Germany's industrial/economic threat to Great Britain and the opportunity for Britain to crush Germany via WWI
The First World War started with a dispute between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, but the British quickly shifted the focus to Germany, whose impressive industrial capacity was seen as an economic threat to Great Britain. Although pre-war Germany had a private central bank, it was heavily restricted by the government, and the country's inflation was kept in check. Under strict government control, investment capital was guaranteed for internal economic development, and Germany had become a major power. So, in the corporate media of the day, Germany was designated as the prime enemy, and was not just defeated, but its industrial base was purposely flattened. Then, following the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was ordered to pay the war costs of all the participating nations, even though Germany had not actually started the war. These war costs amounted to three times the value of all of Germany itself. Germany's private central bank, to whom Germany had gone deeply into debt to pay the costs of the war, then broke free of government control, and massive inflation followed (mostly triggered by currency speculators), permanently trapping the German people in endless debt.
When, as a result of all this, the Weimar Republic collapsed economically, it opened the door for the National Socialists to take power. Their first financial move was to issue their own government-printed currency which was of course not borrowed from private central bankers. Freed from having to pay interest on the money in circulation, Germany blossomed and quickly began to rebuild its industry. The media called it "The German Miracle." TIME magazine lionized Hitler for the amazing improvement in life that was then experienced by the German people, and for the enormous growth of German industry, and even went so far as to name him TIME Magazine's Man Of The Year in 1938.
Once again, however, Germany's industrial output became a threat to Great Britain
"Should Germany merchandise (do business) again in the next 50 years, we have led this war (WW1) in vain." -- Winston Churchill in The Times (1919)
"We will force this war upon Hitler, if he wants it or not." -- Winston Churchill (1936 broadcast)
"Germany is becoming too powerful. We have to crush it." -- Winston Churchill (November 1936 speaking to the American general, Robert E. Wood)
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