- Zustand: unused FDC
- Jahr: 2019-04-03
a portrait of Alois Rašín, a Czech and Czechoslovak politician and economist, one of the men behind the formation of the independent Czechoslovakia on 28 October 1918, and the first Czechoslovak finance minister. The technique used for the motif in the background of the stamp is guilloche, or a very precise decorative line pattern engraved into an underlying material, usually of an ornamental character. It is either hand- or machine-made. Its main purpose is to protect banknotes, securities, and revenue stamps against forgery.
The newly established independent Czechoslovakia needed a sovereign currency. Finance minister Alois Rašín intended to curb the high postwar inflation and create a stable and trustworthy currency. The Czechoslovak crown was one of the most stable currencies in in the 1930s Europe despite its devaluation. After the German occupation, the crown lost its sovereignty and became only a nominal fraction of the Reichsmark. The liberated Czechoslovakia merged the circulating Czech and Slovak crowns and reintroduced the Czechoslovak crown. A monetary reform in June 1953 reduced the volume of circulating currency to a fraction of the previous value and diminished the purchasing power of the population. The monetary policy in the country with centrally managed economy consisted of administrative management of the currency, prices, foreign currencies, and exchange rates. Uniform prices were introduced and inflation has not officially existed. The Velvet Revolution in 1989 marked the beginning of the process of transformation of a centrally managed economy into a market economy. The central bank gained independence and its legal objective became maintaining the stability of domestic prices and exchange rates.
Rašín (18 October 1867 in Nechanice, Bohemia – 18 February 1923 in Prague) was a Czech economist and politician.
Rašín was born into a family of farmers. After gymnasium he continued his schooling with the study of law at the Charles University in Prague. Here he became active in politics, and a leader in the radical students movement. In the Omladina Trial (an 1894 trial against radical Czech youths), he was sentenced to two years in prison. Rašín continued his political activity although he became less radical over time. In 1911, he was elected into the parliament of the Austrian monarchy. After the start of World War I Rašín supported the Czech separatist movement. In 1915, he was imprisoned and sentenced to death (together with Karel Kramář). With the death of emperor Franz Jozeph I his sentence was commuted and in 1917 Rašín received amnesty. He immediately returned to politics.
In 1918, Rašín and others organised the establishment of Czechoslovakia as independent state. From 1918-19, he was the first Finance Minister of the new state. At this position he managed to stabilize the currency and avoid inflation that was damaging neighbouring countries. His authoritative and uncompromising behaviour helped him to achieve his aims but generated lot of animosity.
In 1922, Rašín again became Minister of Finance in the government of Antonín Švehla. Amidst an economic crisis he stressed the politics of deflation (in 1922 prices dropped by 42%, salaries by 32%) and a strong currency. High unemployment caused great animosity towards him, especially from the left. A fierce anti-Rašín campaign developed. On 5 January 1923, Rašín was shot in Prague by young anarchist Josef Šoupal (1903-59).[1] Rašín died after a long period of suffering on 18 February 1923.
His son Ladislav Rašín was a nationalist politician active in several movements in interwar Czechoslovakia. He died in 1945, in a prison in Nazi Germany.
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