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Henry Morgenthau, The German Character
Five chapters from Morgenthau’s book, Germany is our Problem, here published with an introductory note by Ellopos. Emphasis, in bold or italic letters, by Ellopos. Complete book in print.
52 Pages
Page 25
A typical transaction between Germany and Poland would work out like this: A Pole sells a German a trainload of timber. The Polish clearing office pays its citizens in zlotys; the German timber buyer pays his clearing office in marks. In order to get its money back, the Polish clearing office has to be sure a Pole buys something in Germany of the same value as the timber— automobiles perhaps. When the Polish dealer buys German cars, he pays zlotys into his own clearing office; the German clearing office pays the German car manufacturer off in marks. It sounds like good business until one of two things happens—maybe both. Germany fears Poland may be motorizing her army with the automobiles or getting too strong with German steel and insists that Poland take harmonicas or Christmas tree decorations. Or the Polish dealer may prefer to buy American cars because they stand up better under Polish road conditions. Either case weakens Poland and usually in a vital industrial point. She takes harmonicas instead of building up her industry because she has the money standing to her credit in Germany and cannot use it any other way. Or she has to force the Polish dealer to buy German instead of American cars either by a discriminatory tariff, import quotas or exchange controls. Even if Poland wanted to set up automobile plants or machinery factories of her own, she would be hampered by the need for taking German products through the clearing agreement.
Multiple marks achieved the same ends through a different device. Germany would make payments to foreign creditors only in special kinds of marks. While the official rate was 40 cents, there was a travel mark quoted at about 15 cents, good only for tourist travel in Germany. Other types of marks sold at even lower prices. They were expendable only for the purchase of German goods by foreigners who had made special arrangements. This in effect made the German products cheaper. Foreign holders of these marks were tempted strongly to get machinery from the Reich instead of from their own manufacturers or from another country which did not offer this bribe of bargain-basement currencies.
Cf. H. Arendt: totalitarianism reduces men to impersonal natural forces * German philosophers in support of Nazism * Beethoven and Mauthausen * The Superior Race of Germans * Kalergi, European Spirit must Precede Europe's Political Unification * La Construction de l'Europe selon Jean Monnet * Plan Fouchet * Mitterrand and Kohl urge European Political Union * Il Manifesto di Ventotene
