#occupation of the ruhr (1923)

[3hookers]

Hyperinflation in Weimar Germany.

After World War I, Germany was forced to sing the Treaty of Versailles. This included Germany taking the blame for the war, paying reparations for the damages caused, and giving up territory to countries such as Czechoslovakia, Poland, etc.

Due to the reparations they were forced to pay, the German currency experienced major inflation and was deemed useless eventually, a majority of the money going to countries they’d borrowed from throughout the war. The Ruhr Valley became occupied by France and Belgium after Germany failed to pay reparations, which contained resources such as factories. They used these facilities in order to obtain the unpaid reparations. However, workers in the Ruhr refused to work without pay under France and Belgium’s control and with the German government’s support, decided to go on strike.

With the French and Belgian occupation in the Ruhr, it became difficult for any of the resources to be obtained. Workers weren’t creating new resources and were being paid without working. Due to Germany being unable to sell anything and paying workers at the same time, it meant no money was being given to the government. Because of this, the German government decided to print more money, which led to the currency essentially becoming useless.

In late 1922, a loaf of bread in Berlin costed 160 marks. By the end of 1923, it costed 200 billion marks.

In June 1923, an egg costed 800 marks. By December, it costed 320 billion marks.

As the money was so useless, people would burn it as coal was too expensive, even with a mass amount of notes.

#tccblr #reichblr #tc #tcc columbine #tcc tumblr #tc community #history #world war 1 #world war one #german history #weimar #info post

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"Germany Honors Martyr," Border Cities Star. June 8, 1933. Page 6. --- GERMAN youth organizations gathered the monumental black cross on Golzheim Heath, Dusseldorf, during the celebration in honor of Albert Schlageter, executed by the French for sabotage during the Ruhr occupation ten years ago. Altar fires are burning at the foot of the cross, which marks the spot where Schlageter was shot as a spy in 1923.

#albert leo schlageter #dusseldorf #occupation of the ruhr #golzheim #nationalist martyr #german nationalism #spy vs spy #altar fires #nazi seizure of power #german history #nsdap #interwar period

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 1.11 (before 1940)

532 – Nika riots in Constantinople: A quarrel between supporters of different chariot teams—the Blues and the Greens—in the Hippodrome escalates into violence. 630 – Conquest of Mecca: The prophet Muhammad and his followers conquer the city, and the Quraysh association of clans surrenders. 930 – Sack of Mecca by the Qarmatians. 1055 – Theodora is crowned empress of the Byzantine Empire. 1158 – Vladislaus II, Duke of Bohemia becomes King of Bohemia. 1569 – First recorded lottery in England. 1654 – Arauco War: A Spanish army is defeated by local Mapuche-Huilliches as it tries to cross Bueno River in Southern Chile. 1759 – The first American life insurance company, the Corporation for Relief of Poor and Distressed Presbyterian Ministers and of the Poor and Distressed Widows and Children of the Presbyterian Ministers (now part of Unum Group), is incorporated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1779 – Ching-Thang Khomba is crowned King of Manipur. 1787 – William Herschel discovers Titania and Oberon, two moons of Uranus. 1805 – The Michigan Territory is created. 1861 – American Civil War: Alabama secedes from the United States. 1863 – American Civil War: The three-day Battle of Arkansas Post concludes as General John McClernand and Admiral David Dixon Porter capture Fort Hindman and secure control over the Arkansas River for the Union. 1863 – American Civil War: CSS Alabama encounters and sinks the USS Hatteras off Galveston Lighthouse in Texas. 1879 – The Anglo-Zulu War begins. 1908 – Grand Canyon National Monument is created. 1912 – Immigrant textile workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts, go on strike when wages are reduced in response to a mandated shortening of the work week. 1914 – The Karluk, flagship of the Canadian Arctic Expedition, sank after being crushed by ice. 1917 – The Kingsland munitions factory explosion occurs as a result of sabotage. 1922 – Leonard Thompson becomes the first person to be injected with insulin. 1923 – Occupation of the Ruhr: Troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area to force Germany to make its World War I reparation payments. 1927 – Louis B. Mayer, head of film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), announces the creation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, at a banquet in Los Angeles, California. 1935 – Amelia Earhart becomes the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California.

#Events

[wikiuntamed]

On this day in Wikipedia: Tuesday, 26th September

Welcome, Bienvenue, Benvenuta, שלום 🤗 What does @Wikipedia say about 26th September through the years 🏛️📜🗓️?

26th September 2019 🗓️ : Death - Jacques Chirac Jacques Chirac, French politician, President of France (b. 1932) "Jacques René Chirac (UK: , US: , French: [ʒak ʁəne ʃiʁak] ; 29 November 1932 – 26 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Paris from 1977..."

Image licensed under CC BY 4.0? by Christian Lambiotte

26th September 2016 🗓️ : Death - Toughie (frog) Toughie, last known Rabbs' fringe-limbed treefrog (h. fl. 2005) "Toughie was the last known living Rabbs' fringe-limbed treefrog. The species, scientifically known as Ecnomiohyla rabborum, is thought to be extinct, as the last specimen—Toughie—died in captivity on September 26, 2016. ..."

Image licensed under CC BY 2.0? by Brian Gratwicke from DC, USA

26th September 2013 🗓️ : Death - Mario Montez Mario Montez, Puerto Rican-American actor (b. 1935) "René Rivera, (July 20, 1935 – September 26, 2013), known professionally as Mario Montez, was one of the Warhol superstars, appearing in thirteen of Andy Warhol's underground films from 1964 to 1966. He took his name as a male homage to the actress Maria Montez, an important gay icon in the 1950s and..."

