Hyperinflation - 1923

1922 - Germany stopped paying reparations to the French

Could not afford it

French thought they were trying to escape paying

1923 - French and Belgian armies invade the Ruhr

Industrial heartland of Germany

German workers go on strike

French shoot resistors and bring in their own workers

With the Ruhr on strike, Germans stopped making money

Striking Germans had to be paid by the government

The German government printed more money so that the economy was flooded with paper money

The mark becomes worthless