ABSTRACT
One of the early consequences of the war was the disruption of the financial system. The first effort to restore the financial position of the country was the state reconstruction and development bond issued in May 1946. The logical next step to repair the state's finances was monetary reform, which was fated to have complex consequences. Typically, such economic measures were accompanied by a serious political agenda, and propagandistic aims sometimes masked economic expediency. From the beginning the monetary reform was dependent upon another reform, the end of rationing. The abolition of ration cards, which had become the very symbol of wartime, was to have been, in the opinion of Soviet leaders, a demonstration of the strength and endurance of the Soviet economy. And thus it was necessary to end rationing earlier than in the other countries that had resorted to it during the war.