Image licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0? by Michael Bidner

26th September 1973 🗓️ : Event - Concorde Concorde makes its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in record-breaking time. "The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde () is a retired Franco-British supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France and the UK signed a treaty establishing the development project on..."

Image licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0? by Eduard Marmet

26th September 1923 🗓️ : Event - Occupation of the Ruhr The German government accepts the occupation of the Ruhr. "The Occupation of the Ruhr (German: Ruhrbesetzung) was a period of military occupation of the Ruhr region of Germany by France and Belgium between 11 January 1923 and 25 August 1925. France and Belgium occupied the heavily industrialized Ruhr Valley in response to Germany defaulting on reparation..."

Image licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 de? by

UnknownUnknown

26th September 1820 🗓️ : Birth - Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Indian philosopher, painter, and academic (d. 1891) "Ishwar Chandra Bandopadhyay CIE, popularly known as Ishwar Chandra Vidya Sagar (Bengali: ঈশ্বরচন্দ্র বিদ্যাসাগর, lit. 'Vidyasagar, the Sea of Knowledge)'; (26 September 1820 – 29 July 1891), was an Indian educator and social reformer of the nineteenth century. His efforts to simplify and modernise..."

Image by Unknown authorUnknown author

26th September 🗓️ : Holiday - Christian feast days: Nilus the Younger "Nilus the Younger, also called Neilos of Rossano (Italian: Nilo di Rossano, Greek: Όσιος Νείλος, ο εκ Καλαβρίας; 910 – 27 December 1005) was a Griko monk and abbot from Calabria. He was the founder of Italo-Byzantine monasticism in southern Italy. He is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox..."

Image by GJo

#OnThisDayInWikiHistory #WikiUntamed #WikiExplorer #WhereAreWeGoing

[sandyhookhistory]

"The United States' Final World War One Centennial" 100 Years Ago, Today - (Wednesday Janaury 25th, 1923, Antwerp, Belgium: A mission ends. It began approximately 5 years and 7 months earlier when the first Soldiers of the American Expeditionary Force landed in France on June 26th, 1917, to join the Allies in The Trenches of the Western Front. Now, it is over. Their occupation duty finally over, the 1,000-odd men of the US Army's 8th Infantry Regiment file up the gangplank and onto the US Army Transport "St. Miehel." They are the last vestige of over 2 million men - and women - deployed to Europe to help end World War One. The scene is captured in the amazing first image we have here, fuzzy as it may be. Following the end of hostilities, American and Allied forces settled in on "Occupation Duty," where the victorious forces moved into Germany, and monitored disarmament and the opening stages of the rules set forth in the Treaty Of Versailles. (Photo 4; undated shot of American troops on Occupation Duty) Over the next four years, the American force slowly dwindled as the men rotated home. De Only a token force was left, garrisoned at the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress in Coblenz, Germany. Despite successful American goodwill with the German people, the situation with Germany and the other Allies grew dark as Germany failed to live up to its Treaty agreements. The Allies quickly occupied the Ruhr Valley in early Janaury of 1923. US President Warren G. Harding saw fit to bring the Boys home, signing the orders in early January, and the 8th Infantry Regiment packed up. On Jan. 24th, American Soldiers brought down the American Flag over Ehrenbreitstein Fortress for the last time, turning the fortification over to their French counterparts. Marching to the Coblenz train station, they prepared for the first 150 mile leg of their trip home. As the train pulled out, the band of the French 156th Infantry Division played "La Marseillaise"... and the Star-Spangled Banner" The following day, the 8th Infantry Regiment was onboard the St. Miehel, and the American Mission in Europe was over. ...21 years, 4 months and 13 days later, American Soldiers would be back. (at Fort Hancock, New Jersey) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cn3MOOBNg6p/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[itsoliverohanlon]

Marching into Germany - cartoon in an American newspaper on this day 1923. It refers to the French occupation of the Ruhr Valley in Germany.

Source: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85035720/1923-01-15/ed-2/seq-1/

#newspaper cartoons #france #germany

[ilya100ans]

Il y a 100 ans

Janvier-Février  1923 - des Annales de Lyre No. 192.

1.

REVUE DE MOIS

Du 10 octobre 1922 au 11 février 1923

______________

FRANCE

11 novembre. – Fête de la Victoire. Fête de l’Union, dans tous les centres importants. – A Rouen, le 12, admirable manifestation patriotique…

2-4 décembre. – Grève des boulangers de Paris. Résultat : un petit four.

27. – Centenaire de Pasteur, le grand savant …

11. – A la Chambre et au Sénat, approbation à l’immense majorité, de la politique de Poincaré à l’égard de l’Allemagne. Le parti radicale même ses voix au parti de l’Entente Républicaine.

AUTRES PAYS

ETATS-UNIS. – 13 novembre – 10 décembre. Tournée triomphale de notre vieux « Tigre » Clémenceau. Il établit éloquemment que c’est l’intérêt du monde et des Etats-Unis eux-mêmes qu’ils nous soient fidèles.

ANGLETERRE. – 19 octobre. – Démission de Lloyd George. (Enfin !) – 24 novembre, Ministère Bonar Law. Favorable à la France ? En tout cas, pouvant avoir besoin de la France, il lui laisse les mains libres.

ITALIE. – 30 octobre. Le parti national les « fascistes » porte son chef Mussolini au ministère. Celui-ci demande aux Chambres et en obtient pleins pouvoirs.

ALLEMAGNE. – 24 novembre. Ministère Cuno. Les manquements successifs et volontaires de l’Allemagne à ses engagements du Traité de Versailles sont proclamés par la Commission des Réparations.

