<P> From the initiation of reparations, German coal deliveries were below the level agreed . In an attempt to rectify this situation, the Spa Conference was held in July 1920 . At this conference it was decided that Germany would be paid five marks per coal ton delivered to facilitate coal shipments and help feed the miners . Despite this, Germany continued to default on her obligations . By late 1922, the German defaults on payments had grown so serious and regular that a crisis engulfed the Reparations Commission . French and Belgian delegates urged the seizure of the Ruhr to encourage the Germans to make more effort to pay, while the British supported postponing payments to facilitate the financial reconstruction of Germany . On 26 December 1922, Germany defaulted on timber deliveries . The timber quota was based upon a German proposal and the default was massive . The Allies were unanimous that the default was in bad faith . In January 1923, despite quota reductions, the German Government defaulted on coal deliveries for the 34th time in three years following the loss of the Upper Silesian coal fields containing 11 per cent of German coal resources, which had been transferred to Poland . </P> <P> On 9 January 1923, the Reparation Commission declared Germany to be in default of her coal deliveries and voted to occupy the Ruhr to enforce the country's reparation commitments . Britain was the lone dissenting voice to both measures . On 11 January, French and Belgian soldiers--supported by engineers including an Italian contingent--entered the region, initiating the Occupation of the Ruhr . </P> <P> The French Premier Raymond Poincaré was deeply reluctant to order the occupation and had only taken this step after the British had rejected his proposals for more moderate sanctions against Germany . By December 1922, Poincaré was faced with Anglo - American - German hostility; coal supplies for French steel production were running low . Exasperated with Britain's failure to act, he wrote to the French ambassador in London: </P> <P> Judging others by themselves, the English, who are blinded by their loyalty, have always thought that the Germans did not abide by their pledges inscribed in the Versailles Treaty because they had not frankly agreed to them...We, on the contrary, believe that if Germany, far from making the slightest effort to carry out the treaty of peace, has always tried to escape her obligations, it is because until now she has not been convinced of her defeat...We are also certain that Germany, as a nation, resigns herself to keep her pledged word only under the impact of necessity . </P>

Who did germany pay reparations to after world war 1