Was there any expropriation of gold from the population? The hunt for gold has begun in India

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As a result of this Decree, gold ceased to be a legal means of payment in the United States, and the United States and then other countries were overwhelmed by flows of unsecured paper dollars. Moreover, the right of US citizens to own gold was restored only in 1974.

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The civil war significantly depleted the gold reserves of Russia (one of the richest countries of its time), 2/3 of the gold was spent or stolen. The young Bolshevik state, in addition to a number of conflicts, received an empty treasury.

The reserves sold out in just a few years (about the Empire's gold). The funds were spent on the purchase of weapons, ammunition, and on paying indemnities for the separate Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty (and, according to some sources, on bribes to foreign officials for concluding a much-needed peace for the country). Some funds went to friends from communist parties in Europe. A significant amount of gold (judging by some documents and research) was sold to the West to ensure the survival of the state in the first years after the establishment of Bolshevik power.

In some studies, the authors insist that by the end of the 1920s the country was on the verge of bankruptcy. This is perhaps a very bold statement: there were resources, albeit meager. Another thing is surprising: in the 30s, the USSR made a powerful industrial leap. Where did you manage to find funds for industrialization?

Stalin, having taken power, began to replenish his gold reserves again (in one of the articles from the early 90s, he was compared to the tsars for this, they say he followed their path). After Koba's death, the following leaders had about 2804 tons of gold at their disposal. But do not rush to praise the leader.

In 1927, the Soviet Union began an accelerated process of industrialization. Stalin hoped that income from the sale of agricultural products and raw materials abroad would be able to ensure the development of industry in the country, but hopes were not justified (the crisis significantly reduced prices for agricultural products). In 1931 - 1933, the USSR dumped on the grain market, bringing discounts to 50%. And within the country millions were starving. Resolution of the State Duma of the Russian Federation dated April 2, 2008 N 262-5 State Duma In memory of the victims of the famine of the 30s on the territory of the USSR: about 7 million people died, the reason for which was “collectivization and repressive measures to ensure grain procurements, which significantly aggravated the severe consequences of the crop failure of 1932 of the year. Think about it: 7 million.

Undoubtedly, many processes were forced, and the lack of broad experience in governing the country also affected.

The state's external debt has increased almost 5-fold since 1926; loans were mainly from Germany. Loans were covered by grain, oil, timber, and gold.
In 1928, the country's museum collections began to be sold. 48 masterpieces by such masters as Jan van Eyck, Titian, Rembrandt, and Raphael were sold from the Hermitage. Andrew Mellon and Calouste Gulbenkian jumped at the chance and put together stunning collections.

Gold mining

Before the First World War, 60.8 tons of gold were mined in Russia in 1913. At that time the industry was in the hands of foreigners. However, wars and revolutions destroyed the gold mining industry. During the NEP, gold mining began to revive. In 1927, only 20 tons of gold were mined.

Despite the collapse of the NEP, Stalin in 1927 allowed private miners to continue their business, understanding their merits and importance for the gold mining industry (it is believed that he paid attention to the experience of the gold rush in the USA, where it was private initiative that drove the processes).

At the beginning of 1928, the Kolyma gold rush broke out. In the spring of 1928, F. R. Polikarpov ceded his rights to the Bezymyanny spring deposit to the state joint-stock company Soyuzzoloto. After the hype of private mining, the stage of state development of Kolyma riches began.

Alexander Pavlovich Serebrovsky traveled to the USA twice and adopted the experience of American gold miners. He studied technology and equipment and recruited American engineers to work in the Soviet Union.

In 1932, in addition to civilian gold mining, which was under the jurisdiction of the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry, Dalstroi began mining the precious metal - Kolyma prisoners - almost free labor.

The amount of gold mined in the Soviet Union increased every year. In the second half of the 1930s, the USSR ranked second in gold mining, ahead of the USA and Canada. The Soviet Union was second only to South Africa.

Between 1932 and 1941 Dalstroy produced about 400 tons of gold. “Civilian” gold mining for the period 1927-1935 brought 300 tons.

Carrot and stick

Prosperous citizens became another source of gold. At the end of the 1920s, all affairs of currency traders and holders of valuables were transferred to the Economic Directorate of the OGPU. Persuasion, deception and violence were used to confiscate valuables from citizens. During the period from 1930 to 1932, the OGPU was able to extract 15.1 million rubles, which equals 12 tons of gold.

However, there are not many wealthy citizens, and yet the 160 million population has small things in the form of wedding rings, gold crosses, etc. Small things, but in the grand scheme of things... The state encroached on this too.

In 1930, Torgsin stores were created - “All-Union Association for Trade with Foreigners on the Territory of the USSR.” The range of these stores was impressive.

