Timeline of the Weimar Republic

January 1923
- At the beginning of the year, one dollar already costs 7,525 marks.
- The Reparations Commission adopts the “productive pledges” policy.
- French and Belgian troops enter the Ruhr.
- The Reich government calls for “passive resistance” against the occupation of the Ruhr.


March 1923
- French military act of vengeance in Buer
- Transport Ministry issues regulations on trucks.
- Cabinet with solely SPD members formed in Saxony.
- Tensions between the French military and Krupp company workers

April 1923
- Large memorial service to honor the victims of the occupation of the Ruhr
- The Allies allow broadcasting activities for private individuals
- The NSDAP is banned in Hesse


June 1923
- State of siege is declared in Dortmund
- Paul Hindemith’s “Marienleben” (“The Life of Mary”) premiers
- Bomb attack on Belgian soldiers in Duisburg

July 1923
- At the beginning of July, one dollar costs 160,400 marks
- So far 92 people have died because of the occupation of the Ruhr
- Parts of the SPD and the ADGB express lack of confidence in the government

August 1923
- Negotiations fail between Cuno’s cabinet and France; the Cuno government steps down
- Formation of the “Grand Coalition” led by Stresemann
- The Bauhaus Week is launched in Weimar

September 1923
- Official statement that the “passive resistance” is over
- Gustav Ritter von Kahr is appointed as General State Commissioner in Bavaria

October 1923
- The Black Reichswehr occupies the fortress in Küstrin
- The Rhenish Republic is proclaimed in Aachen
- SPD and KPD governments are formed in Saxony and Thuringia
- Imperial authority imposed over Saxony

November 1923
- The SPD withdraws from the Reich government
- Hitler-Ludendorff-Putsch in Munich
- Introduction of the Rentenmark
- Stresemann’s government resigns
- The Reparations Commission decides to establish two expert commissions to work on the reparations issue

December 1923
- Die USA und Deutschland schließen einen Handelsvertrag
- Bertolt Brechts Drama "Baal" wird uraufgeführt
- Frankreich lockert seine Besatzungspolitik im Ruhrgebiet
- Hjalmar Schacht wird neuer Reichsbankpräsident