You’d wonder where this money comes from. Obviously, from Germany. From its citizens. The first payment of this fine was made by Germany in 1921, right after that, there was hyperinflation in Germany. Germany’s currency back then was the German Mark, you can’t imagine how rapidly it was devalued. In 1922, in Berlin, a packet of bread cost 160 Marks. The following year, in 1923, the same packet of bread cost 200 Billion Marks. Obviously, the economy was crippled. And the rate of unemployment rose rapidly.
In such circumstances, in our story, entered Adolf Hitler. A young political leader, who knew how to manipulate the masses with his speeches. In 1923, Hitler’s Nazi Party tried to overthrow the German government. By staging a coup. Even though this attempt failed, this caused Hitler’s popularity among the masses to increase manifold. Rumours were spread among the people that the embarrassment faced by Germany the international humiliation of Germany, were because of the ‘anti-national’ elements living in the country. People were distressed. It was easy to manipulate them.
Hitler claimed that the Jews and Socialists living in the country, were to be blamed. They were the reason for Germany’s disgrace. Over the next 10 years, propaganda was used in abundance, media organizations were paid, hate speeches were everywhere.
