What effect did the Invasion of the Ruhr have on Germany?

Answer 1

One effect of the Invasion of the Ruhr was hyperinflation. This was when inflation, an increase in prices and the fall in the purchasing value of money, went mad. Inflation took place in a very short time. This meant that the value of money rapidly decreased. This effected different people in different ways; some good and some bad.

For example, pensioners found that their pensions became worthless. This was because they were on a fixed income so the higher the inflation the more they lost out. As prices rose, they could afford less and less; soon struggling to survive. Another example is savers. People with savings found that they too had lost their value. Lots if retired people relied on the interest of the saving to survive and keep their money up. Also lots of people were saving for when they were retired so that they had enough money to live then. The money that was received from interest soon became worthless too. This meant that there were people who becoming burden's on the country because they couldn't survive on the money they had. This made Germany worse off as they were struggling as it was because of the reparations they had to pay form WWI.

However, some people did benefit from hyperinflation. For example, farmers. Farmers benefitted because everybody needed food and they had to buy it from farmers. Therefore they kept getting more and more money. Also, they owned land and this was always going to be worth money. As time went on its values were bound to increase and make farmers even better off. Overall, the Invasion of the Ruhr had different effect on different people; some benefitted but most were worse off.

Another effect of the Invasion of the Ruhr was the attitude towards the Government. The German's disliked the Weimar Government. Just before this, the Government had signed The Treaty of Versailles. This meant that Germany's military and land were restricted; meaning that they were worse off as a whole. The fact that the French invaded Germany's most valuable area would have damaged their wealth even more. To top this, hyperinflation caused the country's economy to collapse all because of the Government printing more money. This all would have made lots of German people dislike the Government even more because they were losing all they had gained in WWI. This would have caused lots of tension between the German people and their Government. Tension can lead to violence. Many soldiers still had their weapons from the war and took to the streets. All of this would make the German people dislike the Government even more because they were making the country less powerful. Perhaps leaving space for someone to take the way and improve the country; this is what the German people were looking for.

A final effect, from my own knowledge, is the changing of the future. From my own knowledge, I know that because of all the hatred towards the Government somebody, Adolf Hitler, comes forwards and tries to change things. Hitler could, and would, manipulate the situation in his favour. He would suggest that he could prevent all of the problems and seek revenge on France for their cruel treatment of the German people. At this time, all the German people wanted was someone who would help them overcome the situation. He promised things like economic stability. This is where there is stable inflation that is low. All the German people wanted was this. To them, it seemed that this person could solve the problems of the country. This resulted in the rise of his power. In summary, a final effect was Hitler's rise to power caused off of the back of the Invasion of the Ruhr.