Preparing for war in an interdependent world: German financial preparations before 1914

Abstract

This article examines German financial preparations for war. In the economically integrated world of Europe before 1914, war threatened to bring about a collapse in credit structures, undermining the war effort. States considered a range of measures to buttress confidence in credit and financial systems. In particular, this article focuses on the financial consequences of a war panic in the Moroccan crisis of 1911 and the German government's response to it.