money player

Chapter 209 The French people are good, really good

There is a very interesting phenomenon. During World War II, the French stock market only experienced a brief shutdown before the fall. After the German occupation, the stock market immediately resumed, and the trend was close to that of Germany. This is called a green all the way, especially during the Battle of Stalingrad. , the French stock market has risen to an unprecedented high, and currently it is also the highest point that has never been seen since.

In fact, in the early days of the German occupation, the French did not have much hatred for the Nazis. When the Nazis invaded France in 1940, France had already collapsed on itself, and the French people's dissatisfaction with the living order at that time reached its peak.

At that time, there were tens of millions of French people wandering around the country, stealing and robbing, and the defeated French soldiers became the most terrifying robbers. There is no government, no police, and no respect for private property.

In contrast, the German army was highly disciplined and well behaved. At that time, Germany strictly prohibited the army from looting and had to pay German marks for shopping. French merchants were generally willing to do business with German soldiers.

The social and economic chaos frightened some French people. They longed for a return to normal order and were even ready to accept constraints and sacrifice some freedoms. They felt that the arrival of the Nazis represented order and stability and could bring them considerable business.

In a fake Shakespeare bookstore, Xian Yaowen took a collection of essays by Simone de Beauvoir from the shelf. This is a woman that all women should know, but few women should know, and the founder of the feminist movement. One, just last year gave a theoretical argument to the struggle for women’s rights.

Opening the book and browsing quickly, he saw in an essay a popular joke quoted by Beauvoir: "Where are the British guys? Have you seen it recently?"

In the next paragraph, she praised the handsome uniforms of the German soldiers, which perfectly matched their heroic appearance; she mocked the British people for running away in a hurry and leaving behind a lot of messy things. According to the timeline, she should be satirizing Dun. The great retreat of Kirk.

In 1940, the surrendered French government reached an agreement with Germany: Germany gave France certain economic freedoms, and business owners could open companies and pay salaries.

Germany used high-profit military orders as bait, and French businessmen believed that as long as they cooperated with the Nazis, they would not only survive but also thrive. They believed that in the new Europe led by the Nazis, the French economy would be an important part, at least better than the chaos of the "Third Republic". After all, they had no choice.

In February 1941, the Paris stock market reopened and immediately rose sharply, reflecting this optimistic view.

Renault changed its car production line to a tank production line to produce tanks for the German army. Some car companies received large orders for trucks from the German army. There is no doubt that the stock prices of these companies have soared. However, before that, the German officers had already bought in advance through insider trading, and each of them made huge profits.

With the prosperity of the military industry, in 1941, France completely solved the unemployment problem and turned into a labor shortage, and productivity was booming.

At the end of 1942, with Germany's successive victories, the "nominal" market value of the French stock market had nearly tripled. In the eyes of French investors at the time, Germany would eventually win, or at least dominate Europe for many years.

When the German army invaded the Soviet Union, 5 French soldiers fought with them, and they went with the noble feelings of liberating the Soviet people. They hoped that the Soviet Union would not drift away on the wrong path, step back from the precipice, and return to the right path.

It was also when the Soviet Union fell into the quagmire that the German army's logistics faced severe tests. In a certain conference room in Berlin, people with cornflowers on their shoulders looked at each other and were silent for a long time before someone tentatively said: "How about we Are you going to stop pretending?"

"I'm a fucking failure, so I'm pretending to be a fool and let's show off my cards!"

Stop pretending, show your cards, we are the aggressors.

In the past, Germany's plunder of France was relatively subtle. Large German companies such as Siemens and Krupp successively visited and studied large French companies, and "temporarily" transferred their patents, equipment and technical personnel to a safer Germany.

Moreover, many French companies went public and issued new shares, which had to be sold at a discount to German companies and the SS, who purchased them with confiscated francs or with marks at an arbitrary high exchange rate for francs. But French investor giants didn't care and even viewed the Nazi's shareholding as a benefit.

Now, it is coming in an open and honest manner. First, the 200 million French prisoners of war who were promised to be released have never returned to the country and have been staying in Germany to work screws. Later, 90 French civilians were recruited to work hard. They were either building Atlantic defense fortresses or sending them to Workers in military factories do not have any protection.

The Frenchman took a look and said, "Hey, why is this back to the Third Republic?"

As a large number of young and middle-aged men were forced to export, there was no one to work in France, food became extremely scarce, and inflation began to soar. It was a period when the stock market was rising sharply. The German army shipped large amounts of food to Germany and the front line, and many French people fell into famine.

There is a man named André Gide, a well-known French writer. He is a homosexual whom all gays should know, but not many gays should know. He is a pioneer in protecting gay rights.