11 janvier. – Occupation de la Ruhr par la France et la Belgique réunies, sous la direction du général Degoutte. – Grévistes des Postes et des chemins de fer remplacés par des employés français. – Sanctions de plus en plus sévères. – Mais, il ne s’agit que d’une « opération de police ». L’Allemagne refusant de nous payer, nous nous payons nous-mêmes.

TURQUIE. – 10 octobre. Accord de Moudania entre les Turcs, les Grecs et les Alliés. – 21 novembre. Déchéance du sultan Mehemet VI, qui s’enfuit à Malte. Son successeur, Abdul-Medjid, avec seulement les pouvoirs religieux du Khalife. – 5-10 février. Après l’échec de la Conférence de Lausanne, les Turcs menacent les Alliés. Enthousiasmés de leur victoire, soutenus par les Russes, mesurant notre faiblesse à nos concessions, ils espèrent bien reprendre ce que la guerre leur avait fait perdre …, et davantage.

Janvier-Février  1923 - des Annales de Lyre No. 192.

2.

LA FÊTE DE 11 NOVEMBRE

à la Neuve-Lyre

La Commission des fêtes avait fixé la cérémonie civile précisément à l’heure de la grand’messe. : décision regrettable, car, en obligeant les familles à choisir entre la cérémonie civile et la cérémonie religieuse, elle les contrariait presque toutes. Du reste, un certain nombre d‘entre elles seraient venues, de préférence, au service célébré pour leurs soldats et ainsi un jour, qui devait être une fête d’Union, serait devenue une manifestation de désunion.

M. le Curé ne pouvait pas supprimer le service qu’il avait annoncé. S’excusant auprès des familles, que ce changement d’heure dérangeait, mais résolu avant tout à sauvegarder l’Union sacrée, il avança son office à 8 h. ½, de sorte que chacun put se rendre à la cérémonie qu’il voudrait – ou aux deux.

In n’en eut pas à s’en repentir, comme on va le voir. Nous n’oserions en dire autant du rédacteur d’un journal, qui avait été informé aussitôt de la décision de la Commission et qui prédisait, le 10 novembre, quelle serait la « colère » du Curé de ce qu’on n’assisterait pas à la messe. Ce rédacteur se figurait évidemment qu’un piège avait été tendu au Curé de la Neuve-Lyre et que celui-ci y tomberait : il se réjouissait trop vite.

La Cérémonie religieuse fut très solennelle : Eglise tendue de deuil. Assistance nombreuse et recueillie. Au pied du Mémorial, encadré de lauriers, des croix casquées rappelant les tombes du front. Autour du catafalque, où nos pompiers rendaient les honneurs, des représentants de toutes les familles de nos morts.

Mlle Catherine Z…, à l’orgue, joua plusieurs airs de Chopin, aussi brillants que graves et sa sœur, Mlle Madeleine interpréta, avec le talent qu’on lui connaît, le si expressif Pie Jesu de Stradella.

Avant l’absoute, M ; de Curé donna lecture d’un de ses poèmes d’Espérance : Ce que dit l’Ange de Lyre. Puis l’on se rendit dans le plus grand ordre au cimetière ou le De Profundis fut chanté, au milieu de bien des larmes��: malgré l’éclat des tombes, on le prendrait pour un coin du front, ce côté de notre cimetière.

La Cérémonie civile eut lieu ensuite. A 10 h. ¼ , sur la place de la Mairie, le cortège se forma, précédé par les pompiers, les enfants des écoles, - constitué principalement par les familles des morts, le Conseil municipal et les Anciens Combattants, - et suivi d’une vingtaine de personnes.

Le cortège, après une pause au cimetière, s’en vint aux pieds du Monument. Là, une très belle couronne offerte par la Municipalité, plusieurs autres et des fleurs furent déposées. M. le Maire lut le discours de circonstance qu’il termina par le mot d’ordre : Mort à la guerre ! Le passage le plus émouvant fut celui où il demanda une minute de silence en l’honneur de nos morts. On sait que ce silence reproduit celui que l’Eglise a introduit dans sa liturgie, à la cérémonie de l’absoute…

Le discours de M. le Maire achevé, le cortège se rendit à son point de départ, où il se disloqua. Le soir, à cause du mauvais temps, la fête fut gâtée. – Espérons qu’il fera meilleur les années prochaines.

Vive la France !

______________

TERRIBLES MALHEURS

L’accident de Neaufles. – entre Le Coq et l’Hermite. – 6 novembre. M. V., entrepositaire à Rugles, allait livrer une barrique de vin à la Neuve-Lyre ; il conduisait sa camionnette, ayant près de lui son employé M. R. Marchait-il à une allure trop vive ? Freina-t-il trop brusquement ? La camionnette fut entièrement retournée. M. Bruno, maire de Neaufles, et M. G., débitant, accourus au bruit de l’accident, trouvèrent le fond de l’auto dans un fossé, la capote dans l’autre. M. R. gisait inerte près de l’avant, dans une mare de sang. M. V., assis sur le bord du fossé, paraissait inconscient. Quand on lui avait lavé la figure et montré le cadavre de R., il s’écria comme fou : « J’ai tué mon commis ! » - Il le criait encore quand le Dr. B. le fit conduire à Laigle pour être trépané. Il succomba peu après, sans qu’on ait pu obtenir que cette parole : « J’ai tué mon commis ! » …

L’incendie de la Vieille-Lyre. – 17 décembre. De la jolie maison bourgeoise de la Croix de Pierre, il ne reste plus qu’une triste ruine.

M. et Mme. B étaient absents, le père de Mme. B, M. P., couchait au premier auprès de l’un de ses petits-enfants ; la bonne, Marguérite L., dix-huit ans, originaire de l’Orne, avait sa chambre au second. Elle avait allumé un bon feu dans la chambre de ses maîtres, pensant qu’ils renteraient dans la nuit du 16.

