ABSTRACT
From about 80 after the signature of the Peace Treaty, the mark went up to 180 by December, 1919. In the spring of 1920 it declined further to about 270, recovered in the summer to about 135, and then fell away again fairly steadily to between 350 and 400 in September, 1921. The causes of this decline up to September, 1921., may be outlined as follows :
(1) The war left Germany terribly weakened. The disastrous effects of the blockade have not been fully realized outside Central and Eastern Europe. Unable to import on any large scale, the war was conducted mainly out of Germany's own resources. When the Armistice and the Revolution came, Germany was drained of all kinds of goods. Food and raw materials had to be imported; also a large quantity of manufactured goods which she herself could not produce until her people had recovered a little from semi-starvation, her factories restarted and her transport repaired.
