Summary of Adam Fergusson's When Money Dies

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 The German mark, the British shilling, the French franc, and the Italian lira were all worth about the same in 1913. By the end of 1923, the mark had fallen almost ten times its size. The mark’s fall began gradually in the war years, 1914-1918, and accelerated in the 1920s.
#2 In the winter of 1918-1919, the German, Austrian, and Hungarian economies underwent political revolutions following the deprivations of wartime and the crushing military defeat. Inflation exacerbated every problem, ruined every opportunity for national revival, and eventually produced the conditions in which extremists of Right and Left could raise the mob against the State.
#3 The German inflation was both internal and external. It was caused by the Reichsbank’s creed of Mark gleich Mark - paper or gold, a mark is a mark is a mark. If prices went up, people demanded not a stable purchasing power for the marks they had, but more marks to buy what they needed.
#4 The German revolution, which began as a military mutiny against the bungling of the Army’s leaders, had economic origins as well. Support for the Soldiers’ Councils which were forming in every unit stemmed from the financial hardships experienced by many of the soldiers and their families.

Sujets

• Politique
• Europe
• History
• Germany
• Histoire

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 14 mai 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9798822508996
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on Adam Fergusson's When Money Dies
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2 Insights from Chapter 3 Insights from Chapter 4 Insights from Chapter 5 Insights from Chapter 6 Insights from Chapter 7 Insights from Chapter 8 Insights from Chapter 9 Insights from Chapter 10 Insights from Chapter 11 Insights from Chapter 12 Insights from Chapter 13 Insights from Chapter 14 Insights from Chapter 15
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The German mark, the British shilling, the French franc, and the Italian lira were all worth about the same in 1913. By the end of 1923, the mark had fallen almost ten times its size. The mark’s fall began gradually in the war years, 1914-1918, and accelerated in the 1920s.

#2

In the winter of 1918-1919, the German, Austrian, and Hungarian economies underwent political revolutions following the deprivations of wartime and the crushing military defeat. Inflation exacerbated every problem, ruined every opportunity for national revival, and eventually produced the conditions in which extremists of Right and Left could raise the mob against the State.

#3

The German inflation was both internal and external. It was caused by the Reichsbank’s creed of Mark gleich Mark - paper or gold, a mark is a mark is a mark. If prices went up, people demanded not a stable purchasing power for the marks they had, but more marks to buy what they needed.

#4

The German revolution, which began as a military mutiny against the bungling of the Army’s leaders, had economic origins as well. Support for the Soldiers’ Councils which were forming in every unit stemmed from the financial hardships experienced by many of the soldiers and their families.

#5

The German Army was able to restore its position of power after the revolution, and the nation quickly blamed the Bolsheviks for the country’s problems. However, the Army’s failure had not only been in battle. The nation had also learned to make a virtue of war, and when the war was over, it did not seem to occur to the Supreme Command that the breakdown of the military machine stemmed from economic mismanagement.

#6

The first stage of inflation took place under the auspices of one Karl Helfferich, State Secretary for Finance from 1915 to 1917. The credit policy of the Reichsbank was governed by the Bank Law of 1875, whereby not less than one-third of the note issue was covered by gold and the remainder by three-month discounted bills adequately guaranteed.

#7

Germany’s war effort was funded by loans and taxes. The loans were the most important source of money, and the tax revenue raised for the war was not enough to cover the cost of the war or the interest on the war debt.

#8

In the war years, inflation took its toll on national morale. The effects of inflation were not just felt by the German people, but by their government as well. The country issued milliards in the form of extraordinary levies, War Loans, Treasury bills, and so on, without withdrawing from circulation corresponding amounts in the form of taxes.

#9

The German people were deprived of their physical and moral capacity for further resistance in 1919. They lacked the power to translate their hatred into active opposition, but they cherished it within their bosoms.

#10

The Treaty of Versailles separated Germany from her colonies and one-seventh of her pre-war territory, as well as from a tenth of her population. It also made Germany responsible for the war, and demanded colossal reparations to cover the Allies’ costs.
Insights from Chapter 2

#1

The Treaty of Versailles weakened and diminished Germany, but did not leave her any less a whole nation. The parallel peace treaties of St Germain and Trianon dismantled the Hapsburg Empire in its entirety and gave away millions of its citizens' land and rights.

#2

The Austrian Empire was unready for the advanced parliamentary system which the First World War gave her. The country was ruled by a President who did not appoint ministers, and the Chamber was supreme, which appointed the Cabinet by vote.

#3

In post-war Vienna, Frau Eisenmenger, a middle-class widow, began to turn to the Schleichhändler, or smugglers, for the most basic foods which the Austrian government could no longer supply.

#4

In Austria, the government was trying to stamp out the panic by exchanging the ao-kronen note for silver kronen, but that only made things worse. The prices of food were four times as high as the official prices.

#5

In both Austria and Germany, rapid inflation caused homegrown produce to be withheld from the urban markets, with hunger and anger the inevitable result.