A 3 heures du matin M. P., réveillé par la fumée, s’aperçoit qu’il y a incendie. Vite il descend, son petit garçon dans les bras, tout en criant : « Marguerite ! sauve-toi, il y a le feu ! » Il revint presque aussitôt. Le feu gagnait déjà l’escalier. Et voici que, l’ayant descendu à travers les flammes, la malheureuse Marguerite s’en vint tomber comme une torche vivante et hurlante, aux pieds du vieillard. Celui-ci l’éteignit vite dans des manteaux de linge qui se consumait sur elle et la transporta chez M. L.  C’est là qu’elle fut pansée et bandée d’ouate, des pieds à la tête, par le Dr. Morand, avec le calme et la dextérité qu’il a eu trop souvent à déployer pendant la guerre, dans des cas analogues. A 7 heures, elle fut transportée en auto à l’hospice de Laigle. Mme D. s’occupait d’elle pendant le trajet. Il faut dire que depuis plusieurs heures elle ne criait plus, elle ne souffrait plus. Elle se plaignait d’avoir froid. Les brûlures, sur les trois quarts du corps, avaient tué les nerfs de la sensibilité. – Elle mourut à Laigle, vers 11 heures, après avoir reçu les sacrements…

 MARCHÉS

Lyre.  – 19 février. Pain, 1 fr. 10 le kilogr. – Beurre, 7 fr. 50 le demi-kilogr. – Oufs, 4 fr. 25 la douzaine.

Les principales denrées avaient augmenté de trois fois en moyenne après la guerre. Elles avaient diminué notablement en 1922. Elles sont de nouveau à la hausse.

Le prix des pommes a oscillé entre 5 et 7 francs le demi-hectolitre.

Etat de la plaine. – Tempêtes violentes 29-31 décembre. Depuis quatre mois, pluies ou brumes. Temps doux, qui fait pousser trop tôt les bourgeons et n’est guère favorable au blé.

[adeleeh]

DeutschlandMV dissection : “Ich will dich nie verlassen.[...] Überheblich, überlegen Übernehmen, übergeben Überraschen, überfallen” Deutsche Inflation 1914 bis 1923 / Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic Hyperinflation affected the German Papiermark, the currency of the Weimar Republic, between 1921 and 1923, primarily in 1923. It caused considerable internal political instability in the country, the occupation of the Ruhr by France and Belgium as well as misery for the general populace. Crash of 1929

#Rammstein #DeutschlandMV #serie #mygifs

[internationalbusinessglopem2020]

CASH BEING PREPARED FOR BURNING.  Post-peace period, German hyperinflation happened mainly because of three things: the ongoing internal political instability in the country, the occupation of the Ruhr district by foreign troops, and when the Weimar (modern-day Germany) government printed too much banknotes to pay reparations after the 1923 French invasion. Because the banknotes were not matched by Germany's production, their value fell.

[thatswhywelovegermany]

German National Monuments (XXVI): Former National Schlageter Monument, Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia

Albert Leo Schlageter was an activist of the active resistance against the French occupation of the Ruhr. He was the leader of an activist group that operated outside of legality, but initially with secret approval of the Weimar government. He was also a member of paramilitary organizations and a short-lived national socialist party that had been founded as a replacement organization after the NSDAP was forbidden.

To understand the situation, the situation must be understood. While the German government officially organized a system of passive resistance against the French occupation of the Ruhr, its support for the active resistance was inofficial. Both communist and nationalist groups were secretly equipped to commit acts of sabotage with the intention to hamper the economic exploitation of the Ruhr by France. The effect of the active resistance, however, was only marginal as the damage was usually promptly repaired. Moreover, their actions were exretmely unpopular among the population as they prompted increased repressions by the French occupation forces. Support by the industry declined when the secret organizations started to assassinate fellow Germans for alleged treason, sometimes for an unavoidable form of contact of a German with a member of the French occupation forces. In the end, support came only from the far right end of the political spectrum. In summary, the passive resistance was much more efficient as it forced the French to bring in a massive amount of workforce themselves. For instance, the refusal of railwaymen to work on trains bound for France and the removal of technical documents forced the French to equip the trains with their own staff; but they were unable to operate the German trains and signaling technology, causing a general decline in the efficiency of the railway system and sometimes accidents blocking the railtracks for prolonged periods of time.

Schlageter was arrested by the French Sûreté in a hotel where he stayed under his own name on April 7, 1923, three weeks after a bomb attack against a railway bridge. He was found guilty of espionage and sabotage and sentenced to death on May 9, 1923, desite having killed nobody. Schlageter was executed on May 26 by a firing squad.

Both the sentence and the acual execution found a broad public echo throughout Germany, causing a storm of protest. A few days after the execution, and after a massive intervention of the German government, the French government had allowed to transfer Schlageter’s to his home in the Black Forest. Meanwhile, the extreme right had taken over the opinion leadership in the affair and had taken the transfer of the body as an occasion for anti-republican protests, which were attended by crowds saluting the passing train. A Schlageter Memorial Organization was formed, Schlageter monuments were erected throughout Germany, and Schlageter was talked up as a national martyr not only by the extreme right.

Since 1926, a memorial was planned at the site of Schlageters death, and finally inaugurated in 1931, with former government officials attending. A genuine Schlageter cult developed, mainly fueled by the NSDAP. Soon after the Nazis came to power, they designated Schlageter the “first soldier of the Third Reich” and made the memorial a “National Monument”. Gigantic plans were developed to make the memorial site a “thingstead of the Germanic race”. Plans to build a city with the memorial as the center were only partially realized. About 100 Schlageter memorials were inaugurated in Germany in the years that followed. After world war II., most of them were removed. Of about 20 of them, some remains exist. The former national monument in Düsseldorf was removed in 1946. In 1958, a sculpture showing three Norns was built at the site as a memorial to the victims of the war and the national socialist tyranny.

