivers, tributaries of the lower Rhine. It covers an area of 4,593 square kilometers, accounting for 1.3% of the country's area. The population and cities in the district are dense, with a population of 5.7 million, accounting for 9% of the country's population, and the population density in the core area exceeds 2,700 people per square kilometer, and there are 24 cities with more than 50,000 people in the district. Despite its small size, the Ruhr region is the center of Germany's metallurgical industry, producing more than 80% of Germany's annual production of coal, pig iron and steel.

So in the face of the military takeover of the Franco-Belgian coalition, German Chancellor Kuno ordered passive resistance. Declaring no cooperation with the French and Belgian occupation authorities, recalling the ambassador to Paris and the minister to Brussels, and ceasing all reparations to France and Belgium. Miners and railway workers in the occupied territories went on strike or staggered struggles, and all rail and water traffic through Germany to France and Belgium was paralyzed.

The French and Belgian occupation authorities took coercive measures to control the management, production and distribution of coal, prohibiting the export of commodities from the occupied territories and imposing taxes and other customs duties. All Germans who participated in the passive resistance, including their families, were arrested, imprisoned, fined, deported and even executed.

At the same time, the German Government sent a note to the Allies and the Government of the United States, stressing that Germany would continue to engage in passive resistance until normalcy was restored to the Ruhr and the Rhineland. The note recommended that the total amount of German reparations be 30 billion gold marks, part of which would be paid with international loans. France considered the German proposal to be of no substance, and the United Kingdom was disappointed by the German proposal.

Throughout the summer, France refused to negotiate, despite British mediation. As a result of the loss of the Ruhr heavy industrial zone and the huge subsidies to the occupied areas, the German economy became more and more financially difficult, and the value of the mark plummeted. In mid-June 1923, 100,000 marks were exchanged for 1 dollar, and on August 8 it fell to 5,000,000 marks for 1 dollar.

The Cuno government resigned on 12 August in the face of internal and external crises. G. Straisman succeeded him as chancellor, reformed the finances and currency, suppressed the workers' revolution, and announced the cessation of passive resistance from 26 September.

He made several requests for direct negotiations with the French government, but France refused, and supported the coal syndicate to negotiate with the International Industrial and Mining Control Delegation and the Fabiruhr District Control Committee.

On November 23, the two sides signed an agreement stipulating that the Coal Syndicate would resume deliveries of coal and coke to the Entente countries, and that France and Belgium would receive 18 percent of the total coal production and 35 percent of the total coke production as compensation in kind from Germany; From 1 October, the coal mined was owned by the Coal Syndicate, and a tax of 10 francs was paid to the Entente for every ton of coal sold.

Through this agreement, France achieved the goal of forcibly taking Germany "production collateral". Attitudes towards German reparations have eased, and the Ruhr crisis is nearing its end. On 30 November, the Commission appointed two committees of experts to discuss the settlement of the issue of German reparations. Among them, the report of the First Committee of Experts on April 9, 1924 (commonly known as the Dawes Plan) was accepted by the Allies and the German government attending the London Conference (July 16, 1924 ~ August 16, 1924), thus temporarily settling the question of German reparations.

On 16 August, France, Belgium and Germany reached an agreement to withdraw French and Belgian troops from the Ruhr and other areas within a year of the implementation of the Dawes plan, which began on 1 September.

In fact, the Ruhr crisis was ostensibly caused by the Franco-German reparations dispute, but its deep-seated cause was France's deep sense of insecurity and Franco-German contradictions. In the eyes of the French leaders, with Germany's industrial base, population size and geographical location, it is easy for Germany to make a comeback, and once the German economy recovers and rearmament, France's nightmare will be repeated.

Thus, at the Paris Peace Conference, France had strongly advocated weakening Germany, even dismembering it, and eliminating its industrial and military capabilities forever. However, this plan was opposed by the United States and Great Britain, and President Wilson tried to contain Germany and guarantee the security of France through the collective security mechanism of the League of Nations. But the fact that the United States did not join the League of Nations after the war caused great concern for France's own security.

The end of the Ruhr crisis seemed to be a final victory for France. In reality, however, the catastrophic knock-on consequences of the crisis were far more terrible than the reparations that France received. First of all, the most immediate damage caused by this crisis is that France's international standing has been dealt a great blow.

During the French occupation of the Ruhr, the franc also depreciated sharply due to the impact of the crisis, and in order to stabilize the economy, France had to borrow a lot like Britain and the United States, and the result of this practice was that France had to cede the leading role in the negotiations on German reparations to Britain and the United States, which were interested in supporting Germany's economic recovery.

Another disaster was on the German side, where many veterans, led by Hitler and others, were already dissatisfied with the Weimar government's weak measures in post-war diplomacy. The Ruhr crisis was an excellent propaganda fodder for these nationalists.

The weakness of the Weimar government and the policy of passive resistance were obvious to Germany, and although the subsequent rapprochement between Germany and France and economic growth made it difficult for these extremist forces to gain much support, when society was in crisis and turmoil, turning the Ruhr crisis out again was a fatal blow to the Weimar government.