Occupation and civilians
War loans
Long-term loans that the belligerents raised from their own citizens by selling them bonds in great propaganda campaigns. They covered a large part of the cost of the war and left an enormous debt.
No state could finance the war from taxes alone, so governments borrowed from citizens, banks and firms. Britain issued a war loan of £350 million at face value in 1914, a second at 4.5 per cent in 1915 and a third at 5 per cent in 1917, which raised about £2 billion, of which only £845 million was new money. From September 1914 Germany launched a new Kriegsanleihe every six months; the nine loans raised about 97 billion marks. Austria-Hungary issued loans every November and May, and France floated its first national loan in November 1915.
Bond sales were promoted with posters, rallies, films and film stars. In the United States four Liberty Loans in 1917–1918 and the Victory Loan of 1919 raised about $17 billion, and some 9 million posters were printed for the third alone. In Canada the first Victory Loan of 1917 brought in $398 million.
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