Today, Schlageter as a person is received by the general public with disregard and despise. Historians acknowledge a role as an important figure of identification that contributed to the rise of national socialism: Germans generally perceived the French occupation of the Ruhr as a grave injustice exceeding that of the unpopular treaty of Versailles, and many were ready to accept Schlageter as a surrogate martyr for the entire German nation, increasing the general incline of parts of the German population towards nationalism.

#german national monuments

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

The ‘German October’ “In late July, what amounted to a wait-and-see approach was superseded by a policy of preparing for the ‘German October’. On 9 August, after the ECCI had received reports detailing the depth of the revolutionary crisis in Germany, Stalin convened a meeting of the Russian Politburo. Then, on 12 September, the Cuno government fell – and with it the policy of resisting the Franco-Belgian occupation – amidst a wave of strikes in which the Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands had played a significant role. The ‘German October’ now seemed to be a real possibility, even reviving hopes of world revolution.

At the series of meetings which ensued, the Russian Politburo drew up a plan for revolution and then, in the forum provided by the ECCI, consulted the French and Czechoslovakian parties, in addition to the KPD leadership, to which Thälmann now belonged. At one of the secret sessions in late September, the French delegate, Cachin, expressed anxieties about how a de facto alliance with German nationalism in a ‘revolutionary war’ against France would impact on his party’s supporters. Trotsky’s reply was that, ‘It is too early for sleepless nights over the Ruhr. The point is to firstly take power in Germany […] everything else will derive from that’.

The Ruhr, however, was not to be to the launch pad for the ‘German October’; revolution was to be ignited using the ‘united front’ tactic in central Germany.68 According to Moscow’s plan, the KPD would enter ‘workers’ governments’ in Saxony and Thuringia. These were the locations where the party had ‘tolerated’ left SPD administrations throughout 1923, enabling the Proletarian Hundreds – which were to fight as armed units in the anticipated civil war – to operate legally at a time when they were banned by the right SPD-led Prussian government. A general strike with left SPD support would then be declared and this would signal the armed uprising.

Yet, even now, differences over tactics continued to shape the responses of the KPD leadership. During the discussions in Moscow, Thälmann expressed reservations about the revolutionary potential of Brandler’s ‘united front’ policy. He spoke against Brandler’s assessment of the influence of the left SPD and the likelihood of their supporters coming over to the side of revolution, and he questioned the value of entering regional Diets in order to procure arms. The latter was the key issue. While Brandler had stated that there were 250,000 men organised in the Proletarian Hundreds, Thälmann stressed that they were largely unarmed and, thus, militarily useless.

The success of the German revolution would, therefore, depend on Soviet intervention. In early October, shortly before his return to Hamburg, Thälmann concluded: ‘The party is not ideologically and politically prepared for the most important matter of the revolution, the civil war’.

Initially, developments proceeded without complication as the KPD entered the Saxon and Thuringian governments in mid-October. Then, on 20 October, the new Reich government under Chancellor Gustav Stresemann, which included SPD Ministers, declared a state of emergency, passed political power to the military and dispatched troops into central Germany to depose these ‘workers’ governments’. The KPD and its Soviet advisers, who had relocated to Dresden, were left to improvise a response in a fast-moving and unanticipated situation. 

That evening, the leadership and its Soviet advisors resolved to use a meeting between Communist and left SPD activists, which was scheduled for the following day, ostensibly to identify the level of support for a general strike protesting the actions of the Reich government. Their actual aim was to assess the readiness of the proletariat for the German revolution. But the outcome of the so-called Chemnitz Conference’ was negative. Speaking for the SPD, the Saxon Minister of Labour, Georg Graupe, refused to countenance an immediate general strike and, instead, proposed setting up a commission of both parties to decide on what action to take. This, according to the 140 weimar communism as mass movement KPD’s leading theoretician, August Thalheimer, gave the revolution a ‘third-class funeral’.

The Hamburg Rising Despite Thälmann’s reservations in Moscow about the prospects for a successful ‘German October’, the only attempted uprising in 1923 took place in Hamburg. It was based on an initially effective military-technical plan, especially when compared with the uncoordinated ‘March Rising’ of 1921, and took the city’s police force by surprise – despite the KPD’s public trumpeting of the coming revolution.

At 5am on 23 October, members of the party’s Ordnerdienst – the militarily-trained inner core of the Proletarian Hundreds – stormed police stations in the city’s suburbs, rapidly overpowering seventeen of twenty-six of them, in order to seize firearms. These units then took up position on rooftops, inside buildings and behind barricades. At the same time, Combat Groups (Kampfgruppen) had gone into the night with the intention of obstructing the arrival of reinforcements by blocking arterial roads and intercity railway lines, cutting telephone cables and dividing the city by occupying bridges over the river Alster. The expectation was that once the city’s working-class suburbs had been taken, the insurgents would move on the city centre in concentric circles, drawing with them wider popular support.

After returning from Moscow in early October, Thälmann’s was main role was political: he was responsibility for the agitation which aimed to bring about a mass movement.

Over the course of almost three days, the Hamburg KPD – with limited numbers of firearms and at most a few hundred insurgents – fought a losing battle against some 6000 well-armed members of the city’s police, which drew on military reinforcements, and 800 members of the SPD’s combat organisation, Republik. By the end of the uprising, more than 100 were dead, seventeen of them police officers, and several hundred more – many of them passersby – were wounded. Had the Hamburg KPD not carried out the leadership’s order to ‘retreat’, there would have been a massacre of party activists.

