It’s one of those little things that irks me so much. I remember reading something about how the reparations germany had to pay were not at all excessive (especially when compared to other wars at the time).
Someone brought it up, so naturally, I’d like to counter it.
The whole blaming it on reparations, partly if not fully, honestly just reeks of soft nazi propaganda. Oh these poor Krauts, look at what the world made them doooooooo. The entire focus of the sentiment chooses to look at the allied side’s reaction to Germany in WW1 as opposed to the needless destruction the germans conducted, and not to mention, Germany going on to break the treaty how many fucking times? Like gee, you know what might’ve prevented WW2? Hitler not breaking the treaty of Versailles. I couldn’t find any “official” thing on the matter, but someone on Quora made some pretty good points:
No, it was not fair, it should have been much harsher.
The Germans destroyed all industry in Northern France which was about 50 % of the French heavy industry. France still hadn’t recovered when World War Two broke out.
France was utterly broke and couldn’t even pay their disabled veterans a pension until 1924.
All Belgian industry was hauled off to Germany and Belgium never recovered. The Germans took all cattle, all horses, all agricultural equipment and even most dogs.
As the Germans withdrew from Northern France and Belgium, they implemented a scorched earth policy destroying roads, bridges, water wells, houses, churches, everything. They left a wasteland behind and various areas are still unpopulated after more than a century.
As the Germans withdrew, they used poison gas on the civilian population to kill as many innocent people as they could … even while they were negotiating an armistice.
The Germans deported hundreds of thousands of people and put them in concentration camps in Germany where they were used as slave labourers.
The Germans got away with their war crimes, they got away with their crimes against the civilian population, and they even got to keep the industrial assets they had stolen.
So, the treaty was all but fair.
Frankly, I think Germany should’ve been dissolved.
actually, “Niko Vasileas” makes some pretty good points with sources! :0
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Why thank you! This is actually quite useful :)!
I never knew that the debt was actually mostly purchased. That alone really puts the whole waah waah unfair reparations myth
to restin perspective.deleted by creator
Superimperialism talks a lot about this as well. The actions of the Americans in the interwar period were really strange from an international finance perspective, but shaped the playing field of WWII and set the stage for the American hegemony to come.
Weirdly enough, even though France and Britain had no chance to pay their war debts to the US without first receiving German reparations, the Americans refused to connect these two debts in principle. The investment of private American capital in Germany came right back to the US treasury as well, as that was the only means the Germans had of paying reparations, and reparations payments were the only way the Allies had to pay the war debts.
Seems like the evil people say came out of nowhere was well defined before Hitler was ever born.
History is never taught. Even I, who tries my best with the little time I have, am caught off guard by what you’ve said.
At the very least Germany should never have been allowed to reunify.