Treaty of Rapallo between Germany and the Soviet Union: April 1922. There was economic cooperation between the two countries during the treaty. Secret military understandings are already in the making. German government tries to make the western powers more willing to make concessions in the reparation question and to silence possible Russian gossip on Germany, but the Treaty of Rapallo annoys the west without bringing any real gains. It is nevertheless very popular in Germany because it looks like an independent and self-confident foreign policy.

Assassination of Foreign Minister Walther Rathenau by a group of right-wing terrorists, in June 1922. Anti-Semitism, hatred of the Republic, and resentment against the policy of fulfillment conducted by Rathenau are the reasons for this crime.

In reaction to the Rathenau murder: Reichstag issues Laws for the Protection of the Republic, in July 1922; this law increases conflict between the Reich Government in Berlin and Bavaria. Bavaria, having lost most of the independence that Bismarck had granted it in 1871, fears further intrusions by the central government in Berlin. Political difference also plays a role: the Bavarian government stands far more to the right than the Reich Government in Berlin.

Reparations:

Germany announces that they cannot afford any payments for the next 3 years.