In the early days of the German occupation, Gide once said: If Germany can bring prosperity, 90% of French people will accept it, and 75% of French people will welcome it with a smile. So, the French reasonably asked at the time, "Is an alliance with Germany considered collaboration or acceptance of reality?"

Not long after the storm, Gide wrote in a piece of documentary literature: Two thousand Parisians lined up to buy rabbit meat, but there were only three hundred portions; people in other cities lined up at three in the morning, and at dawn they found that there was no food for sale in the store. ; A judge's daughter marries a Loire Valley farmer just for his food.

By 1944-1945, only food, clothing and wine produced before the war had the most purchasing power, and the French economy was almost paralyzed. This period was tragic for French women, who became a vulnerable group in order to survive. During the German occupation, 20 French children had German fathers. After France was recovered, these women were convicted of "sleeping with Germans" and suffered "blood purification". They were paraded through the streets with yin and yang heads on their heads and Qiankun steps on their feet. , was spurned and bullied, and became a lifelong pariah.

After the liberation of France, there was a period of chaos. French traitors who had previously colluded with Germany were liquidated. Some businessmen were imprisoned for collaborating with the enemy and treason. Renault was tried and died in prison, but most French entrepreneurs who traded with Germany escaped. punishment, and retained the equity.

In the first few years, the French Provisional Government's stance favored the Soviet model, and one-third of the country's population was communist. From 1945 to 1946, insurance companies, banks, coal, electricity and other companies began to be nationalized one after another, and the stock market continued to fall.

Inflation began to soar. During the German occupation period, the inflation rate had been as high as 20%, but after the liberation it soared to 60%. In nominal terms, the stock price index still rose and reached a new high, but in fact, from 1944 to 1950, the stock market essentially collapsed.

This may sound bad, but stocks continued to outperform other investments in France during this period, compared to a decade in which the franc plummeted and real returns on bonds and bills fell by more than 20% each year.

Xian Yaowen glimpsed the economic reflection of France in the past ten years from a literary perspective, and the time also changed from a quiet morning to a hot afternoon. Instead of going straight to the stock exchange, he took a taxi to Avenue George V and passed through Look at the sign to find Cristbal Balenciaga Salon.

If you agree that Balenciaga + twin ponytails + stilettos = beauty, then you should come to this salon on George V Street. Every piece of clothing cut by Balenciaga is called Balenciaga. Translation method translation is Balenciaga.

An interesting story about Balenciaga has been published in fashion magazines. The year before last, Cristbal Balenciaga wanted to close his salon due to financial difficulties. He relied on his considerable fame to go out and find a job as a tailor. He is 53 years old. It was really hard for him. Christian Dior, a rising star in the clothing industry and his fan, knew the news and devoutly encouraged him to continue.

Xian Yaowen can still touch the women's clothing of Balenciaga today, thanks to this buddy Dior.

After touching the women's clothing in the showroom, the shopping guide looked at them with perverted eyes. He asked to meet Balenciaga and said that he was an old friend of Valenciaga in Hong Kong.

He was not talking nonsense. He indeed sent a letter to Balenciaga, inviting Balenciaga to go to Hong Kong to discuss the great cause. He wanted neither Balenciaga nor Balenciaga. As long as the person came, he would give two percent of the shares. Naturally, the result was a polite refusal. .

Unexpectedly, the shopping guide gave him an answer that Valenciaga was not there, but he had no choice. After touching all the skirts in the showroom, he walked away.

I took another car and rushed to Place Vendôme. It took me a few minutes to find Ilsa Schipelli's studio. On the open cutting platform, I came up behind a tall and handsome French man.

"Bonjour."

The man turned his face, looked down at Xian Yaowen, and asked tentatively: "Adam?"

Xian Yaowen looked up at the man awkwardly and said with a smile, "Yes, Hu Beier, we finally meet."

The handsome French man's surname was Givenchy. When Xian Yaowen cast a wide net among fashion designers around the world, he paid special attention to Givenchy. The two of them exchanged letters three times, so they kept in touch.

"Aha, Adam, you came to me for Givenchy Hepburn?" Givenchy laughed.

"No, it should be Hepburn Givenchy." Xian Yaowen said jokingly.

His first letter to Givenchy was an invitation to join. After being declined, he sent a second letter in which he stated that he could support Givenchy in establishing its own brand. When he received a reply, Givenchy expressed interest and sent a third letter. He talked about his opinions on clothing brands and made an appointment to meet in Paris.

"Givenchy Hepburn." Givenchy said seriously.

Xian Yaowen spread his hands and said, "We will discuss this issue later. When can you get off work? Please buy me a drink."

"Wait for me for half an hour. A customer will come over to try on clothes right away."

"OK."

(End of this chapter)