Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-19T05:11:41.139Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

8 - Upheaval and Recovery

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 July 2009

Caroline Fohlin
Affiliation:
The Johns Hopkins University
Get access

Summary

This book has related a story that is by and large one of great prosperity and fortune. In 1913, Germany stood at the vanguard of science, technology, and industry. The country had progressed from an economically and politically “backward” patchwork of states to become one of the world's great powers. In the spring of 1914, it would have been hard to imagine that Germany was about to endure more than three decades of upheaval, crisis, tyranny, and war. And it is doubtful that anyone could have predicted the profound and lasting changes that would take place in the structure of Germany's economy and financial system.

THE FIRST WORLD WAR AND THE EARLY WEIMAR REPUBLIC

The Economic, Political, and Legal Environment

When war broke out in August 1914, German politicians figured on a short engagement and planned accordingly. As it turned out, they had miscalculated, and the unexpectedly high war demands strained the German productive capacity. The difficulties stemmed largely from domestic supply shortages, compounded by the British blockade starting in November 1914. Export volume declined by half in the first two years of the war and by 1918 fell to 15 percent of the 1913 level. Private consumption and investments fell, and many imports were blocked by embargo. While a trickle of imports continued, Germany fell into near autarky. At the same time, as farmers were conscripted, agricultural production contracted, essential supplies ran short, and food prices increased.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Upheaval and Recovery
  • Caroline Fohlin, The Johns Hopkins University
  • Book: Finance Capitalism and Germany's Rise to Industrial Power
  • Online publication: 27 July 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511510908.008
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Upheaval and Recovery
  • Caroline Fohlin, The Johns Hopkins University
  • Book: Finance Capitalism and Germany's Rise to Industrial Power
  • Online publication: 27 July 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511510908.008
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Upheaval and Recovery
  • Caroline Fohlin, The Johns Hopkins University
  • Book: Finance Capitalism and Germany's Rise to Industrial Power
  • Online publication: 27 July 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511510908.008
Available formats
×