As the European powers struggled to make diplomacy work and the hawks in Washington and at NATO headquarters were urging ramped-up military support, between February 5 and February 6 the currency plunged by 50 percent in twenty-four hours.81 Prices were adjusted on a daily basis, and to combat hoarding, a system of de facto rationing was introduced, which limited each consumer to buying fixed quantities of flour, oil, rice and buckwheat.
