The Reichsbank and German War aims in 1918

Abstract

German war aims in 1918 were shaped in part by a consensus among German policy-makers, but also in part by competing visions of national security. The growing conviction that economic production and access to raw materials shaped German perceptions of security. For some, this meant control over an extensive network of production facilities in Eastern Europe. For others, the viability of the Mark as a stable means of exchange took priority. The ways in which these competing visions were negotiated could result in more radical goal as in Lithuania and Courland, or might limit the extension of German influence, as in Ukraine. In particular, the financial concerns of the Reichsbank and Treasury alternately obstructed and radicalized German policy in the former Russian Empire. Both bodies feared that any substantial outlays to secure control over productive assets would endanger the stability of the Mark, but both favoured extending controls over Lithuania and Courland for the same reason. The article highlights competing forms of domination advocated by different branches of the German government and the impact intramural fights had on German expansionism. It also underlines the significance of the financial components of German expansion.