Comments by "Alan Pennie" (@alanpennie8013) on "Why Hitler didn’t trust his generals | Schleicher & the Fall of the Weimar Republic" video.

  1. Hitler actually shooting himself wasn't the most surprising thing that ever happened.
    36
  2.  @billbolton  There's a good short article on voxeu.org (Accominotti and Chambers) arguing that Keynes' strategy (based on market fundamentals) was inferior to interest rate (carry) and historic (momentum) strategies. Keynes himself quipped that a speculator would probably go bust before the market aligned properly.
    8
  3.  @soupordave  I think that's it. The Soviets weren't interested in Hess as such but his continued incarceration gave them a presence in West Berlin which was probably useful for intelligence gathering.
    4
  4.  @matthewbadley5063  I shall return to Nebraska and wait for the people to call me to save them.
    3
  5. Let me recommend, Hitler's Thirty Days to Power, Henry Ashby Turner.
    2
  6.  @matthewbadley5063  What we need is a silver standard.
    2
  7. There were some really radical possibilities, like exposing the agricultural sector to foreign competition. But this wouldn't have been too popular. The famous Osthilfe scandal was a gesture in this direction.
    1
  8. Inflation generally benefits both workers and employers. It's those on fixed incomes who lose out.
    1
  9. A good point. It should also be said that the infamous Night of The Long Knives saw Hitler and The Army collaborate in this murder spree, even though Schleicher was one of the victims
    1
  10. Yes. The idea is to smooth the economic cycle.
    1
  11.  @mrniceguy7168  So it would seem.
    1
  12. Henry Ashby Turner says exactly this at the end of , Hitler's Thirty Days to Power, a very readable short book. A hypothetical praetorian government in Germany would probably have attacked Poland. However this might not have led to a world war had the British and French been convinced that The Germans would not attack anyone else.
    1
  13.  @mumin7229  Quite possibly. But it may be The UK (which had never been very friendly to Poland) would have restrained France as long as the Germans made it clear that they were only seeking the restoration of their 1914 frontiers.
    1
  14. There was considerable opposition in France to anyone "dying for Danzig". The attitude of The Soviet Union is the great imponderable. If they had also sought gains that would have meant the effective disappearance of Poland.
    1
  15. He was pretty brutal. Though less so after he consolidated his rule.
    1
  16.  @billbolton  According to the video he didn't expect The French to occupy The Ruhr, and it was this event that destroyed the already weak mark.
    1
  17.  @billbolton  I think hedging operations are very useful. Anticipating what exchange rates "ought to be", not so much.
    1
  18.  @billbolton  Me too!
    1
  19. It usually is. But Weimar Germany was unusually constrained economically because of its dependence on foreign loans. World wars are very bad economically but unsurprisingly it's even worse if you lose
    1
  20.  @jangelbrich7056  Just so. Money and trust are interlinked. Hyperinflation is really a breakdown in trust so that money becomes worthless.
    1