London payment schedule
The London-payment plan by April 30, 1921 was part of the Allied efforts to establish the German reparations after the First World War . The Allied Reparations Commission set a capital sum of 132 billion gold marks , which Germany had to repay and pay interest . Annually it should pay two billion gold marks plus 26% of the value of all its exports (approx. One billion gold marks).
The sum was divided into A- bonds amounting to 12 and B-bonds amounting to 38 billion gold marks, each of which should be paid 6% interest. In addition, there were the C-bonds amounting to 82 billion gold marks, which the Reparations Commission should only issue if it had come to the conclusion that the German Reich could actually service them - so maybe never. The significance of these C-bonds varies in historical research. The American historian Sally Marks emphasizes that the hardly ever recoverable C-bonds have to be deducted from the official amount of the German reparation debt, so that a sum of 50 billion gold marks remains, which was quite realistic. The London payment plan thus represents a diplomatic victory for the German Reich. The American financial historian Stephen A. Schuker also believes that the C-bonds were of no practical value, and quotes the Belgian Minister, Prime Minister Georges Theunis , who said one could also keep it in an unlocked drawer, because "no thief would feel tempted to steal it". The German historian Peter Krüger, on the other hand, sees the C-bonds as a “further burdening factor” for German reparations policy: They could be used indefinitely as leverage against the German Reich, and France could also use them as a pledge in the dispute over the inter-allied war debts . In this respect, the London payment plan should not be presented as less onerous than it was.
The payment plan arrived in Berlin on May 6, 1921 , along with a six-day Allied ultimatum . In the event of a German refusal, the occupation of the Ruhr area was threatened. The incumbent Fehrenbach cabinet refused to accept and resigned. The subsequent Wirth cabinet voted in favor of acceptance and got it through the Reichstag with 220 votes in favor against 172 against . The yes votes came from the majority Social Democrats ( MSPD ), the German Democratic Party ( DDP ), the Center , the Independent Social Democrats ( USPD ) and some members of the German People's Party ( DVP ).
On August 31, 1921, Germany paid the first billion gold marks. In January 1923 the plan could no longer be fulfilled due to inflation, which resulted in the occupation of the Ruhr area. On the basis of a German application under Article 234 of the Versailles Treaty of October 24, 1923, the Reparations Commission set up two committees of experts on November 30, 1923 to review Germany's solvency. Only the first one, the so-called Dawes report, proved of future importance .
As a result, a plan of the same name was worked out, which tried to better adapt to the solvency of the Weimar Republic.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bruce Kent: The Spoils of War. The Politics, Economics, and Diplomacy of Reparations 1918–1932. Clarendon, Oxford 1989, pp. 134 f.
- ^ Sally Marks: Reparations Reconsidered. A reminder. In: Central European History 2, Heft 4 (1969), pp. 356-365.
- ↑ Stephen A. Schuker: American “Reparations” to Germany, 1919-33: Implications for the Third-World Debt Crisis. (Princeton studies in international finance, No. 61). Princeton 1988, p. 16 f. ( online ( Memento of the original from June 18, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. ).
- ^ Peter Krüger: The reparations problem of the Weimar Republic in questionable view. Critical reflections on the latest research. In: Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte 29, Heft 1 (1981), p. 24 ff. ( Online , accessed on December 25, 2017).
- ↑ Carl Bergmann: The way of reparation. From Versailles to the goal via the Dawes Plan . Frankfurt am Main 1926.
- ↑ Schlochauer, Hans J. / Krüger, Herbert / Mosler, Hermann / Scheuner, Ulrich: Aachener Kongress - Hussar Fall ( online )
