War Loans as A Source of Financial Support for Military Expenditures in the First World War in the Context of Economic Transformations on the Eve of the War and Its Results

Purpose: the purpose of the article is to analyze the mechanisms of issuance and sale of military bonds by individual countries participating in the First World War to identify the features and approaches inherent in this period. Design/Method/Approach: to achieve the purpose of the study, its decomposition was carried out and the following issues were investigated: economic and political significance of the First World War in history; features of economic development and economic theory in the early XX century and on the eve of the war; the main sources of financial support for military expenditures during the war, inherent in the historical period; issuance mechanisms and approaches to the sale of military bonds of a number of countries participating in the First World War. Findings: according to the results of the research, the peculiarities of the issue and sale of military bonds during the First World War were identified, and their significance for meeting military needs in comparison with other methods was clarified. The results of the study will be used to further identify trends in economic development of wars. Theoretical implications: at the theoretical level, the theory of military economics has been improved, namely, a number of indicators characterizing the implementation of military loans by individual countries during the First World War have been clarified; the tendency to gradual expansion of orientation of the circle of consumers of military loans is revealed; the share of domestic military bonds among other sources of financial support to cover the costs of the war was calculated. Practical implications: the cycle of scientific research concerning the improvement and development of the theory of military economics has been continued, taking into account the modern development of economic processes, scientific and technological progress and the structure of society. The research continues to solve the scientific problem of developing a promising concept of economic support of defense needs and improving the theory of military economics. Originality/Value: the value of the study lies in its practical significance for further identification of trends in the use of economic instruments in meeting military needs. The formulation of trends is a prerequisite for further qualitative identification of patterns inherent in the field of research Research limitations/Future research: the limitation of the study is the use of open sources. Mechanisms and approaches to the issuance and sale of war bonds of domestic government loans are analyzed based on the experience of individual countries – participants in the First World War (United States, Great Britain, French, and Russian and German empires). We see the prospects for further research in the study of economic ways to meet the needs of defense during World War II. Paper type: theoretical