Occupation of the Ruhr
The Occupation of the Ruhr (German: Ruhrbesetzung) was a period of military occupation of the German Ruhr valley by France and Belgium between 1923 and 1925 in response to the Weimar Republic's failure to continue its reparation payments in the aftermath of World War I.
Background
The Ruhr region had been occupied by Allied troops in the immediate aftermath of the First World War, during the Occupation of the Rhineland (1918–1919). Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles (1919), which formally ended the war, Germany admitted responsibility for starting the war and was obliged to pay war reparations to the various Allies, principally France. The total sum of reparations demanded from Germany—around 226 billion gold marks (US $849 billion in 2016)—was decided by an Inter-Allied Reparations Commission. In 1921, the amount was reduced to 132 billion (at that time, $31.4 billion (US $442 billion in 2016), or £6.6 billion (UK £284 billion in 2016)). Even with the reduction, the debt was huge. As some of the payments were in industrial raw materials, German factories were unable to function, and the German economy suffered, further damaging the country's ability to pay.
Ruhr
The Ruhr (German pronunciation: [ˈʁuːɐ̯], German: Ruhrgebiet), or the Ruhr district, Ruhr region or Ruhr valley, is an urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km² and a population of eight and a half million, it is the largest urban agglomeration in Germany. It consists of several large, industrial cities bordered by the rivers Ruhr to the south, Rhine to the west, and Lippe to the north. In the southwest it borders the Bergisches Land. It is considered part of the larger Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region of more than 12 million people, which is among the largest in Europe.
From west to east, the region includes the cities of Duisburg, Oberhausen, Bottrop, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Bochum, Herne, Hagen, Dortmund, and Hamm, as well as parts of the more "rural" districts of Wesel, Recklinghausen, Unna and Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis. The most populous cities are Dortmund (approx. 572,000), Essen (approx. 566,000) and Duisburg (approx. 486,000). The Ruhr area doesn't have an administrative center; each city in the area has its own administration, although there exists the supracommunal "Regionalverband Ruhr" institution in Essen. Historically, the western Ruhr towns, such as Duisburg and Essen, belonged to the historic region of the Rhineland, whereas the eastern part of the Ruhr, including Gelsenkirchen, Bochum, Dortmund and Hamm, were part of the region of Westphalia. Since the 19th century, these districts have grown together into a large complex with a vast industrial landscape, inhabited by some 7.3 million people (including Düsseldorf and Wuppertal).
Ruhr (river)
The Ruhr is a medium-size river in western Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia), a right tributary (east-side) of the Rhine.
Description and history
The source of the Ruhr is near the town of Winterberg in the mountainous Sauerland region, at an elevation of approximately 2,200 feet (670 m). It flows into the lower Rhine river at an elevation of only 56 feet (17 m) in the municipal area of Duisburg. Its total length is 218 km (135 mi), its average discharge is 79 m³/s (cubic metres per second) at Mülheim near its mouth. Thus, its discharge is, for example, comparable to that of the Ems river in Northern Germany or the Thames river in the United Kingdom.
The Ruhr first passes the towns of Meschede, Arnsberg, Wickede, Fröndenberg, Holzwickede, Iserlohn and Schwerte. Then the river marks the southern limit of the Ruhr area, passing Hagen, Dortmund, Herdecke, Wetter, Witten, Bochum, Hattingen, Essen, Mülheim and Duisburg.
The Ruhr Area was Germany's primary industrial area during the early- to mid-20th century. Most factories were located there. The Occupation of the Ruhr from 1923-24 by French forces, due to the Weimar Republic's failure to contionue paying reparations from World War I provoked passive resistance, which saw production in the factories grind to a halt. As a result, the German hyperinflation crisis grew even worse.
Ruhr (disambiguation)
Ruhr may refer to
See also
Ruhr (department)
Ruhr is the name of a département of the Grand Duchy of Berg, a satellite state of the First French Empire, in present day Germany. It was named after the river Ruhr, which flows through the département.
The capital was Dortmund.
