Chapter 37 Military Occupation of the Ruhr Area

The Treaty of Rapallo quickly sparked a reaction. On April 18, two days after the treaty was officially announced in Genoa, the German delegation received protests from the Allies accusing Germany of negotiating with the Soviet Union "behind the back" of the Reparations Commission. On June 22, 1922, two months after the Rapallo Treaty was announced, German Foreign Minister Rathenau was assassinated as he was leaving his home in Berlin.Two right-wing extremists, later identified as members of the pro-monarchist "C` group", were charged with carrying out the murder, which was described as part of a growing wave of extremism and anti-Semitism.However, within Germany, public opinion is directed at "foreign interest groups", and some people believe that Britain or British interest groups are the masterminds behind the two murderers.In any case, the famous statesman and architect of the Treaty of Rapallo was gone, and the foundations of the country were shaken.Ratnau's murder is just the beginning of a handful of previous and future terrorist attacks on several countries.

Under the guise of a public policy of carefully keeping a distance from the vindictive policy of the Poincaré government in France, Britain has made claims for compensation.In a secret agreement between Britain and France in 1916, France ceded French territory in the Mosul area to Britain.In return, as we said in Chapter 3, Britain privately assured France that it would only make verbal protests against the French occupation of the industrial Ruhr.This is very much in line with Britain's "balance of power" needs, and France has acted as the vanguard of conquering Germany. All that the Poincaré regime lacked was a plausible excuse. On December 26, 1922, at the year-end meeting arranged by the Allied Reparations Commission in London, French President Poincaré announced that Germany had violated the Treaty of Versailles by not providing the timber needed for the construction of French telephone pole lines, and the coal provided Short of weight and short of two, and these are clearly stipulated in the treaty.