Thursday, March 27, 2014

Germany Makes Last Reparation Payment

Wow! Germany made its last reparation payment from World War I in October 2010, according to Spiegel Online.

The Versailles Treaty originally called for a payment totaling 269,000 billion gold marks. That's about 96,000 tons of gold, according to Spiegel. That sum was reduced to "112 billion gold marks...payable over a period of 59 years."

The financial crisis of the early 1930's and Adolf Hitler led to a suspension of the payments but after the war in 1953, "West Germany agreed at an international conference in London to service its international bond obligations from before World War."

In addition to the Spiegel article, you might also consider the  resources below.
  • The Mail Online: Germany ends World War One reparations after 92 years with £59m final payment.
  • BBC: Why has Germany taken so long to pay off its WWI debt?
  • The Telegraph: First World War officially ends
  • The Guardian: Why does Germany still owe money for the first world war?
  • US Department of State: The Dawes Plan, the Young Plan, German Reparations, and Inter-allied War Debts

No comments: