Silent War Financing

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The silent financing of war is understood as the financing of the war by the Nazis in the Second World War in Germany .

Even before the war began, the state deficit of the German Reich was high due to war preparations. In addition, there were hidden national debts in the form of Mefo and Public transport bills . With the beginning of the war, the need for finance increased. The coverage of war costs through war bonds was made extremely difficult by the experience of the population with the complete devaluation of war bonds of the First World War during the hyperinflation . The government had to expect that war bonds would not be subscribed to to the extent necessary.

The co-ordination of the savings banks , banks and insurance companies , however, allowed "noiseless war financing": the financial service companies were obliged to subscribe to government bonds or to issue government loans. With this, the state siphoned off part of the credit and used it to pay the military, but also to buy weapons and war material. While the state was increasingly indebted to the banks, the population felt little of these events. By the wage and price freeze was monetary stability faked. Since there weren't enough products to buy, the excess money (excess purchasing power ) was put back into the banks. Here it could be siphoned off again by the state if necessary. In addition, the state promoted savings , for example with the Iron Saving campaign .

This cycle only worked until mid-1943, however. The military setbacks caused the Germans to lose confidence, and more money deposits were reclaimed at the bank counters and the money was hoarded. However, the banks could not meet these demands without further ado, as the money was loaned to the state and was used for military equipment, most of which was destroyed. As a result, there was a switch to banknote financing, i.e. printing banknotes, which led to very high hidden inflation .

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