January 1923
2 January
Before hyperinflation, one dollar already costs 7,525 marks.
[Büttner, p. 779]
2 - 9 January
France and Belgium reject the payment schedules for German reparations payments tabled by Italy and Great Britain, which include longer moratoriums. The German government is not given an opportunity to explain its situation. The Reparations Commission declares on 9 January that Germany deliberately failed to meet the coal supplies for 1922, with Great Britain expressing its disagreement. Accordingly, the decision is made to occupy the Ruhr in order to implement the “productive pledges” policy.
[Winkler, p. 187 -188]
11 January
Five French divisions together with a Belgian division enter the Ruhr and seize control of the coal production areas. The purpose of the troops is to protect a commission of engineers whose aim is to ensure the production and supply of coal. For the French government under Poincaré, the occupation of the Ruhr is the opportunity hoped for to separate the areas left of the Rhine from the German Reich, thereby weakening Germany in the long run.
[Kolb, p. 51]
13 January
The German government reacts to the occupation of the Ruhr with a call for “passive resistance”. All civil servants are instructed to not obey any orders issued by the occupying forces. Consequently, the Ruhr is completely blocked off from the rest of the Reich by the French and Belgian troops.
[Kolb, p. 52/353]