We paid £50 million for our first instalment in 1921 but last year we just couldn’t afford to pay it. Our leader Ebert tried his best to negotiate for more time, but the French just ran out of patience. They sent soldiers who simply came marching into the Ruhr region and took what was owed to them in the form of goods and raw materials. This is quite legal under the treaty of Versailles, although I think that it shouldn’t be. A lot of people have had their goods taken from them by the French and have been left with nothing. I particularly hate the French they just want to cripple our country, they don’t think about all they people in Germany who have done nothing at all. I know that France was destroyed and they want to rebuild it but Germany was also destroyed and we want to rebuild our country too!!!
After the French came and took goods from the Ruhr our government ordered us to all go on strike and stop working. That way there would be nothing for the French to take away. That didn’t turn out well at all! The French reacted harshly, killing over 100 workers and expelling over 100,000 protesters from the region. More importantly, the halt in industrial production meant that our country had no goods to trade, and no money to buy things with. This worsened the situation and resulted in our country having even less money than before. This is probably one of the main causes for the collapse of the German currency.
The government tried to solve the problem by printing more money and it worked at first, we were able pay of debts in worthless marks, including war loans over £2200 million. People soon realised, however, that this money was worthless and it could not buy anything of value. Hyperinflation set in.
I would say that I am quite well off and I lead quite a comfortable life. I have a nice home, plenty of food too eat and can afford to treat myself. This is because I earn quite a bit of money. Now I have to use a wheelbarrow to carry home my wages. Now I know what you must be thinking, that I must be very rich if I have to carry my wages home in a wheelbarrow. However, that is not the case- although I can dream! The reason I carry my wages home in a wheelbarrow is because of Hyperinflation. Wages are now paid daily instead of weekly and the price of bread can be up too 2 million marks! Infact the price of goods can rise between joining the back of a queue in a shop and reaching the front! Money loses half of it’s value in twelve hours. Now I can only just afford to buy my family food. I’ve had to sell my possessions to raise money. I suppose I’m lucky some people have died from starvation as they can not afford food.
I just hope that things improve for us all in the New Year. Best wishes from me and my family
Natalie Watkin
