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Since the birth of money, money has played an indispensable role in human society. Over time, the status of the currency gradually climbed, and sometimes it even became part of a strategic weapon.
The ancients, wars and plots, and contradictions between countries were not always resolved through battles. Since ancient times, the application of economic warfare has been very common, especially in currency counterfeiting, which occupies an important position in economic warfare. No matter which country, if the quality of counterfeit money is similar to the real currency and the quantity is large, it may deal a serious blow to the country's economy. The economy is the backbone of the country, and once it collapses, the country risks falling into chaos.
So, under the right conditions, can the massive counterfeiting of dollars destroy the U.S. economy?
On a whim, back in World War II, the German Nazis decided to counterfeit the pound, and this decision was not without purpose. Although there are no cases of economic warfare using the US dollar as a medium in history, during World War II, Germany forged a large amount of pounds, causing considerable damage to the economy of Britain and its allies.
This plan, known as Operation Bernhard, was not revealed until after the defeat of Germany. The predecessor of the Bernhard Project was the Naujocks Plan, one of the senior leaders of the Nazis in Germany. In 1940, he proposed a plan to counterfeit money, which was supported by Hitler. Although Hitler vetoed the idea of counterfeiting dollars, the plan eventually gained the support of senior military officers and began the preparatory phase.
In Bernhard's plan, the role of mathematicians should not be underestimated. Each set of currencies has an independent coding system, and these codes are mathematically related. The mathematicians were tasked with cracking the coding system of the pound sterling in order to make imitations. A few months later, Germany managed to create a batch of counterfeit pounds, which were successfully circulated and exchanged for francs, paving the way for the implementation of the plan.
However, internal political struggles led to the Bernhard program being halted. In 1942, events within the German Nazis led to the abolition of the Naujocks Plan. But in 1944, after Heydrich was shot, the plan was revived and counterfeit money continued to be manufactured. Bernhard made improvements to the plan and accelerated progress. For the smooth implementation of the plan, the Nazis mobilized top technical personnel, including engravers, papermakers and mathematicians.
Soon after, Bernhard completed the first stage of counterfeit money manufacturing, producing counterfeit banknotes of high quality and difficult to distinguish. This marked the beginning of the formal implementation of the plan, aimed at waging an economic war against Britain.
Bernhard's team churns out 600,000 counterfeit banknotes a month, a program that lasted three years, creating huge amounts of counterfeit money. The counterfeit currency was used for espionage and the purchase of supplies, saving the German Nazis a lot of money while causing serious damage to the British economy.
However, in 1944, the German Nazis had already failed and began destroying evidence of Bernhard's plans. Despite the suspension of the scheme, it produced at least £135 million in counterfeit coins, which had a huge impact on the British economy.
The story reveals the feasibility of creating counterfeit coins and waging economic warfare, but also highlights the complexity and risks of the operation. However, the development of science and technology is still the most important, as it determines the safety of the currency. While counterfeit currency is illegal and unethical, it highlights the critical role of technology in national security and economic stability.
It is worth noting that not only Germany tried to create counterfeit money for economic warfare, but Japan also made counterfeit money during World War II, but the results were not satisfactory. The Chinese government had already printed a large number of fiat currencies at that time, resulting in counterfeit coins not attracting enough attention.
Throughout history, these stories of economic warfare remind us that while money is a piece of paper, it represents the technology and stability of a country. Technological progress is essential, and at the same time, the security of the currency must be firmly maintained to protect the country's economy.
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