Although there had been significant support for the rising among  the residents of Eimsbüttel, Barmbek, and Schiff bek – which marked the epicentre of events – it remained a putsch without wider support in the workforce, even in the giant shipyards. A dockers’ strike, which began on 20 October, resolved the following day to call a general strike when workers became aware that the military had been sent into central Germany, but this was stalled by the SPD-led trade union leadership in Hamburg. The KPD’s support in the local unions and the high levels of animosity towards the actions of the SPD Ministers in the Reich government had not turned into support for revolution. Despite the more recent availability of secret communist documentation – in addition to police records and party circulars – it remains very much easier to reconstruct the specific events that took place than the internal-party dynamics that allowed them to happen. The most likely interpretation is that it grew out of a confusion of central and local party responses to a series of unanticipated circumstance. Since the fall of the Cuno government in September, the KPD had been placed on a nationwide state of readiness for the German revolution. 

In early October, a political committee was set up in Wasserkante, in which Urbahns was the political leader, (probably) Gustav Faber was responsible for organisation, and Rudolf Hommes liaised with the Military-Political Directorate (Oberleitung) responsible for north-western Germany. The latter was headed by Albert Schreiner and his Soviet military advisor, General Moishe Stern. Urbahns then travelled to the Chemnitz Conference as the district’s representative. However, in the expectation that the left SPD would adopt Brandler’s call for a general strike, some twenty-five to thirty couriers were dispatched nationwide with the message that the uprising was anticipated to take place no later than Tuesday 23 October.  

Hermann Remmele was the courier sent to Kiel – the port town which began the November Revolution five years before – in order to investigate reports that it offered the best prospects for widening the revolution. But he stopped in Hamburg for talks with the regional military and political leadership. Here, he was persuaded that Hamburg presented the better option and, laying too much emphasis on the likelihood of a resolution in support of a general strike in Saxony, stressed that the party must be ready to ‘launch the attack’ within ‘one or two days’. Remmele then travelled on to Kiel, where he received the telegram to postpone events.

In Hamburg, confusion reigned: the uprising was launched in the belief that that military intervention against the ‘workers’ governments’ in central Germany and the strike in the docks marked the moment to begin, and once launched, the uprising was not so easy to call off, especially after the party’s military units had gone underground.

A number of accounts attribute personal responsibility to Thälmann for this bloody fiasco, as he was the highest official present at the time the decision was taken. His motivation is explained in terms of a lust for political power: expunging the competition of party rivals, above all Hugo Urbahns. Yet, none of the documentation states more than his political involvement in events – and these were events clearly under the command of the party’s military-technical apparatus and its Soviet advisors. At a meeting of the leadership held in Berlin as the rising was still underway in Hamburg, the topic was not any breach of discipline by Thälmann and the Hamburg leadership, but rather whether some form of assistance should be given to them. The final decision, in the words of the Solomon Lozovsky, who chaired the meeting, was: ‘If one does not come to the aid of Hamburg that is not a betrayal. We sacrifice a division to save an army’.”

- Norman LaPorte, “The Rise of Ernst Thälmann and the Hamburg Left, 1921-1923.”  in Weimar Communism as Mass Movement 1918–1933. Edited by Ralf Hoffrogge and Norman LaPorte. Part of the Studies in Twentieth Century Communism Series. Chadwell Heath: Lawrence & Wishart, 2017. pp. 138-142.

The image is actually from the cover of Roter Morgen, a Maoist newspaper, which published a history of the Hamburg uprising in October 1969.

#hamburg #wasserkante #kommunistische partei deutschlands #world revolution #armed uprising #deutsches oktober #hamburger aufstand #left opposition #comintern #ultraleftism #proletarian hundreds #shipyard workers #putschism #spd #weimar germany #weimar republic #communists #communism #general strike #academic quote

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 9.26 (before 1940)

46 BC – Julius Caesar dedicates a temple to Venus Genetrix, fulfilling a vow he made at the Battle of Pharsalus. 715 – Ragenfrid defeats Theudoald at the Battle of Compiègne. 1087 – William II is crowned King of England, and reigns until 1100. 1212 – The Golden Bull of Sicily is issued to confirm the hereditary royal title in Bohemia for the Přemyslid dynasty. 1345 – Friso-Hollandic Wars: Frisians defeat Holland in the Battle of Warns. 1371 – Serbian–Turkish wars: Ottoman Turks fought against a Serbian army at the Battle of Maritsa. 1423 – Hundred Years' War: A French army defeats the English at the Battle of La Brossinière. 1493 – Pope Alexander VI issues the papal bull Dudum siquidem to the Spanish, extending the grant of new lands he made them in Inter caetera. 1580 – Francis Drake finishes his circumnavigation of the Earth in Plymouth, England. 1687 – Morean War: The Parthenon in Athens, used as a gunpowder depot by the Ottoman garrison, is partially destroyed after being bombarded during the Siege of the Acropolis by Venetian forces. 1688 – The city council of Amsterdam votes to support William of Orange's invasion of England, which became the Glorious Revolution. 1777 – American Revolution: British troops occupy Philadelphia. 1789 – George Washington appoints Thomas Jefferson the first United States Secretary of State. 1799 – War of the 2nd Coalition: French troops defeat Austro-Russian forces, leading to the collapse of Suvorov's campaign. 1810 – A new Act of Succession is adopted by the Riksdag of the Estates, and Jean Baptiste Bernadotte becomes heir to the Swedish throne. 1905 – Albert Einstein publishes the third of his Annus Mirabilis papers, introducing the special theory of relativity. 1907 – Four months after the 1907 Imperial Conference, New Zealand and Newfoundland are promoted from colonies to dominions within the British Empire. 1910 – Indian journalist Swadeshabhimani Ramakrishna Pillai is arrested after publishing criticism of the government of Travancore and is exiled. 1914 – The United States Federal Trade Commission is established by the Federal Trade Commission Act. 1917 – World War I: The Battle of Polygon Wood begins. 1918 – World War I: The Meuse-Argonne Offensive began which would last until the total surrender of German forces. 1923 – The German government accepts the occupation of the Ruhr. 1933 – As gangster Machine Gun Kelly surrenders to the FBI, he shouts out, "Don't shoot, G-Men!", which becomes a nickname for FBI agents. 1934 – The ocean liner RMS Queen Mary is launched. 1936 – Spanish Civil War: Lluis Companys reshuffles the Generalitat de Catalunya, with the marxist POUM and anarcho-syndicalist CNT joining the government.

