Why Belgium and France Invaded Germany in 1923
Nobody really speaks about this.
The inter-war period wasn’t all peace and quiet in Europe.
The time between the end of WWI in 1918 and the rise of Hitler in 1933 was long enough to see the invasion of a German region by French and Belgian troops in 1923.
That’s how it happened.
1. Origins
At the end of World War I, Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles, negotiated by the Allies and without the Germans.
While historians still debate its fairness, the treaty left almost everyone unsatisfied, starting with the French.
France had lost 25% of its 18–30 years old male population in the war.
Its most industrialized region had been so devastated that the government forbade the access for safety reasons (still applies today).
So France wanted to weaken Germany to prevent yet another invasion forever.
The Americans and British refused.
