<P> By late 1922 , the German defaults on payments had grown so regular that a crisis engulfed the Reparations Commission ; the French and Belgian delegates urged occupying the Ruhr as a way of forcing Germany to pay more , while the British delegate urged a lowering of the payments . As a consequence of a German default on timber deliveries in December 1922 , the Reparations Commission declared Germany in default , which led to the Franco - Belgian occupation of the Ruhr in January 1923 . Particularly galling to the French was that the timber quota the Germans defaulted on was based on an assessment of their capacity the Germans made themselves and subsequently lowered . The Allies believed that the government of Chancellor Wilhelm Cuno had defaulted on the timber deliveries deliberately as a way of testing the will of the Allies to enforce the treaty . The entire conflict was further exacerbated by a German default on coal deliveries in early January 1923 , which was the thirty - fourth coal default in the previous thirty - six months . The French Premier Raymond Poincaré was deeply reluctant to order the Ruhr occupation and took this step only after the British had rejected his proposals for non-military sanctions against Germany . Frustrated at Germany not paying reparations , Poincaré hoped for joint Anglo - French economic sanctions against Germany in 1922 and opposed military action . However , by December 1922 he was faced with Anglo - American - German opposition and saw coal for French steel production and payments in money as laid out in the Treaty of Versailles draining away . Poincaré was exasperated with British opposition , and wrote to the French ambassador in London : </P>
when did france and belgium invade the ruhr
January 1923