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Original WWI Typewritten Draft Manuscript: \"Germany\'s War Finance\" by Bernard Goldsmith (6 Pages, Signed)
An exceptional, original primary source document detailing the inner workings of imperial German economics, gold confiscation, and banking policy during World War I. This 6-page typed draft is titled \"Germany\'s War Finance\" and was authored by Bernard Goldsmith, signed and initialed by him at the conclusion with his New York City address (12 W 77th St., dated July 17).
The draft is filled with contemporary pencil strike-throughs, editorial corrections, and interlineal handwritten notes throughout.
Key Content & Historical Significance:
• Gold Confiscation: Details firsthand accounts of the Imperial German government\'s immediate seizure of gold coin from commercial banks upon the outbreak of war, mandatory penalties/imprisonment for fulfilling contracts in gold, and school children sent door-to-door to solicit gold currency from citizens.
• The Reichsbank & Central Banking Connection: Recounts personal interviews with former Reichsbank President Dr. Richard Koch. The author notes he was sent by prominent American financiers seeking inside data on the Imperial German Bank as a model for creating an American Central National Bank (the early blueprint phase of the Federal Reserve system).
• Financial Collapse & Prophecy of Revolution: Offers biting analysis of wartime \"War Banks\" issuing unbacked paper currency, predicting that post-war Germany would face total bankruptcy, massive debt repudiation, and imminent revolution once soldiers returned from the front.
A unique, authentic piece of World War I economic history and banking ephemera, ideal for financial historians, Federal Reserve research collections, and advanced Great War document collectors.
