The French and Belgian armies sent 60,000 soldiers to invade the Ruhr region of Germany. The French aimed to extract the unpaid reparations and took control of key industries and natural resources. The Weimar Government instructed the Ruhr workers to go on strike, instead of helping the French.

The Locarno Treaties were seven agreements negotiated at Locarno, Switzerland, in which the First World War Western European Allied powers and the new states of Central and Eastern Europe sought to secure the post-war territorial settlement, in return for normalising relations with the defeated Weimar Republic. It also stated that Germany would never go to war with the other countries. Locarno divided borders in Europe into two categories: western, which were guaranteed by the Locarno Treaties, and eastern borders of Germany with Poland, which were open for revision.

The treaty of Versailles gave some German territories to neighbouring countries and placed other German territories under international supervision. In addition, Germany was stripped of its overseas colonies, its military capabilities were severely restricted, and it was required to pay war reparations to the Allied countries.