"269 billion gold marks! God, how can they ask for so much? How much gold is that? 60,000 tons or 70,000 tons......"

It's January 28, 1921, and the presidential palace in Berlin is in chaos. President Albert walked around the house in a fit of rage, and Prime Minister Konstantin Brown. Felenbach (Catholic Centre Party) sat silent on the couch, and Defense Minister Otto Murphy sat silent. Geisler stood at the window dumbfounded, and the Minister of Transportation, William. Admiral Greener gasped sharply.

From the second half of 1920 to the present, the economy of the Weimar Republic has improved slightly. Thanks to orders from Soviet Russia and the Baltics, industrial production in Germany began to recover. Government revenues were also increasing, and in the last months of 1920 revenues were already covering nearly 70 per cent of expenditures, and the value of the mark remained stable. Seeing that the German economy could recover in 1921, the Entente Reparations Commission gave the Weimar Republic a blow in the face! No, not a stick, but a time bomb tied to the Weimar Republic!

Britain and France, with an astronomical indemnity of 269 billion gold marks - which in the age of the gold standard could not be paid off - declared the death penalty of the Weimar Republic!

There was no way out for the Weimar Republic economically, and the mark, guaranteed by gold and state credit, was eventually destined to become waste paper. Even if it did not become waste paper, Germany's monetary sovereignty would be lost, and from now on it would have to rely on Anglo-American borrowing - relying on foreign borrowing as security for the issuance of paper money, and allowing the Reichsbank (central bank) to accept de facto international condominium (half of the members of the Reichsbank General Council were foreigners). This is the essence of the so-called "Dawes Plan", which could not save the Weimar Republic, but only delayed its demise.

Suffice it to say that when the Entente Compensation Commission announced this reparations, it was a fate that German tanks would rampant across the European continent.

On January 28, 1921, however, few people could have predicted such consequences, and the men in President Albert's office were no exception. They now only see the reality that the demise of the Weimar Republic is a foregone conclusion, and that no one can save the regime that brought democracy to Germany......

"Konstantin, what are we going to do?" President Albert looked with almost despair at his political opponent, the president of the Catholic Central Party, who was the prime minister, Constantine Brown. Felenbach.

"Mr. President, we can't take it out!" Constantine. Felenbach was equally hopeless. At present, fiscal revenues can only cover 70% of expenditures, which means that 30% of expenditures are sustained by printing money. Such a financial situation, not to mention 269 billion gold marks, even one-tenth of this figure cannot be obtained.

"If they can't get it, they will occupy the west bank of the Rhine!" Albert looked at Defense Minister Geisler and Transport Minister Grener again. This is actually asking the two of them how much resistance Germany still has.

The two looked at each other and shook their heads at the same time. "Now the army has only 200,000 men, and there are not many heavy weapons, and there are no aircraft, so it is impossible to resist. ”

"The Baltic Republic still has a defense force of 45,000 men, but they can quickly expand to 150,000," Grener said. Before the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, we also hid 1,500 cannons of various types, 10,000 machine guns and 500,000 steel helmets, as well as a large number of shells and bullets in Miuta. In addition, the Baltic Defense Forces now have an air force with 200 aircraft of very superior performance. Near Riga there are also factories of the FK-BF aircraft manufacturing complex and the Junker-Fokker Aircraft Company (which was founded at the end of 1920 and specializes in the production of large transport aircraft). They can deliver around 100 ...... a month if we need them"

"Alright, I got it!" President Albert's face was slightly ugly. Hiding so many weapons in the Baltic Republic is a clear violation of the Compiègne Agreement and the subsequent Treaty of Versailles. And what's worse is that he, as president, didn't know anything about it before!

"Looks like we're going to be able to resist a bit!" Albert said, "Say no! Then we will negotiate to reduce the reparations to 50 billion gold marks, with a four-year deferral of payments, so that we may be able to sustain it. ”

……

"If we do not take into account the gold we have in Switzerland, the entire German financial system, including the reserves of the Reichsbank, all gold, silver and foreign exchange together is equivalent to only about 2.3 billion gold marks......"

In the Charlottenburg district, inside the headquarters of the Economic Promotion Company. At this time, an emergency meeting was also held, which was attended by several members of the Industrial Promotion Committee, including Hersmann, Schleicher, and Er. In addition to Haushofer, Colonel Schleicher, and Dr. Schacht, there was the Chief of the General Staff, Seckert, and General Ludendorff, who had already established a cooperative relationship with the National Socialist German Workers' Party, and the son of Field Marshal Hindenburg, Oskar. Feng. Colonel Hindenburg, as well as two other members of Congress, Gustav of the People's Party. Stresemann and the centrist von Ts. Colonel Bapen.

Dr. Schacht, the managing director of the National Bank, first told everyone about the financiers of the whole of Germany. After handing over 20 billion gold marks, foreign exchange, precious metals and physical objects (mainly in kind), Germany really does not have much money left.

"We also spent a lot of our gold in Switzerland," Schacht added, "and a quarter of it (worth 600 million gold marks) was lent to the Baltic Republic as preparation for the issuance of the Baltic marks." In addition, the same amount of gold was used to set up a 'special fund for overseas investment' to support the transfer of production capacity abroad by large German industrial enterprises or the acquisition of heavy industry and mining companies of the former Austria-Hungary...... But even if the Swiss gold is not used, we will not be able to pay 269 billion gold marks in compensation. I think they understand that, so they don't really want us to lose money. ”

"Don't you really want to pay?" Ludendorff asked angrily, "Then what do they mean?" ”

"They are fighting a currency war with the aim of destroying Germany's monetary and financial sovereignty!" Hersmann said. ”

Ludendorff looked at Dr. Schacht, who nodded: "Yes, the lieutenant colonel is right. If they really want us to pay compensation, they can ask us to repair the towns, factories and railways in Belgium and northern France...... If we could keep all the gold and foreign exchange as the basis for the mark, we would be able to raise money by issuing bonds and printing money for German companies and workers to fix those things. It's not the same as taking the gold directly! ”

If the Germans were to repair the damage, then the German government would pay the companies and workers to make paper marks that could be brushed out. Moreover, enterprises will generate profits and pay taxes, and workers will be paid to stimulate consumption, thereby driving economic development. Of course, the mark will depreciate as a result, but the magnitude of the depreciation is manageable, because the government and the Imperial Bank have a large amount of gold and foreign exchange in their hands. You can take advantage of the market when necessary. But once Germany loses most of its gold and foreign exchange, and does not have a government that can strongly control the German economy - such as those of Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia - then in the era of convertible paper money (that is, paper money is pegged to gold and can be exchanged at any time), Germany's credit currency system will not be able to sustain, and the collapse of the monetary system will be quite fatal to the German economy!

Schacht finally said in an extremely low tone: "So, they are not asking us to pay reparations, but they are waging a currency war aimed at destroying the German economy!" ”

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