Note 9 — Chapter LVI · FRANCE AND THE PROBLEM OF REPARATIONS

The franc, nominally worth $.193, declined rapidly in purchasing power in the course of the war, but was kept close to par in foreign exchange by the action of the allied governments in “pegging” the exchange. When the government ceased to control the rate, in the Spring of 1919, it fell sharply; it was below $.10 in Dec., 1919, was below $.06 in Dec. 1920, and then made a recovery.