The matter of war reparations was the dominant issue during the whole tenure of the cabinet. After the failure of the in March 1921, German attempts to get the US government to mediate between the German position and those of the French and British governments were unsuccessful. This put a heavy strain on the coalition on which the government was based, with the DVP arguing that they could not support the policies of Foreign Minister Simons any longer. The DVP opposed making any counterproposal on reparations that could have been acceptable to the Allies. The end of the cabinet was finally brought about by the "Londoner Ultimatum". By late April/early May there were rumours that the Allies were about to present a new payments schedule in connection with threats of new sanctions (as happened on 5 May). On 4 May, despite an uprising in Upper Silesia that had erupted the previous day, the cabinet decided to resign after the parties were unable to agree on whether to present the Allies with a new German proposal on reparations. President Ebert asked the government to remain in office until a new one could be formed and the cabinet agreed. It was succeeded on 10 May 1921 by the cabinet of Joseph Wirth, Finance Minister under Fehrenbach.