When the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, Germany accepted blame for the war and agreed to pay 226 billion Reichsmarks, a sum that was later reduced in 1921 to 132 billion Reichsmarks. Part of the rationale for the large fine was to prevent Germany becoming a major power in Europe after WWI. Instead, the aftermath of the Treaty of Versailles ended up providing Hitler support for his views and his rise to power in the 1930s.
Up until 1952 Germany had paid some 1.5 billion Reichsmarks in war reparations to Allied countries. But in 1953 the balance was suspended pending a reunification of East and West Germany.
When the payments started back up again in 1990, it was publicised that everything would be paid off by 3 October 2010 .... and that goal has been reached with 4 days to spare.
If they can pay off their debt ... then the rest of us should be able to as well. I realize that there will always be extenuating circumstances that will pop up ... but for the most part, it can be done. Think of the freedom you would have if you didn't have to continually "live in the past" (spending your today money paying off bills from the past).
1 comment:
Germany has always had it's problems, but has also just kept plugging along. Even at just a little at a time, it has been working on paying this off. I'm sure there are times that those in power have just wanted to say, enough already. Yet they kept their word and worked on this. Can you see what it would be like, if all the other countries of the world were as stand up as this?
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