After Germany failed to pay reparations, French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr in January 1923, and the government supported a strike of the workers by printing money. Prices soared: a loaf of bread cost 250 marks in January 1923 and 200 billion marks in November, when a US dollar was worth 4.2 trillion marks. Workers were paid twice a day and carried wages in wheelbarrows. Savings were wiped out for the middle class. The crisis was ended by Gustav Stresemann's government with a new currency, the Rentenmark, on 15 November 1923, but the trauma lasted. Memories of it influenced the German obsession with price stability.
Before and after
- 16 September 1923Birth of Kuan Yew Lee
- 16 September 1923Construction of RheinEnergie Stadion
- October 1923Hubble shows that Andromeda is a separate galaxy
- 16 October 1923Founding of The Walt Disney Company
- November 1923German hyperinflation reaches its peak
- from 8 November 1923 to 9 November 1923Beer Hall Putsch
- 20 November 1923Birth of Nadine Gordimer
- 1924Internal combustion engine
- 1924Origins of Allsvenskan
More in Society, economy & sport
- from 3 August 1936 to 9 August 1936Jesse Owens wins four gold medals in Berlin
- 1937Nanjing Massacre
- 1938Founding of Samsung Group
- 1940Katyn massacre
- 15 May 1940Founding of McDonald's
- 1941Rise of Vietnamese Independence League
The era
This moment belongs to the Modern era (1914 CE to 1945 CE), world wars and a changing world. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.