#Events

[mostly-history]

We knew what it was like to feel humiliated after a defeat.  Because we lived on the left bank of the Rhine, which was under Allied occupation, between 1919 and 1926 we saw Canadian, British and then French troops – chiefly drawn from the colonies – march past.  These six years of peacetime occupation were long and burdensome.  For Germans, the situation was incomprehensible: enemy troops had not entered the country on the western frontier, there had been no invasion during the war, and now it was the peace treaty, a treaty considered unjust and designed to ruin the country, that brought about foreign occupation.  A period of occupation, even a tranquil one, is hardly likely to strengthen friendship among peoples.  The occupation of the Ruhr from 1923 to 1926 was accompanied by violence and turmoil, and resulted in 121 summary executions and tens of thousands of expulsions, and it led to a general strike – at the instigation of Chancellor Cuno – and the economic collapse of the industrial heart of Germany, bringing on terrifying inflation.  All that, I think, accentuated the Rhinelanders' already very strong prejudice against the French, who had been seen for centuries as troublesome neighbours. The humiliations inflicted by the occupying forces did not escape my notice when I was a child.  I remember that my parents had been forbidden to attend the burial of my grandmother, on the pretext that my father was a reserve officer.  I also recall how we congratulated Father Seelen, who had dared to sing the German national anthem, which was strictly prohibited on the left bank, in full view of the French troops.  Fortunately Father Seelen was a Dutch citizen, and the French could not arrest him.  That is how, as young men, we practised a kind of resistance that was within our capabilities.

Operation Valkyrie: The Plot to Kill Hitler

#history #military history #politics #german politics #ww1 #treaty of versailles #occupation of the ruhr #occupation of the rhineland #germany #weimar germany #france #wilhelm cuno

[britishpathe]

On 11 January 1923, French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr Valley in order to force Germany to comply with the payment of war reparations under the Treaty of Versailles. Take a look back at the occupation with these archive films. http://bit.ly/2Vo5J4F

#British Pathé #British Pathe #Pathe #Pathé News #Newsreel #History #Archive #Footage #Library #Films

[armadaderaj]

The Sky in Your Eyes

Day 1: Photographer/Model au  @francisandtheworldweek

Pairing: (pre) Gerfra

Characters: France, Hungary, Germany, Prussia

Rating: T for language

Word count: 1219

Summary: Three years after the Great War, Germany is struggling to honor the Treaty of Versailles. France retaliates with military force. Stuck in the midst of the turbulent times are a particular German photographer and a French solider fresh from the front. 

Note: Not exactly a traditional photographer/model au. I decided to interpret and stretch the prompt a bit, hope I still did it justice

                                                                                                December 12, 1917

Lud,

     Congratulations on your new job, bud! Told you that newspaper would have to be crazy if they didn’t take you! When I get back you better be throwing an awesome party to celebrate. I expect lots of beer and women. Can’t forget the women, kiddo. And the wurst! The food here is trash but what can you expect I guess. Can’t wait to get home, but that’s gonna take a while. In the mean time, you take care of yourself, Lud. Work hard at your job and avoid the draft at all costs. The war is not all what is seems. Till next time little brother, and thanks for those cigarettes!

-Gil

                                                                                                       March 8, 1921 

It had only been four years, and the words were already fading. Not that it really mattered anymore. Ludwig had memorized them long back. 

His eyes traced along the curves of the horrendous writing, looking over the crumpled letter once more before folding it gingerly. He exhaled softly, tucking it inside his vest pocket before pulling his boots and coat on. A cursory glance around his shabby excuse for a room revealed he had forgotten his cap and his beloved camera. He scooped the two things up, placing the former upon his head before running out of the door. 

Taking the steps two at a time, he descended to the ground floor, rushing out the door and into the crisp morning air. Sadly, this morning he had no time to enjoy the weather. He had already spent too much time with his letter, and now he was going to be late for work. 

“Extra! Extra! Hear all about Germany’s failure to pay the Allied reparations!”

“This bread was not nearly so much last time!”

“Madam, I cannot control the value of the money! Now will you pay or will I have to make you leave?”

Ludwig kept his gaze averted from the lives surrounding him, each one with a sob story of their own, all alike due to one reason. The war.

It had ruined Germany. And continued to do so. As if the lives it had already took were not enough. Ludwig pulled his cap down further, quickening his pace, glancing up only when he knew he had made it to the publishing house. 

He had counted the steps. 

He slipped into the little building, immediately tackled by his partner. “Ludwig! You’re finally here!”

Prying the excited Hungarian off of him was a bit more difficult than he expected but he managed. “Yes. Sorry for being late, Eliz-Daniel” he quickly corrected. “Did the boss notice?” He glanced over the sharply dressed w- man in trousers and a button up, her feminine figure hidden under the larger clothing. 

“Oh he noticed awhile back!” Eliza snickered. “He said he’d fire you the moment you showed up!”

