The German occupation/Re-militarization of the Rhineland

The German occupation of the Rhineland, was the catalyst for German re-armenment, and their path towards just a few mere years later. The Rhineland had been under allied occupation, and later fully de-militarized, with it acting as a buffer between the Weimar Republic and the French state.

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The Rhineland had been occupied by Allied troops in the immediate aftermath of WW1. This occupation was meant for two reasons, one to help prevent a possible German attack, and to act as an insurance that Germany would pay the reparations demanded during the Treaty of Versailles. The occupation was to last 15 years. This occupation was up to the Rhine river, with four bridgeheads on the right-end of the river. Each with a thirty mile radius of occupation. The French occupied the southern end, centered out of Mainz, the British in the northern center, based out of Cologne, and the Belgians in the north, based out of Aachen. A number of uprisings, such as the Ruhr Uprising and Kapp Putsch in 1920, caused French reprisal, even though the goal of the rebels, were directed against the Weimar Republic, and not the allied occupying forces. From their zone, the French occupied Frankfurt among other cities on April the 9th of 1920, citing the military build up in response to the Ruhr uprising, as directly in violation of the Versailles treaty. While the occupation only lasted for a month, a detachment of the French third Moroccan, opened fire upon a crowd, killing nine and wounding another 26. The German righ-wing, after their failed coup attempt, massed a major propaganda attempt against the French, citing incidents like this, among others as a French attempt to humiliate the German people. While these claims were largely racial and un-founded in nature, it did turn a section of not only the German public, but opinions abroad to garner more sympathy for Germany.

Following the French and Belgian occupation of the Ruhr, The Locarno Treaties were signed by Germany, Italy, France, and Britain. Stating in part that the Rhineland was to be permanently de-militarized, with Italy and Britain, acting as bulwarks against either nation attacking one another. From this, Germany as a whole essentially stated that they wouldn't abide by the terms of Versailles, but would abide by the Locarno treaties, so long as other signatory powers do as well. Come 1929, German Foreign minister Gustav Stresemann, announced that Germany would not continue reparation payments under the Young Plan, which was established following the Ruhr occupation. If Allied troops continued to the Rhineland. Under the Versailles treaty, it was stipulated that troops would stay within the region until at least 1935, but the British managed to convince the French primer, to withdraw the troops in 1930, just as the Germans had requested.