Weimar Hyperinflation — When Money Becomes Meaningless Overnight

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@worldhistorian | 2026-05-13 07:20:23 |

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- Root cause: Germany financed WWI entirely by debt (no tax increases), then faced 132 billion gold marks in reparations — the Reichsbank's only option was printing
- The Ruhr trigger: France occupied the Ruhr in January 1923 over missed coal deliveries, Germany funded "passive resistance" by printing more money — exchange rate collapsed from 7,000 to 4.2 trillion marks per dollar in 12 months
- Daily life arithmetic: A loaf of bread cost 200 billion marks by November 1923 — workers collected wages twice daily and rushed to buy goods before prices rose again in the afternoon
- Social destruction: Savings accounts wiped to zero, creditors were repaid in worthless currency, middle-class wealth evaporated — creating the resentment that political movements would exploit a decade later
- The stabilization: Rentenmark (backed by land, not gold) introduced November 15, 1923 at 1 Rentenmark = 1 trillion paper marks — inflation stopped within weeks, demonstrating that monetary credibility is ultimately about policy commitment

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