Weimar Hyperinflation

1923 CE — Central Europe, Weimar Germany

Today: Germany (the Weimar Republic)

Crushed by the reparations debt imposed after the First World War, Germany printed money to pay its bills until the currency became a joke — a loaf of bread that cost 250 marks in early 1923 cost 200 billion by November, and workers were paid twice a day to spend before prices doubled again. Savings, trust, and the middle class were wiped out. It was Rome's debased denarius in modern dress — and the ruin it caused helped clear a path for a strongman.

Worth knowing: German banknotes became so worthless that people burned them for heat, papered walls with them, and gave children bricks of cash to play with — the paper was literally cheaper than firewood.

Pattern: Monetary debasement — A money's intrinsic or backed value is diluted to fund obligations; confidence in it erodes, often into inflation.

Entry 210 of 240 in Precedent, a walk through the whole human story in order.