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Nazi War Finance
and Banking
OTTO
NATHAN
OUR ECONOMY IN WAR
Occasional Paper 20: April
1944
FINANCIAL
NATIONAL
BUREAU
RESEARCH
OF
PROGRAM
RESEARCH
ECONOMIC
Author's Acknowledgments
I wish to express my thanks to Milton Fried, Erich Rinner
and
Henry C. Wallich who assisted me in the collection and preparation
of the material, to Lorine Pruette who edited the preliminary ver-
sion
of
the study, to Renee S. Courtney who guided the material
through the press, and to Helen Morphy who drew the charts.
Orro
NATHAN
Financial Research Program
and
Vassar College
.··
,..
...
This
pamphlet has been produced in full compliance with
all government
regulations
for the
conservation
of paper, metal, and other essential materials.
Price 50¢
COI'YRIGHT,
1944,
BY THE NATIONAL BUREAU OF
ECONOMIC
RESEARCH,
I
NC.
1819 BROADWAY, NEW YORK
2~,
N.
Y.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
MANUFACTURED IN TilE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA
BY
THE JOHN B. WATKINS COMPANY, NEW YORK
Underaraduate
~JIIY
'
I
_,
.,
.
:
Contents
THE SCOPE OF
THE
GERMAN
WAR EFFORT
THE
NAzi
EcoNOMic SYSTEM
THE BANKING
SYSTEM
IN THE NAZI MILITARY AND WAR EcoNOMY
L
EGISLATIVE
CHANGES
1
3
5
9
9
Foreign Exchange Control
The R
eichsbank
Commercial Credit
and
Banking Institutiom
SPECIAL
MEASURES AFFECTI
NG
THE CAPITAL MARKET
THE Sou Rc
ES
OF
GovERN MENT REVENUE
TAXATION
12
15
19
Tht;
German
T
ax
System
at the
Beginning
of
19JJ
General
Tax M
easures
to Increase Public Revenue, 19H-J9
(a)
Improvement
of
Tax
Administration
27
27
27
28
29
(b)
Increases in Tax Rates
(c)
New Taxes
(d) Changes
in State
and
Local Taxes
Tax M
easures
for Specific Economic
or
Military
Purposes
Tax Policy Since the Outbreak of U'ar
BoRROWING
31
31
34
34
The
The
The
The
Period
of Short-Term
Financing, 19JJ--J5
Period
of
{(Debt
Consolidation," 1935-}8
Period of Maximum Mobilization, 19J8-J9
War Period
·
37
39
41
45
49
55
R
EVENUE
OF
PRIVATE AND QUASI-PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS AS A
SouRCE OF
GovERNMENT FuNDS
Collections
Contributions and
Fees
GOVERNMENT
EXPENDITURE AND BANKING DEVELOPMENTS
THE
REICHSBANK
COMMERCIAL
BANKS
G
ERMANY'S
EXPENDITURE FOR WAR
REVENUE
FROM
TAXATION
REVENUE
THROUGH PRIVATE
AND QUASI-PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS
REVENUE
FROM
BoRROWING
THE CosT OF WAR PREPARATIONS
CONCLUSION
APPENDIX
59
61
62
66
67
69
75
77
78
80
82
9()
92
iii
Prefatory Note
This detailed examination by Dr. Nathan of Nazi methods of war finance
and control of financial institutions gives us a close-up view of the
enemy's financial problems and their causes. It provides the answer to
the important question of how a country as poor in resources as
Germany was and is, was able to prepare for war and finance it on an
unprecedented scale, and it shows also the cost to individual freedom
which Nazi methods have entailed.
In the decade before the war there was a tendency among governments
generally to
canalize
a growing proportion of national income through
the public treasury. The purpose of this canalization of national income
was to finance public expenditures, and in Germany it reached its most
highly developed form. There the system began as early as 1933 when
the Nazi regime came into power. But the Nazis used it as an integral
part of their active and undisguised preparation for war, and by 1939
it became an effective instrument in conducting the war.
This financial system was devised in the interest of a totalitarian war
economy. It is not a free gold standard, a free paper standard, or any
democratically devised variation of the two. No reliance is placed on the
interaction of individual choices and decisions which are expressed in
the markets, and it functions under an arbitrary discipline. As operated
by the Nazis, it can best be described as a secret-police-monetary-standard.
In developing this financial mechanism the Nazis proceeded within a
framework of pseudo-capitalism and self-made legality. As a consequence:
many of the methods they used are similar in outward respects to certain
of those which have been put in operation in Great Britain, Canada and
the United States. These similarities, however, are superficial and should
not be permitted to obscure contrasts in values which are fundamentaL
Financial measures imposed under democratic processes of government.
are different in essence and in effect from those enforced by a tyrannical:
dictatorship.
·
This paper is one in the series "Our Economy in War" which deals,
with both domestic developments and developments in other countries;
understanding Nazi methods of war finance is as important to us as
understanding those of our Allies. The study was made possible by
grants from the Association of Reserve City Bankers and private founda-
tions.
A.
YOUNG
Director, Financial Research Program
RALPH

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