ABSTRACT
Germany's political system was clearly inherently unstable; as alignments were constantly shifting, it was easy to dismiss the sudden influence wielded by the National Socialists as a temporary phenomenon. Governing circles in Britain realized, at least, that the electoral success of the National Socialists would create fresh foreign policy difficulties, even though the 'German problem' had been acute for some time. Unless a way out of the impasse could be found, German claims for equality of status and hence rearmament would be difficult to deny. The suspension of payments on the Dawes and Young loans was the most serious aspect of the threatened moratorium. In Nazi circles the effective ending of 'tribute' was hailed as a triumph. But prompt threats by the creditor countries to impose clearing systems soon forced a compromise.
