Goebbels has been so busy these days!
After the Allies relaxed military restrictions on the German army, Mainz immediately promoted the German army's expansion plan.
He did not waste any quota, and directly planned to expand the army to 500,000 people.
As a result, after the plan report was submitted, it was rejected by the government without any suspense!
"Mainz, let me tell you the truth, the government does not have enough funds to afford such a large army!"
Hindenburg called Mainz directly and informed him of the incident.
"The treasury is almost running out of money. Most of the current fiscal revenue has been invested in the reconstruction of the empire, so it is impossible to spend such a large amount of money to help you expand the army!"
Hindenburg was born in the military, so he should stand on the side of the soldiers to help safeguard the interests of the army.
However, even with this tendency, this time, Hindenburg still did not choose to side with Mainland.
The reason he just mentioned is that the government cannot afford this cost.
"So, to what extent can the government support the expansion of the military?"
Mainz felt President Hindenburg's attitude, so he asked tentatively.
In fact, he has a large amount of funds in his own hands and does not need to rely on government financial allocations, but Mainz cannot use his own money at this time. Support the army, because this army is not his personal private property, but the army of the entire country!
Moreover, the Allied Arms Control Commission of the Allied Powers has not been abolished at this time, and they still monitor the German army very closely. If the German army suddenly has a large number of When a military expenditure comes out, as long as they investigate carefully, they will know that the money does not match the central government's allocation, and Mainz will soon be exposed!
Therefore, Mainz's money cannot be invested directly in the army, but only in the military. It can take on part of the weapons research and development work on behalf of the government and invest money in these aspects, but the direct expenditures of the military must go through the government's financial channels!
"You can only be expanded to 200,000 people at most!"
President Hindenburg understood that the other party was trying to compromise with him when he asked this question.
Since Mainz is so easy to talk to, he will naturally have to make corresponding concessions here. It is impossible to say that he will not give a penny. That is really too much!
The figure of 200,000 was the result of repeated discussions between Hindenburg and the Minister of Finance.
If it were not for his sake, the Minister of Finance would not want to spend a penny more.
After all, the government's fiscal revenue is limited.
If the money in their hands is invested in industry and people's livelihood projects, it will bring more revenue to the government.
Only when the country's economy returns to normal, people's income levels will increase.
If it comes up, then the taxes collected by the government from factories, businessmen and people will increase accordingly!
Investing money in this field is a very cost-effective deal for the government. This is a contribution to the present and a benefit to the future. It's a good thing.
But if you invest money in the army, it's true!
After all, spending money on the army will make them more money. Instead, the army will be like a bottomless pit, no matter how much money is thrown into it, it will be a good thing. All the money will be swallowed up by the army, and no bones will be spit out!
For all countries, the military is a golden beast, and it is the kind of existence that only consumes and does not produce, so the army is very important to all countries. It is a financial burden. In peacetime, all countries will reduce the size of their armies as much as possible to reduce military expenditures and reduce the government's financial burden, so that the government can have more money to develop the economy and people's livelihood.
Hindenburg knows the importance of the army! , so they did not adopt the Minister of Finance's advice so short-sightedly. Instead, they secured a financial allocation of 100,000 people for the army. However, this is already the limit. Even though the army is very important, the government really has no money. If the army is forced to allocate funds, If this happens, the government's finances will be in deficit and will be unable to make ends meet!
A hundred years later, almost all countries in the world will be unable to make ends meet. However, at that time, all countries can draw on private debt through the issuance of national bonds. Borrowing money from banks.
Countries also issued bonds during World War I, but the bonds at this time were basically short-term war bonds, and there were not many countries that could issue war bonds. Only those with good credit and Only countries with collateral guarantees are eligible to issue war bonds. National sovereign bonds in this era are not popular, or they will not be accepted at all.
After all, compared to the world a hundred years later, it is very easy for countries in this era! If a country is destroyed and bonds are issued using sovereignty as collateral, wouldn't the people who buy these bonds have nothing to complain about if the country is destroyed in a war?
However, no matter which method is used to issue national bonds, The newly born Weimar Republic is not qualified.
With its status as a defeated country and the heavy debts it carries, it seems that they may go bankrupt at any time. Such a government and such a country have no investment at all. People are optimistic about it, so even if they issue bonds, basically no one will buy them.
Since they can't issue bonds to borrow money, they can only rely on their own abilities to make money.
The Weimar Republic's fiscal revenue mainly comes from three sources. Parts: The first one is industrial taxes from major enterprises.
The second is the tariff from customs.
The third is income tax from residents, including personal income tax, value-added tax, stamp duty and business tax on commodity sales.
Industrial taxes were originally the major tax collectors of the Second Empire. The industrial volume of the Second Empire was the second in the world, second only to North America's Eagle Sauce, and higher than that of a large number of traditional European powers, so their industrial taxes were also Naturally high.
However, World War I caused great damage to Hansi's industry. A large number of factories were requisitioned by the government during the war and transformed into arsenals to produce various weapons and equipment for the army. Not only was the government unable to collect taxes from these enterprises, but it also Give them money to place an order and buy something.
After the war, the Allies dealt a heavy blow to Hans's arsenal, and a large number of factories were affected. This impact has not recovered until now.
Therefore, the major tax collector of the Weimar Republic at this time was the customs tariff. Due to post-war reconstruction, the Weimar Republic imported a large amount of materials and equipment from abroad. When these things entered the customs, they would be charged high tariffs. This amount was The current major part of the Weimar Republic's fiscal revenue.
As for residents' income, because four years of war have led to very serious inflation and soaring prices, people's wealth has been robbed, and into whose hands has the wealth flowed?
Of course it was in the hands of the Junker nobles who controlled the Second Empire!
Fortunately, the power of the Junker nobles in the army is not as strong as before. Otherwise, by relying on the army to suck blood, the Junker nobles' looting of social wealth will be even more serious.
For the Weimar Republic government, it is the right way to make good use of the money at this time, invest in the industrial field as soon as possible, help factories resume production, and thereby increase industrial and agricultural tax revenue. Only in this way can the government establish a healthier tax system and let people They emerge from the fiscal deficit crisis.
As for the money-losing business of investing in the military, they are naturally particularly resistant.
Mainz was silent for a while after hearing President Hindenburg's words. He could understand the government's difficulties, but he still felt very disappointed.
After finally getting a quota of 50,000 people, we can only recruit 200,000 people. This is really uncomfortable!
The enemy is on Capitol Hill! _Feilu reminds you: three things about reading-