ABSTRACT
The conventional view of bilateralism and German commercial policies The origins of interwar bilateralism are commonly attributed to the economic policies (the exchange control) of the Weimar regime3 and the initiation of the first Vierjahresplan (Four Year Plan) in 1933. Bilateralism became a platform for pursuing Nazi aspirations to political and economic hegemony in Europe.4 As its greater bargaining power enabled Germany to force bilateral exchange clearing agreements on to its small trading partners, Germany emerged as a bilateral monopolist.5
