France and Belgium occupied the heavily industrialized Ruhr Valley in response to Germany defaulting on reparation payments dictated by the victorious powers after World War I in the Treaty of Versailles.

On the 9 January 1923, in response to the lack of payment of reparations, France and Belgium invaded the Ruhr. The Ruhr was a region of Germany which contained resources such as factories. The French and Belgians intended to use these resources to make up for the unpaid reparations.

The occupation of the Ruhr led to a collapse of the German economy. There was massive inflation and large increase in unemployment. Germany was now unable to pay any reparations.

January 11, 1923 – Au

By September 1923, this figure had reached 1,500,000 marks and at the peak of hyperinflation, November 1923, a loaf of bread cost 200,000,000,000 marks.

Germany was economically devastated after a draining defeat in World War I. Due to the Versailles treaty, Germany was forced to pay incredibly sizeable reparations to France and Great Britain. Germany began creating transportation projects, modernization of power plants and gas works.

It began during the First World War, when the German government printed unbacked currency and borrowed money to finance its dream of conquering Europe. The plan was to pay off the debts by seizing resource-rich territories and imposing reparations on the vanquished Allies.

Going back to his Weimar example, Cashin used the price of a loaf of bread to illustrate this. In 1914, before World War I, a loaf of bread in Germany cost the equivalent of 13 cents. Two years later it was 19 cents, and by 1919, after the war, that same loaf was 26 cents – doubling the prewar price in five years.

Great Britain