The early years were characterized by [[hyperinflation]], which was caused when the government started [[printing money]] since it was low on cash, in part due to reparation payments. Early on, unchecked money printing had the support of well-respected citizens who were viewed as reasonable. Foreign Minister Walther Rathenau, who was assassinated in 1922, publicly supported the policy of printing Papiermarks to pay off the debt. As time went on though Rathenau had a change of heart. He said: "We are eating our own accumulated resources, the result of generations of work of our ancestors."<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/idUS318577709720160913 Chancellor: No hyperinflation, just Weimar malaise]</ref> | The early years were characterized by [[hyperinflation]], which was caused when the government started [[printing money]] since it was low on cash, in part due to reparation payments. Early on, unchecked money printing had the support of well-respected citizens who were viewed as reasonable. Foreign Minister Walther Rathenau, who was assassinated in 1922, publicly supported the policy of printing Papiermarks to pay off the debt. As time went on though Rathenau had a change of heart. He said: "We are eating our own accumulated resources, the result of generations of work of our ancestors."<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/idUS318577709720160913 Chancellor: No hyperinflation, just Weimar malaise]</ref> |