Banking, currency, and finance in Europe between the wars

the long version

The financial history of interwar Europe was dominated by catastrophic episodes of hyperinflation, dramatic exchange rate crises, massive and destabilizing movements of gold and capital, and extensive banking failures. In their attempt to restore and sustain the gold standard as the basis of the international monetary system, many countries were compelled to resort to deflationary fiscal and monetary policies of exceptional severity. The policies thus adopted in the 1920s were a major cause of the Great Depression of 1929-33; and this in turn exerted a powerful influence on the subsequent political and economic history of the 1930s. This collection of essays is the work of an international network of economic historians from Europe and the United States convened by the European Science Foundation. It brings together, in an accessible style, current knowledge and understanding of the nature and effects of these developments in banking, currency, and finance in the interwar period. The volume covers all the major countries, and also makes available the results of recent research on banking and finance in smaller countries, such as Spain, Austria, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Bulgaria, and Ireland.