How Did Hitler Fund a Huge Military When Germany Was Broke?

Video Description

Germany, 1923: Hyperinflation destroys the economy. Then, 1929: The Great Depression strikes. By 1933, six million Germans are unemployed and the nation is bankrupt. Yet just six years later, Germany invades Poland with the most powerful military in Europe. How did a twice-destroyed economy fund the largest rearmament program in history? The answer: A fake company, a financial wizard named Hjalmar Schacht, and what was essentially a national-scale Ponzi scheme called MEFO Bills. This video exposes the shadow banking system that hid 12 billion Reichsmarks in debt off the books—and why Germany had no choice but to invade its neighbors when those bills came due in 1939. ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 THE IMPOSSIBLE TRANSFORMATION 02:18 THE CRISIS (THE HYPERINFLATION) 04:43 THE WIZARD (WHO WAS SCHACHT?) 06:58 THE SCHEME (HOW IT WORKED) 09:27 THE PONZI 12:36 OTHER REVENUE STREAMS 15:45 THE COLLAPSE 17:37 VERDICT --- 📚 SOURCES & ACADEMIC REFERENCES: PRIMARY SOURCES: - Adam Tooze, "The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy" (2006) - Winner of the Wolfson History Prize - Gunter Reimann, "The Vampire Economy: Doing Business Under Fascism" (1939) - Richard J. Evans, "The Third Reich in Power" (2005) - Christoph Buchheim, "The Nazi Boom: An Economic Cul-de-Sac" (Journal of Economic History, 2008) - Harold James, "The German Slump: Politics and Economics 1924-1936" (1986) ⚠️ HISTORICAL CONTEXT: This video examines the economic mechanisms of the Nazi regime for educational purposes. The analysis draws on peer-reviewed academic research and archival documentation. Economic explanations are not moral justifications. The Nazi regime's financial system was inseparable from its programs of genocide, slavery, and territorial conquest. The MEFO scheme funded rearmament that enabled the murder of millions.