Ludwig cursed under his breath. Shit, right when he was going to be promoted too.

“But don’t worry Luddy! I just told him you were out on an assignment and he was okay with it,” Eliza chirped, smile so bright it could break her face probably. 

It took a few moments to understand what Eliza had stated, especially in Ludwig’s frazzled brain, but once he did he did not feel relieved. “What assignment did you tell him I was on?” he asked, afraid to know.

“Oh just that you were investigating some of the brothels in town.” Eliza flashed him an innocent smile.

Ludwig groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Why?”

“What do you mean why? It’s for your own good! You needed an excuse, and I gave you one! No need to thank me! That’s what friends do!” Eliza linked arms with Ludwig pulling him along out of the publishing house. Ludwig sighed in resignation.

“What’s the assignment today?”

“Oh just the usual. The economy’s terrible, the reparations are so hard to pay, the Republic is unstable, all that,” Eliza replied with a wave of her hand as she looked around at all the people. “It’s a bit boring don’t you think Ludwig? The same old thing always.” 

The same old miserable thing.

“Wonder when it’ll get better,” the Hungarian murmured.

Ludwig didn’t reply, looking ahead as the two roamed the streets, steps falling in sync. 

A strange tremor ran through the ground. At first Ludwig dismissed it at his imagination. But it only grew. The vibrations of footsteps quaked through the streets below them, and Ludwig stopped, moving neither foot. The footsteps continued despite his halt. He looked up only to see the same puzzled expression upon Eliza’s face. “Eli-”

Blue. Out of the corner of his eye he saw blue. Ludwig turned his head to be overwhelmed by the color. Clad in blue cloaks and red trousers, men marched down the streets of Düsseldorf, guns poised upon their backs and helmets gleaming in the sun. 

“The French...”

Ludwig turned back to see Eliza watching with wide eyes. He glanced around to see the rest of the native crowd ogling at the newcomers, some even hanging out of their windows to see what was the commotion. He soon enough directed his attention back to the men, walking down Germany’s streets...As if they owned them. Ludwig’s blood boiled in a rage, and he clenched his fists as Eliza nudged him. “Quick! Take pictures!” 

“You want me to take pictures of invaders?!” he hissed.

“They’re for the newspaper Ludwig!” Eliza insisted, nudging Ludwig. 

Ludwig grit his teeth and raised his camera. His finger lay poised on the button, the only thing stopping him was his own hesitation and anger. 

Bastards. Scum. As if he’d take a picture of those fucking sons of-

Click

No more hesitation perhaps. Certainly not as the German straightened, looking up from the lens to see the exact thing that had captured his hesitation and rendered him hopeless. 

Blue. But a better blue than those hideous uniforms. No this blue was more like that of the sky and the sea, free and spirited. And gold. Hidden beneath that cursed helmet, but Ludwig could still make it out. 

He was talking to the soldier next to him, laughing at something he said and shaking his head. And all Ludwig could do was stare as the man moved in front of him adjusting the strap of his gun slightly. 

He felt a sharp jab in his side and a hissed word of pictures. He brought the camera up again, but this time he didn’t hesitate. 

The sea of blue flowed through the streets and out of sight, taking the golden soldier with them, leaving Ludwig behind with a camera in hand and that dazzling smile in mind.

Ludwig didn’t know for how long he stared after that color but soon he was shaken back to reality. Literally.

“Earth to Lud! Are you functioning? Hello?” 

Ludwig blinked. “What?”

Eliza snorted. “Man, you’re really out of it. Come on, we have to get back to the publishing house to get this story down.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him back in the direction they came. “Process those pictures quick, Lud cause we’re going to need them.” 

Ludwig glanced down at his camera. Yes they certainly would be needing them. He needed to find him again. That Frenchman with the sky in his eyes.

Author’s Note(s): 

- According to the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was to pay hefty reparations to the Allies in both money and raw materials. Due to the heavy burden the reparations placed on the country, Germany repeatedly could not pay it’s dues, and according to the Treaty, the Allies were able to impose military sanctions should Germany default on the payments. So on March 8, 1921, the French sent in troops to the towns of Duisburg, Ruhrort and Düsseldorf. This would eventually expand into the full on occupation of the Ruhr by 1923, and while France managed to get the raw resources they needed from the occupation, it was Germany who gained sympathy from the world thanks to their passive resistance and the spread of news. But by 1923, the hyperinflation of German currency (the mark) that began in 1918 had reached ridiculous levels with one dollar being worth 4.2 trillion marks, making the situation even more grim. (Note-this is just a general overview of the occupation, there are far more details and complications than this, but this is a general overview that will hopefully help explain the background for this piece)

- I know there’s a lot of unanswered questions in here like what happened to Gil? Why’s Eliza dressed up as a man? Will Ludwig ever find the mysterious Frenchman? Well I’m planning on making this a multi chapter fic and continuing it past this event, but that really depends on how much time I’ll have. Should I is the question

- So I know the prompt was photographer/model au, but I wanted to tweak it a bit, so I guess Francis is a model? Just an unwitting one at the moment XD. Hope that’s alright. Remember kids, in modern day it’s just creepy if you take pictures of people and in some cases illegal

#hetalia #aph france #aph germany #aph hungary #aph prussia #ludwig beilschmidt #gilbert beilschmidt #elizabeta héderváry #francis bonnefoy #1920s #letter #love at first sight #or atleast infatuation #gerfra #francisandtheworldweek #france x world week #day 1: photographer/model au #day 1 #my writing

[gueststeachingmaterials]

World History

InterWar Period

#InterWar Period #Period #InterWar #World History #World #History #Ruhr #Invasion of the Ruhr