well, the inflation of the Weimar Republic laid the groundwork for Hitlers grab for power...as to how he managed to revive the economy, he first instituted massive public works programmes and then he began mobilizing for war. the very same war that rescued the US economy too....
Hjalmar Schacht was "Reichswaehrungskommissar" in 1923 ("currency commissioner") and as such credited with ending the Weimar inflation by introducing the 'Rentenmark'. he became German central bank governor the same year, against the wishes of the far right parties, and the board of directors of the 'Reichsbank'. then Reichs-chancellor Gustav Stresemann appointed him against all opposition.
he resigned from that post in 1930, after disagreeing on the reparation payment schedule which the German parliament agreed to. at that time he became himself involved with the nationalistic fringe.
in 1932, he initiated a petition by German banksters and industrialists to President Hindenburg, demanding he appoint Hitler as chancellor.
in '33, when Hitler took power, he once again became governor of the central bank...in '34 he joined Hitler's cabinet as secretary of commerce("Reichswirtschaftsminister").
in '35 he became in addition to that "Generalbevollmaechtigter fuer die Kriegswirtschaft" , loosely translatable as 'secretary general for the war economy'. as such he was instrumental in arranging financing for Germany's re-armament drive.
in '37, he insisted in vain that the states finances were in need of consolidation...and consequently resigned from his posts, except that of governor of the Reichsbank, which he resigned from in '39 in protest against the Nazi financial policies. he served however as 'minister without portfolio' inconsequentially until 1943.
in '44, he finally fell from grace when it became known that he had made contact with the resistance and after the failed assassination attempt on Hitler in July of that year was arrested and put into a concentration camp, from whence he emerged as one of the defendants at the Nuremberg trials.
he was acquitted at that trial, only to be found one of the main culprits of the Nazi era by a German court in '47, which sentenced him to 8 years of forced labor. was released in '48 however, after winning his case on appeal.
that much for Schacht...who btw. had a fruitful career in post-war Germany with the Aussenhandelsbank (Bank for Foreign Trade). |
