In the long history of modern Germany, Schacht is undoubtedly a very controversial figure. With his outstanding economic talent and extraordinary courage, he pulled Germany out of economic difficulties in just a few years and achieved a leap in industry and military. However, his fate was closely linked to the Nazi regime, and ultimately left a complicated mark on the scale of history.
Schacht, the economic wizard who served as the president of the Bundesbank at the age of 46, is known for his shrewdness and ability. He successfully quelled two catastrophic financial crises and laid a solid foundation for the stability and development of the German economy. When the Nazi Party came to power in 1933, Schacht saw a stage for his own ambitions. He took the initiative to approach Xi, won the trust of the Nazi leader with his economic talent, and was entrusted with important tasks.
Under Schacht's careful planning, Germany quickly launched a series of ambitious economic stimulus plans. These plans aim to expand industrial capacity, especially arms production, and upgrade domestic infrastructure. These measures not only effectively solved Germany's unemployment problem, but also significantly improved its industrial and military strength. As Germany's military expansion accelerates, a serious question faces Schacht: Germany is a country lacking natural resources. How to ensure a stable supply of raw materials?
The demand for strategic materials such as oil and rubber was particularly urgent. These raw materials were mainly used in weapons manufacturing and needed to be imported with foreign exchange. Since the German economy was not export-oriented, its foreign exchange reserves were soon stretched. In order to solve this problem, Schacht invented a virtual foreign exchange tool called the ASKI mark. Through this "currency" used for accounting, Germany was able to import much-needed raw materials from abroad, and the countries that provided these raw materials could use the ASKI mark to purchase industrial products produced in Germany, that is, they did not pay cash for goods purchased from Southeast Europe and the United States, but only gave the ASKI mark quota, which could be used to buy other industrial products produced in Germany. The price was relatively attractive and more favorable compared to the international price. In this way, Romanian oil, Hungarian bauxite, South American beef and agricultural products were obtained, but the ASKI mark could only be used to purchase German products and could not be circulated. This seemingly win-win transaction actually deepened the economic dependence of these countries on Germany and provided strong support for Germany's military expansion. The expansion of the army to 9 times in just 6 years has a lot to do with this special "invention".
In terms of domestic finance, Schacht also showed his intelligence. He set up a shell company called MEFO and issued commercial bills for payment. That is, when ordering weapons, he did not pay in cash, but bills, which would be discounted at commercial banks after a period of time. Before maturity, the bills would be redeemed at the central bank. The discount time for commercial bills was extended to more than 6 months, and later to 5 years, which cleverly delayed the time for money to enter the market, thereby alleviating inflationary pressure to a certain extent. Although this shrewd short-term operation could not completely avoid the occurrence of inflation, it bought Germany precious time to adjust its economic structure and strengthen its armaments.
Schacht's brilliant achievements ultimately failed to escape the shadow of the Nazis. With the surge in German military spending and the expansion of the national debt, inflation finally got out of control. At a critical moment, Schacht chose to go against Heinrich and demanded an end to military expansion. His loyalty was not rewarded, but he was fired by Heinrich and imprisoned in a concentration camp in 1944. Although Schacht was sent to the Nuremberg Military Tribunal after the end of World War II and received due trial, his contributions and mistakes will remain in the long river of history forever.
Schacht was a talented and ambitious man, a driving force behind Germany's economic revival and a prominent figure under the shadow of the Nazis. I personally think Schacht was a very talented financial wizard. After the defeat in World War I, he was burdened with huge debts, but he still got money under imperfect conditions, and quickly rose to develop military preparations, improve construction, and provide employment, all of which were inseparable from his contributions.
