The pre-war armament from the economic perspective: comparison of the Czech and the German points of view

There are a variety of views from economic theorists on effects of armament on the overall development of certain societies and the state of its economy. The aim of this paper is to compare the theoretical approach to the issue of pre-war armament in 1930s in Czechoslovakia and Germany. As a source of information for the description of the prevailing theoretical economic approach, this paper uses contemporary newspaper articles, archived materials and present-day materials concerning this topic. The main stream of economic thinking in Czechoslovakia does not agree with high governmental expenditure on armament, because it may have a degenerative effect which would lead to militarisation of economy. War preparation results in higher taxes, a fall in standard of living, limited export, and decrease in productive investment, etc. Therefore it is not eligible to implement these principles under the conditions of peace economy and they are relevant only in case of a direct threat to the existence of a state. However, even then it has to be a derogation of the principle of free trade to the slightest possible extent. Emphasis was placed on non-inflationary obtaining of financial means - first via taxes and then a credit. Representatives were Karel Englis and Alois Rasin, whose ideas were reflected in the..