Initially, Torgsin served exclusively foreign tourists and sailors in the ports of the USSR. In 1931, the doors of Torgsin were open to all Soviet citizens. People exchanged cash, gold jewelry, precious stones, household gold and silver for money, which they then spent in torgsin stores. The network of torgsins gradually covered the entire country.

In 1933, people brought 45 tons of gold and 2 tons of silver to Torgsin. What did the people acquire for these riches? Real estate? Technology? Not at all. 80% of goods sold through Torgsin were products (flour, cereals, rice, sugar). According to Torgsin's analysis of prices in the USSR, the cost of products to its citizens was three times higher than what was sold abroad.

Over the five years of its existence, Torgsin produced 287.3 million rubles, which equals 222 tons of gold.

Stick for the rich, carrot for the poor

The OGPU and Torgsin almost completely devastated all the citizens' savings. However, the funds were used for their intended purpose and went to pay for industrial equipment of large Soviet enterprises.

Results of efforts

The country has overcome the gold and foreign exchange crisis. After victory in World War II, the USSR replenished its gold reserves through confiscations and reparations. After the end of the war, the state stopped selling gold abroad.

After Stalin's death, Khrushchev began to spend gold reserves, mainly on the purchase of grain.
Brezhnev spent gold to support third world countries. By the end of Brezhnev's reign, the stock had decreased by more than a thousand tons.
Gorbachev completely squandered the treasury. The USSR reserve by 1991 was only 240 tons. At that time, the United States had accumulated more than 8,000 tons of gold. Post-Soviet Russia had to collect its gold and foreign exchange reserves from scratch.

In the twentieth century, there were a number of examples when the authorities of certain countries confiscated gold from the population. Moreover, in some cases this was open violent action, and in others the population actually gave their gold to the authorities themselves.

Perhaps the first such example is the German Empire during the First World War. As their financial resources depleted, the country's authorities turned to the population with a request to donate their savings to the fight against enemies. The patriotic call “Steel instead of gold” was widely supported by the population, and ordinary Germans gave up their gold, receiving paper marks in return. The result of this is well known. Germany lost the First World War anyway, and the paper stamps received by the German population turned to dust during the period of hyperinflation that followed the defeat.

The next episode of confiscation of gold from the population was the October Revolution in Russia. Here the new government acted harshly, actually confiscating gold and all other valuables from those who had them. Safe deposit boxes in banks were opened, searches were carried out, and everything valuable was taken away without any compensation. Another event of similar magnitude in Russia can be called the seizure of almost the entire gold reserve of the Soviet Union during the reigns of Gorabchev and Yeltsin and its sale to the West.

The third widely known episode of the struggle between the authorities and the population with gold was the United States. Roosevelt's decree introduced strict restrictions on the ownership of gold by individuals. True, the Federal Reserve paid for the seized gold with its own tickets, but a year later the currency was devalued, and an ounce of gold was no longer equivalent to 20, but 35 dollars.

In 1935, Fascist Italy again called for patriotism among the population, especially women. As a result of this call, B. Mussolini managed to collect, in addition to everything else, only wedding rings containing 35 tons of gold. The result was the defeat of Italy in World War II and the hanging of Mussolini, and fifty years later Italian women were ashamed for having so easily succumbed to propaganda and parted with their wedding rings.

The next major seizure was the German theft of Czech gold in London in March 1939. The Bank for International Settlements, based in Basel, Switzerland, was involved in the operation. It positions itself as a bank of central banks and seems to be a completely non-political structure. However, it was this institution that played a key role in Germany’s financial preparation for World War II and the theft of Czech gold. Naturally in favor of the Reich. The Bank of England was an accomplice in this. Everything was done in such a way that it was outside the extremely narrow circle of trusted people in the central banks and the BIS. On March 20, 1939, shortly after the Germans entered Prague, the BIS received an order from Prague to transfer Czech gold to the account of the German Reichsbank. In turn, he gave an order to the Bank of England and it complied with the BIS order to transfer gold. Within a few days, the gold was sold, and the currency was transferred by the Germans to other accounts. Before this, it was true that the British Parliament had decided to prohibit any transactions with Czech funds, since the British quite reasonably expected that the Germans would try to seize Czech financial resources, but who is the English Parliament for the Bank of England to listen to when the Bank of England considers to yours? When the scandal broke, there was already no trace of money.

The most recent examples of such state robbery are the looting of Iraqi gold by the Americans and 144 tons of Libyan gold by the British. They even organized a couple of wars for this. Everything else was also included, but gold was the goal of the campaigns against both S. Hussein and M. Gaddafi.

There were other examples, but these were probably the largest in terms of centralized robbery. The forms and methods were different, but as a result, in one way or another, the authorities tried to take gold from the population or from other nations. One can debate whether gold is money today or not, but there is no doubt that its seizure today is a reason for starting wars or carrying out possible confiscations from one’s own population.

