October 5, 201312 yr Active Members Except that 1917 was the beginning of WWI for the USA. The war ended in 1918, the number of lookin's next post. History Quiz Time...When did the "The Great War" (aka WW1) end? a. 1918 b. 1919 c. 1921 d. 2010 Answer: e. All the above. 1918 Germany Surrendered. 1919 Germany and the Allied Nations sign the Treaty of Versailles, 1921 The US signs the Treaty of Versailles. 2010 Germany made last reparations payments required by the Treaty of Versailles. Ref: http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i-officially-ends
October 5, 201312 yr Active Members Wow, I wish I could wait 90+ years to make the last payment on money that I have borrowed, especially using 90+ year later valued currency to pay debts made when the value was much more. Of course, some might view the debts as not being freely made and forced upon them by the Treaty of Versailles. OTOH, I am not sure I want to be alive at 150 years old, although I am sure there are folks who think that is when they will be able to pay off their house mortgage. Best regards, RA1
October 5, 201312 yr World War I never really ended, because the issues which fueled it were never properly settled. It was merely suspended for a couple of decades until Germany could get back into position to fight again, and Hitler could restart the war as "World War II." And reparations weren't intended to force Germany to pay its own debts; they were imposed by Britain and France to make Germany pay British and French debts incurred to fight the war.
October 5, 201312 yr Active Members And reparations weren't intended to force Germany to pay its own debts; they were imposed by Britain and France to make Germany pay British and French debts incurred to fight the war. Wasn't that the Bush/Cheny/Rumsfeld/Wolfowitz plan for Iraq?
October 5, 201312 yr Wasn't that the Bush/Cheny/Rumsfeld/Wolfowitz plan for Iraq? Yup. And it didn't work that time, either.
October 5, 201312 yr World War I never really ended, because the issues which fueled it were never properly settled. It was merely suspended for a couple of decades until Germany could get back into position to fight again, and Hitler could restart the war as "World War II." And reparations weren't intended to force Germany to pay its own debts; they were imposed by Britain and France to make Germany pay British and French debts incurred to fight the war. The Treaty of Paris was arguably an unmitigated disaster. Fortunately, the US was one of the few countries that took note and made sure that WWII had a happier ending. A book worth reading is "The Economic Consequences of the Peace." In this tome, around 1920, Keynes outlines exactly what will happen and the time-line in which it will occur. The treaty was laden with unintended consequences. The Germans, with a reduced military, ended up developing an elite officer core and the mechanism to rapidly train competent officers; it proved handy for the 40s. The chemical industry, forced to sell below market, became highly efficient. There were lots of other areas where the Germans unexpectedly benefited. The treaty both helped and hurt Germany, but it did put in process round two, which was much bloodier.
October 5, 201312 yr Author Active Members Except that 1917 was the beginning of WWI for the USA. The war ended in 1918, the number of lookin's next post. So, since Lookin has 1916 posts, how will his next post be number 1918? And, of course, we are making the assumption that Lookin will post again! Hopefully, he will.
October 5, 201312 yr History Quiz Time...When did the "The Great War" (aka WW1) end? a. 1918 b. 1919 c. 1921 d. 2010 Answer: e. All the above. 1918 Germany Surrendered. 1919 Germany and the Allied Nations sign the Treaty of Versailles, 1921 The US signs the Treaty of Versailles. 2010 Germany made last reparations payments required by the Treaty of Versailles. Ref: http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i-officially-ends I just read the link, where Keynes' forecast features prominently. His book, "The Economic Consequences of the Peace," is available on Amazon where I believe I got it. I also recall finding it on Google Books, free. Wikipedia has a good synopsis, with interesting quotes. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Economic_Consequences_of_the_Peace). Keynes, unfortunately, is often used as a litmus test for orthodoxy. It is a real pity as he was, IMHO, extremely insightful. I guess he has become "inciteful" too. So while Four Aces may be missing, at least we found Keynes.
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