Occupation of the Rhineland

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The German armistice after World War I included the military occupation of the Rhineland by the victorious powers.

Chronology

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January 1919: The ccupation of the Rhineland imposed by the Treaty if Versailles began in January 1919. French, British, Belgian and initially also American troops were involved.

April 1920: French occupation of Frankfurt occurred from 6 April to 17 May 1920 as part of the Allied occupation of the Rhineland. The principal city occupied was Frankfurt, but the French also occupied Dieburg, Darmstadt, Hanau and Homburg.

January 1922: The sanctioned area ("Sanktionsgebeiet") also known as the Ruhr region in Germany, was occupied by French and Belgian troops in 1921. This was in response to Germany's failure to meet reparation payments following World War I, as stipulated in the Treaty of Versailles.

January 1923: Since the German Reich did not pay reparations in a satisfactory amount, French and Belgian troops also occupied the Ruhr area from January 11, 1923.

February 1923: Since the German Reich did not pay reparations in a satisfactory amount, French and Belgian troops also occupied the Ruhr area from January 11, 1923. On February 12, they occupied the ports of Wesel and Emmerich. From February 25 areas on the right bank of the Rhine between and around the bridgeheads of Cologne, Koblenz and Mainz were also occupied by the allies of World War I.

October 1923: The Rhenish Republic was proclaimed at Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) in October 1923 during the occupation of the Ruhr by troops from France and Belgium (January 1923-1925).

November 1923: After the capitulation of the government of the Palatinate, Franz Joseph Heinz proclaimed the Autonomous Palatinate in Speyer on November 12.

February 1924: The final point for the Autonomous Palatinate came with the storming of the Pirmasens district office on February 12, 1924, favored by the French troops by initially not intervening.

November 1924: End of the occupation by the Allies of World War I in the areas on the right bank of the Rhine from November 17, 1924.

November 1924: After numerous protests by the German and British governments, Franco-Belgian support to the Rhenish sepratists waned. The Separatists tried to maintain their rule with the help of the Schutztruppe they had recruited. The maintenance of the troops was denied by "requisitions" from the population, as a result of which the situation escalated to the point of armed conflicts in many places. Direct Separatist rule ended around November 20th, 1924.

August 1925: Territories of the Ruhr area were given back to Germany on August 16, 1925.

December 1925: Economic problems in connection with the French occupying troops in the Wiesbaden area led to this zone being handed over to the British Army of the Rhine on December 30, 1925.

January 1926: Withdrawal of the Allies of World War I from the Northern Zone around Cologne.

November 1929: In 1929, the French and Belgian military forces withdrew from the so-called Central Zone around Koblenz in Germany. This decision was part of the implementation of the Young Plan, a program aimed at reducing Germany's reparation payments following World War I. The territory was returned to the Weimar Republic, marking a significant step towards easing tensions in Europe.

June 1930: In 1930, the French and British forces withdrew from the so-called Southern Zone around Mainz, marking the end of the occupation of the Rhineland. This decision was part of the ongoing negotiations between Germany and the Allied powers.

October 1923: Between October 6 and 10, 1923, Franz Josef Heinz with the help of his Palatinate Corps gained control of the Palatinate cities of Kaiserslautern, Neustadt an der Haardt and Landau.

January 1919: The Free State of Schwenten was an independent state proclaimed in 1919 with the capital in Schwenten.

February 1923: Due to rampant smuggling activities, the "Bottleneck Free State" had already been occupied by the French from February 1923 to November 1924.

November 1923: More and more Palatinate towns fell to the separatists, such as Edenkoben on the night of November 18th.

January 1919: A narrow area between the Rhine and the unoccupied part of the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau, remained unoccupied after the end of the First World War from January 10, 1919 to February 25, 1923, during the Allied occupation of the Rhineland. The so-called Free State of Bottleneck was effectively isolated from the rest of unoccupied Germany and was therefore left to its own devices both politically and economically. It was not a state in the sense of international law.

May 1920: French occupation of Frankfurt occurred from 6 April to 17 May 1920 as part of the Allied occupation of the Rhineland. The principal city occupied was Frankfurt, but the French also occupied Dieburg, Darmstadt, Hanau and Homburg.