<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (June 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (June 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> The German economy was so weak that only a small percentage of reparations was paid in hard currency . Nonetheless, even the payment of this small percentage of the original reparations (132 billion gold marks) still placed a significant burden on the German economy . Although the causes of the devastating post-war hyperinflation are complex and disputed, Germans blamed the near - collapse of their economy on the treaty, and some economists estimated that the reparations accounted for as much as one - third of the hyper - inflation . </P> <P> In March 1921, French and Belgian troops occupied Duisburg, which formed part of the demilitarized Rhineland, according to the Treaty of Versailles . In January 1923, French and Belgian forces occupied the rest of the Ruhr area as a reprisal after Germany failed to fulfill reparation payments demanded by the Versailles Treaty . The German government answered with "passive resistance", which meant that coal miners and railway workers refused to obey any instructions by the occupation forces . Production and transportation came to a standstill, but the financial consequences contributed to German hyperinflation and completely ruined public finances in Germany . Consequently, passive resistance was called off in late 1923 . The end of passive resistance in the Ruhr allowed Germany to undertake a currency reform and to negotiate the Dawes Plan, which led to the withdrawal of French and Belgian troops from the Ruhr Area in 1925 . </P>

The treaty of versailles signed on 28 june 1919 by representatives of germany