On Friday, 10/05/12, I posted a new book online, “Money in Troubled Times. Muscovy, Russia and its neighbors in XV - XVIII centuries." It is located at the same address as those listed below.

My books “The Collapse of “Money” or How to Protect Savings in a Crisis”, “Gold. Citizen or State, Freedom or Democracy”, “Entertaining Economics” and “Money in Troubled Times. Ancient history" can be read or downloaded at http ://www. proza. ru/ author/ mitra396

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visits from 07/30/2010

The most recent examples of such state robbery are the looting of Iraqi gold by the Americans and 144 tons of Libyan gold by the British. They even organized a couple of wars for this. Everything else was also included, but it was gold that was the goal of the campaigns against both S. Hussein and M. Gaddafi.

On Friday, 10/05/12, I posted a new book online, “Money in Troubled Times. Muscovy, Russia and its neighbors in the 15th – 18th centuries.” It is located at the same address as those listed below.

My books “The Collapse of “Money” or How to Protect Savings in a Crisis”

"Gold. Citizen or state, freedom or democracy",

“Entertaining Economics” and “Money in Troubled Times. Ancient history"

Lezhava, Alexander

Member of the editorial board, special correspondent of the newspaper "Modern School of Russia". Author of the book “The Collapse of “Money” or How to Protect Your Savings in a Crisis” (published by the Book World publishing house in 2009) and “Entertaining Economics.”

The summer of 2014 will mark 70 years since the international conference in Bretton Woods (New Hampshire, USA), at which decisions were made that determined the architecture of the global financial system for the next three decades. The US dollar was equated to gold, and Washington guaranteed the monetary authorities of other countries the free exchange of dollars for the yellow metal at a fixed price of $35 per troy ounce. The US dollar finally took the monopoly position of the number one international currency in 1944, defeating the British pound sterling in the competition.

80 years ago: confiscation and nationalization of gold in the United States

Another round date is the 80th anniversary of the adoption of the Gold Reserve Act of 1934 in the United States, which became the final act of “gold confiscation and nationalization.” Let's follow the steps of this process.

Step one. On March 6, 1933, the President of the United States closed the country's banks and prohibited them from making payments or exporting gold coins and bullion, using emergency powers granted to him by the Hostile Trade Act of World War I.

Step two. By a legislative act of March 9, 1933, “to create conditions for overcoming the state of emergency that has developed in the banking system of the state, and for other purposes,” the US Congress gave US President Franklin Roosevelt the authority to prevent the “hoarding” of gold.

Step three. On April 5, 1933, Franklin Roosevelt issued Decree No. 6102 on the actual confiscation of gold in bars and coins from the population and organizations. All individuals and legal entities located in the United States (including foreign citizens and companies storing gold in the United States), with rare exceptions, were required to exchange gold for paper money before May 1, 1933 at a price of $20.67 per troy ounce at any bank in the United States authorized to accept gold. Any contracts and securities denominated in gold were declared illegal, and payments on them were ordered to be made in paper money in accordance with the specified exchange rate. The gold had to be handed over quickly - before May 1, 1933. From this point on, private ownership of gold became illegal for US citizens. Any fact of illegal storage of gold was punishable by a fine of 10 thousand dollars and 10 years in prison.

Step four. On January 30, 1934, the Gold Reserve Act of 1934 was passed. The minting of gold coins was stopped; all gold had to be kept in the Treasury in the form of bullion. Ownership of the country's monetary gold reserves, including $3.5 billion in gold held by the Federal Reserve Banks, was transferred to the US Treasury. In addition, the law gave the US President the authority to revalue the dollar within 50-60% of the gold content that was established by the 1900 law (the law that established the gold standard in the United States) and confirmed by the 1911 law.

Step five. The day after the passage of the Gold Reserve Act, that is, on January 31, 1934, the US President signed a decree according to which the gold content of the dollar was reduced from 25 8/10 grains to 15 5/21 grains of 900-carat gold. Thus, the dollar price of gold increased by 59.04% relative to the parity established by the 1900 Gold Standard Act. The fixed gold price rose from $20.67 to $35.00 per ounce. The President's emergency powers to change the gold content of the dollar were delegated to him for the period until July 1, 1943, but there were no further revisions of the gold content of the dollar.

What are the practical results adopted in the USA in 1933-1934? measures to confiscate gold from citizens and organizations? First of all, the gold standard was finally dismantled in the United States. By the way, America was the only country that, even during the First World War, did not abolish or suspend this standard. After the war, the leading European countries, with great difficulty, restored the gold standard, but in a truncated form - like a gold bullion standard. In the USA, the “classic” gold coin standard (exchange of banknotes for gold coins) continued to operate until 1933.

