1923

The year in brief

For Germany 1923 was a year of crisis. On 11 January French and Belgian troops marched into the Ruhr to enforce reparations, and Berlin responded with passive resistance. In June the dollar passed 100,000 marks in Berlin, by the autumn it cost trillions, and the Germans’ savings were wiped out. In October communists in Hamburg attacked police stations, but were defeated within two days. On 8 November Hitler proclaimed a “national revolution” in the Bürgerbräukeller beer hall in Munich; Mussolini’s march on Rome was his model. The next day the police broke up the putschists’ march at the Feldherrnhalle. Mussolini himself meanwhile bombarded Corfu and defied the League of Nations. At Lausanne Turkey made a peace that replaced the Treaty of Sèvres, and in October Ankara proclaimed a republic with Mustafa Kemal as president.