Germany

In 1933 when Hitler came to power, Germany was in a deep economic slump with 40% unemployment and many who were working were on part time jobs. The Versailles Treaty that ended WW 1 had left Germany deep in debt. This is a story of what can happen to a country whose only asset is a well trained and well educated populous. Hitler saw war as a way to gain power and grow the economy. The Treaty forbade Germany from having an Air Force or Navy and only a 100,000 man army. Hitler was aware of the skilled people and natural resource like iron and coal but he needed money. Thus the MEFO bill was invented. It was a promissory note used for a system of deferred payment to finance rearmament. These bills were not the official currency of the state but they were trusted and used as currency. This allowed Hitler to start the process of building a military. It also provided jobs and once the people were employed they used their natural desire to get ahead to grow the economy. Six years later Hitler was ready to start WW 2. The GDP increased from $60 billion in 1933 to $110 billion in 1939. In 1939 the Germans not only had a fully armed Air Force and Navy the Army had grown from 100,000 in 1933 to 3 million in 1939 and to 12 million by 1944. Blitzkrieg was born and in 7 months Hitler marched into Paris. Only England stood in the way of Hitler domination of Europe. The defense spending increased from one percent to 21 percent in 7 years and the country was at full employment. Something similar is happening in Russia today.