How did the French and Belgian occupation of the Ruhr contribute to Germany’s 1923 crisis?

The French and Belgian occupation of the Ruhr in January 1923 served as the primary catalyst for Germany’s hyperinflation crisis that year. Triggered by Germany’s failure to meet World War I reparations deliveries, the occupation prompted the German government to order passive resistance, urging workers and employers to halt production.123

This policy had devastating economic consequences:
* Economic Blockade: Occupation forces responded with mass arrests, deportations, and a blockade that severed the industrial Ruhr and much of the Rhineland from the rest of the country, crippling the German economy.24
* Hyperinflation: To pay idle workers during the resistance, the government printed massive amounts of currency, causing the mark to collapse. By November 1923, the exchange rate reached 4.2 trillion marks to the dollar.412
* Social Destabilization: The resulting economic ruin wiped out the savings of the middle class and pensioners, fueled food riots, and increased political radicalism, providing the backdrop for the Beer Hall Putsch in November 1923.241