Fort Knox as a symbol of gold confiscations and nationalizations

Why were such measures needed? The usual answer is to implement Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, based on the ideas of the English economist John Keynes. Keynesianism not only allowed, but even encouraged government consumption, designed to compensate for insufficient effective demand from the private sector of the economy and the population. Keynesianism considered deficit budget financing, the use of government borrowing and the growth of public debt as the norm. The existence of the gold standard made it difficult (in fact, made it impossible) to implement economic policies based on Keynesianism.

Under the unprecedented powers granted to the federal government during the Roosevelt administration, it confiscated from its citizens from 1933 to 1954 approximately 5 million ounces of gold bullion, officially valued at approximately $1.6 billion. The Treasury melted gold coins and other items of law-abiding citizens into gold bars. The gold reserves of the US state treasury increased by many billions of dollars due to the metal of banks, which received so-called gold certificates in exchange. The government's gold holdings have increased in physical terms, but in value terms they have increased even more. The change in the official price of gold increased the nominal value of government gold reserves, allowing the issuance of an additional $3 billion in paper currency, according to the US Treasury Department. In addition, the dollar was devalued, the monetary system was stabilized, and wholesale prices increased by more than 33%.

Literally in one day, those citizens and bankers who knew something about the upcoming actions of the US President and, at the beginning of 1933, withdrew their gold outside the United States, became fabulously rich. At the same time, these measures brought losses to gold owners and deprived them of the metal they had stored to secure their future.

In order to house confiscated reserves of precious metals, the US Treasury began construction of the nation's largest storage facility at Fort Knox. This is one of the most fortified and inaccessible buildings in America for citizens (even American congressmen). Its construction required 16,000 cubic feet of granite, 4,200 cubic yards of concrete, 750 tons of rebar and 670 tons of structural steel. The marble entrance is engraved in gold letters: "Vault of the United States" with the gold seal of the Treasury. Work on the construction of the storage facility was completed in December 1936, and throughout the first half of 1937, the Treasury was engaged in transporting confiscated metal there.

Bretton Woods would not have been possible without Fort Knox

America under Roosevelt vigorously increased its gold reserves. If in 1928 the United States accounted for 37.7% of the official gold reserves of capitalist countries, then in 1936 this share grew to almost 50%. For comparison: in the same 1936, France’s share was 13.2%, and Great Britain’s was 11.4%. By the end of World War II, the gold vaults of leading European countries were completely empty, and the US share in the world gold reserves of the capitalist world, according to various estimates, increased to 75-80%.

And now we return again to the topic of the Bretton Woods Conference, which took place 70 years ago. At this conference there was a heated discussion between the American and British delegations; they set the tone for the entire meeting. The first was headed by US Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Harry G. White, the second by John M. Keynes. The first promoted the interests of the United States, the second - Great Britain. Although the famous English economist intellectually outplayed his opponent, the Americans prevailed. The Bretton Woods system is 90% Harry White's project. What is the reason for this outcome?

The reason is simple. America managed to convince all conference participants (44 countries participated) that the dollar was as good as gold. And so that no one had any doubts about this, America promised to freely exchange paper dollars for the yellow metal. Immediately after Bretton Woods, the value of United States gold reserves relative to the dollar supply (gold coverage ratio) was 75%. This was an excellent indicator. And everyone voted for G. White's proposals. And a year and a half after the conference, the Bretton Woods decisions were ratified by the majority of participating countries (the USSR did not ratify these decisions).

Thus was born the Bretton Woods system, which lasted until August 15, 1971, when US President Richard Nixon announced the end of the exchange of dollars for gold. At that moment, the yellow metal in the gold reserves of the US Treasury was only 16% in relation to the dollar supply that circulated in the United States and abroad.

In 1971, the US Treasury's golden window slammed shut. Today the world exists under a fiat dollar standard, in which the Fed's printing press, operating without any restrictions, has brought the world economy to a complete collapse... And again there is talk of the need to return to some form of a gold standard. I remember the Bretton Woods conference nostalgically. Government officials from different countries are increasingly hinting at the need for Bretton Woods 2.

President F. Roosevelt was asked many times what prompted the decision to confiscate gold from Americans in 1933-1934. Roosevelt never gave an articulate answer. It is believed that this decision was prepared behind the scenes of the official government. Many authors simply record these events without explaining their meaning. Some say that the gold standard interfered with the Keynesian New Deal. But the gold standards in 1931-1936. were also canceled in Europe, but no confiscations or nationalizations of gold were carried out there. But in America there was nationalization. And the suspicion arises that someone already 10 years before Bretton Woods began to prepare America for this event. One way or another, without the concentration of all gold in the hands of the US Treasury, Washington would not have been able to impose on the world a post-war financial order based on the gold-dollar standard.

Hence the conclusion. If we want to understand how likely the modern world is to return to the gold standard and who may be the main executor of the Bretton Woods 2 project, we need to carefully monitor where the bulk of the world's reserves of the yellow metal are concentrated.