The German Economy Was in Ruin
After the end of World War I, Germany was forced to take all of the blame and pay for the damages done to the continent. "The German inflation of 1914–1923 had an inconspicuous beginning, a creeping rate of one to two percent. On the first day of the war, the German Reichsbank, like the other central banks of the belligerent powers, suspended redeem-ability of its notes in order to prevent a run on its gold reserves." [http://mises.org/daily/2347] |
Germany's economy plunged into the red zone and the currency was severely inflated. The price of 1 oz of gold went up more than fifty-one trillion percent. Most of the citizens lived in poverty and it seemed that the country would never recover.