Overview: Gustav Stresemann (1878 - 1929) became Reich Chancellor when the young Weimar Republic was once again plunged into chaos: in the crisis year of 1923. Germany was still suffering the consequences of the lost war and the Treaty of Versailles. France and Belgium occupied the Ruhr region to force billions in reparations and gain control over the important industrial region. Inflation reached its peak. Communist uprisings threatened from the left, and the radical right called for a national dictatorship. Becoming chancellor at such a time was "really political suicide," Stresemann wrote to his wife.