The World War may be conceived as a vast experiment in international finance, conducted at the cost of over 12 million lives and over 200 billion dollars. Its lessons should be an Open book for the generations to come. England, France and Germany utilized three different methods in financing the war. The con sequences in each of these countries are a foil to the con?icting theories Of war finance, advanced during the struggle. The results test the hypotheses. A knowledge of the history and diagnosis of the financial ills of Europe are essential to the determination of the prognosis and the therapy. The present chaos in Europe can be understood only in the light of its causes, and the possible way out is to be found only by studying the effects of war-time finance.