Huh, whaddaya know. For some reason I just always assumed the reparations debt sot of went away during the Second World War. Considering how much money got spent during the Marshall Plan, and how a strong West Germany was useful to NATO as a buffer against the Soviets/Warsaw Pact, I would have thought a lot of that debt would have been forgiven. Especially since one of the lessons of the Treaty of Versailles is that, rather than rendering them militarily helpless, utterly ruining a country just destabilizing their government and helps prepare the way for monstrously radical regime change.
No they haven't. They have paid off the bonds which they floated in the 20s in order to help pay off their initial dept. They have paid about 1/14th of the total dept.
" That's pretty insane when you think about it. That was ages ago, and they're still paying. "
They should. I wonder how long it'll take 'em to pay off for what they did in WW2. "
you actually think Germany deserves the reparations? if you do thats really stupid they just decided at the end of WW1 to give them a fucking stupid amount of money to pay saying that it was ALL Germany's fault for WW1 which it wasn't. they just said "pay us a gazillion dollars" and that was it
92 years ago, huh? I mean, how many people who are alive now remember the end of World War 1? You'd have to be on older side of a 100 to remember such a thing.
@KaosAngel: I was gonna write a huge rage rant for this but I thought my part and left it for good. And yes I´m German so think of that what you will. We weren´t the only ones doing bad stuff during WWII just remember that.
" That's pretty insane when you think about it. That was ages ago, and they're still paying. "
They should. I wonder how long it'll take 'em to pay off for what they did in WW2. "
I don't know if they should. While WW1 was horrible in every way imaginable, I don't think that it's fair that they're still being reprimanded for it. After all, it wasn't all Germany's fault, and it was almost a hundred years ago. And besides, the way the court decided what their punishment would be was far from just. At the end of the day, how does this actually affect you? I'm not saying you don't have the right to your opinion, but it seems rather harsch to claim that they should still pay for it a hundred years later.
@Azteck: Considering they don't have to pay for WW2, I think it's a fair trade. It's not like they murdered and tortured innocent jews, blacks, arabs, and others during the 40s.
" That's pretty insane when you think about it. That was ages ago, and they're still paying. "
They should. I wonder how long it'll take 'em to pay off for what they did in WW2. "
I don't think it's fair - or helpful - to equate Germany's outright villainy in WWII with what happened in WWI. The First World War was a tragedy, but it's not like Germany set out some unprovoked war of conquest. The real conflict was between Austria-Hungary and Serbia and spiralled out of control due to the complex balance of treaties and alliances that dominated European politics. No one was prepared for the consequences of large scale industrial warfare. Do you harbor resentment towards Germany over the Franco-Prussian War? What about the Crimea? Should France have been forced to pay reparations for a century because of what Napoleon did? I'm willing to hear an argument, but I can't see any sort of moral high ground in the Great War.
By comparison, Germany was clearly in the wrong, and completely at fault, for World War II. The Nazi's preached a thoroughly evil political and racial ideology and started an unprovoked war of conquest with the apparent goal dominating all of Europe, at the very least. They ought to pay for what they did.
Edit: I should type faster, as a half dozen people made my point for me as I was writing this.
I also think the US should pay most South American countries for all the terrible shit they did there during the Cold War. Oh wait and in Europe. And Asia. Oh wait the US should pay everyone else since it's done so much terrible shit. The world is a toilet, if you start criticizing individual turds then not only are you a hypocrite but you're also saying that some turds are worth liking.
" So, what about World War 2? They still paying for that? "
They got off free for that. "
Well, the people responsible for starting and running the war were hanged. And West Germany did make some reparations for the Holocaust - not enough, but how could it ever be enough? Saying Germany "got off free" for the war is pushing it.
I just don't see the point of imposing reparations as penalty. "Right, well you guys engaged in wholesale murder for five years, so here's this fine. Of course, we absolutely leveled your industrial capacity, so good luck paying it."
The US collected on every single cent that they loaned to us (the UK) during WW2. In fact, taking the interest into account, we ended up paying back double what was borrowed, and only finished paying it off a few years ago. It doesn't matter whether you were enemies that started two world wars, or allies that stood shoulder to shoulder to defeat the Nazis and stare down Russia; money trumps everything.
" That's pretty insane when you think about it. That was ages ago, and they're still paying. "
They should. I wonder how long it'll take 'em to pay off for what they did in WW2. "
you actually think Germany deserves the reparations? if you do thats really stupid they just decided at the end of WW1 to give them a fucking stupid amount of money to pay saying that it was ALL Germany's fault for WW1 which it wasn't. they just said "pay us a gazillion dollars" and that was it "
" That's pretty insane when you think about it. That was ages ago, and they're still paying. "
They should. I wonder how long it'll take 'em to pay off for what they did in WW2. "
you actually think Germany deserves the reparations? if you do thats really stupid they just decided at the end of WW1 to give them a fucking stupid amount of money to pay saying that it was ALL Germany's fault for WW1 which it wasn't. they just said "pay us a gazillion dollars" and that was it "
That is part of the reason for WW2. "
I know that, Hitler used them as a platform he promised Germany wouldn't pay anymore and they didn't when he was in power.
So will france, Belgium, and other countries be forced to pay reperations for causing the holocaust and WW2 then because of their actions at the Treaty of Versailles? Since that was the direct influence of Hitler and the Nazi's coming into Power.
" So, what about World War 2? They still paying for that? "
They got off free for that. "
they did lose a bunch of land, their economy crumbled, countless innocent citizens died in bombing raids by the allies and millions of german soldiers who were simply following orders lost their lives......free?
" That's pretty insane when you think about it. That was ages ago, and they're still paying. "
They should. I wonder how long it'll take 'em to pay off for what they did in WW2. "
I don't know if they should. While WW1 was horrible in every way imaginable, I don't think that it's fair that they're still being reprimanded for it. After all, it wasn't all Germany's fault, and it was almost a hundred years ago. And besides, the way the court decided what their punishment would be was far from just. At the end of the day, how does this actually affect you? I'm not saying you don't have the right to your opinion, but it seems rather harsch to claim that they should still pay for it a hundred years later. "
Yeah, what'd those germans ever do to deserve this anyways, right?! The reason they are still paying 100 years later is because of the size of the payments, they were small on purpose so they don't ruin germany's economy.
Log in to comment