The 1923 “passive resistance campaign” in the Ruhr, supported by the national government’s printing of astronomical sums of money, had triggered hyperinflation and brought about immense economic hardship for Germany's population. As a result, some voices inside Germany began to suggest abandoning the campaign and offering concessions to the French. These demonstrating workers in Duisburg wanted to counteract any such voices, and the photograph itself, for which the protesters posed with their hand-written sign, sought to stiffen the national resolve to continue supporting the campaign.