Topics / Forgotten Fortunes
War Economies
War bonds, blockades, requisitions, reparations, and the fiscal machinery states build to finance armed conflict.
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From Checkbook Reunification to Zeitenwende: Germany’s 1990 and 2022 Defense Finance Shifts
How Soviet troop withdrawal costs and Germany’s 2022 defence fund reshaped Berlin’s security financing.
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France’s Post-Cold War Defense Restructuring, OPEX Financing, and the 2024–2030 LPM
Explore how France financed overseas military operations, restructured defence firms and adopted its 2024–2030 budget.
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From Defense Collapse to Fortress Sanctioned: Russia’s War Finance, 1991–2025
Russia’s finances changed repeatedly after the Soviet collapse, from military retrenchment and debt distress to reserve accumulation and sanctions. Each shift altered the state’s…
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The Bergier Commission, the Volcker Audit, and the $1.25B Swiss Banks Settlement
Swiss banks faced growing scrutiny over Holocaust-era assets, dormant accounts and wartime gold dealings. Independent inquiries and a major settlement followed.
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KfW Counterpart Funds, the 1952 Lastenausgleich, and the 1953 London Debt Agreement
West Germany’s recovery drew on three different financial tools: Marshall Plan counterpart funds, a postwar property levy, and an international debt settlement.
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Dirigisme and Debt: How Post-War France Financed the Trente Glorieuses
Burdened by Vichy occupation tributes and a public debt reaching 170% of GDP in 1945, post-war France used inflation, Jean Monnet’s indicative planning, Marshall…
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Civil War Emergency and the US Treasury Greenback Experiment
Faced with depleted gold reserves in February 1862, Congress enacted the Legal Tender Act—launching a $450 million Civil War fiat currency experiment in ‘greenbacks’…
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Liberty Bonds: How America Financed World War I
When America entered World War I in 1917, the government needed billions to finance its military and support the Allies. Treasury Secretary William McAdoo…
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Operation Bernhard: The Nazi Plot to Break Britain’s Currency
Inside Sachsenhausen concentration camp, Jewish prisoners were forced to create millions of convincing British banknotes. Operation Bernhard threatened sterling and financed Nazi intelligence, but…
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The Economics of War: Who Pays, Who Profits, and What Wars Leave Behind
Wars are fought on battlefields, but their financial consequences reach entire economies. From war bonds and oil embargoes to military contracts and public debt,…
