Central European History Society
The Myths of Reparations
Author(s): Sally Marks
Source: Central European History, Vol. 11, No. 3 (Sep., 1978), pp. 231-255
Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of Central European History Society
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/4545835
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The Myths of Reparations
SALLY MARKS
REPARATIONS after World War I can be divided into two
categories: non-German reparations, which remain largely terra
^ incognita to the historian, and German reparations, an excruciatingly
tangled thicket into which only a few intrepid explorers have
ventured. Understandably, most students of twentieth-century history
have preferred to sidestep the perils of travel on territory of extreme
financial complexity and, as a consequence, a number of misconceptions
about the history of German reparations remain in circulation. This
brief summary is not addressed to those few brave trailblazers, whose
work it indeed salutes, but rather to those many who have assiduously
avoided the subject and to the myths about reparations which still adorn
studies ofthe Weimar Republic and interwar history.
The myths about German reparations begin with the Versailles Treaty.
The much-criticized "war guilt clause," Article 231, which was designed
to lay a legal basis for reparations, in fact makes no mention of war
guilt. It does specify "the responsibility of Germany and her Allies for
causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated
Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence
ofthe war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her
allies."1 That Germany committed an act of aggression against Belgium
is beyond dispute.2 Further, upon the theory of collective responsibility,
This paper was originally presented in abridged form as part ofa panel entitled "Rep?
arations Reconsidered" at the American Historical Association's annual meeting in Wash?
ington, D.C, December 29,1976. Its expansion has benefited greatly from the commentaries
of Dr. Stephen A. Schuker and Professor Gerhard L. Weinberg.
1. Article 231, Versailles Treaty. The annotated text ofthe Versailles Treaty may be
found in United States, Department of State, Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations ofthe
United States (hereafter FRUS), Paris Peace Conference, 1919, 13 vols. (hereafter PPC)
(Washington, 1942-27), vol. 13.
2. Under the treaties of Apr. 19, 1839, Britain, France, Russia, Austria-Hungary, and
Prussia (later Germany) were obligated to defend the independence, territorial integrity,
and neutrality of Belgium. Technically, Britain entered World War I and French troops
entered Belgium to honor this legal obligation. Germany openly acknowledged her re-
231
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232 The Myths of Reparations
the victors incorporated the same clause, mutatis mutandis, in the treaties
with Austria and Hungary, neither of whom interpreted it as a declara?
tion of war guilt.3 In later years, however, German politicians and propagandists
fulminated endlessly about "unilateral war guilt,"4 convincing
many who had not read the treaties of their injustice on this point.
While Article 231 ofthe Versailles Treaty established an unlimited
theoretical liability, Article 232 in fact narrowed German responsibility
to civilian damages as defined in an annex. Much ink has been wasted
on the fact that civilian damages were stretched to cover war widows'
pensions and allowances for military dependents.5 In reality, since the
German reparations bill was established in 1921 on the basis of an Allied
assessment of German capacity to pay, not on the basis of Allied claims,
these items did not affect German liability but merely altered distribu?
tion of the receipts. In brief, inclusion of pensions and allowances in?
creased the British share ofthe pie but did not enlarge the pie. The chief
effects of the expanded British claim were to increase vastly the diffi?
culties of inter-Allied agreement on a reparations settlement and to
heighten German resentment as German opinion reacted to the misleading
appearance of enlarged liability. In this matter, as in so many
other aspects of reparations, appearance and reality diverged, giving rise
to one ofthe many myths of reparations.
Much has also been made of the fact that the treaty did not specify
the total German reparations liability. While some financial uncertainty
sponsibility in regard to Belgium on August 4,1914, and May 7, 1919. (J. H. O'Regan,
The German War ofi9i4, London, 1915, pp. 49-50; FRUS PPC, 3: 417.) For texts ofthe
1839 treaties, see Great Britain, Foreign Office, British and Foreign State Papers (London,
1841 - ), 27: 990-1002.
3. Article 177 of the Treaty of Saint-Germain with Austria and Article 161 of the
Treaty of Trianon with Hungary. Texts of both treaties may be found in Fred L. Israel,
ed., Major Peace Treaties of Modern History, 4 vols. (New York, 1967), vol. 3. On the
question of Austrian and Hungarian interpretation, see FRUS PPC, 13: 415.
4. After Germany protested against Article 231, Allied language in response became
intemperate (see, for instance, FRUS PPC, 6: 926-29) but did not charge Germany with
"unilateral war guilt." Random examples of statements by German officials concerning
"unilateral," "sole," or "exclusive" war guilt may be found in FRUS PPC, 3: 417, 6:
38-40, 42,12:17; Great Britain, Foreign Office, Documents on British Foreign Policy, 1919-
1939 (hereafter DBFP), ser. 1, 15: 320; Public Record Office, London (hereafter PRO),
German declaration, Sept. 26, 1925, F.O. 371/10740.
5. For example, A. J. Nicholls, Weimar and the Rise of Hitler (London, 1968), p. 58;
Thomas A. Bailey, Woodrow Wilson and the Lost Peace (New York, 1944), pp. 239-43;
John Maynard Keynes, The Economic Consequences ofthe Peace (New York, 1920), pp.
154-575 Thomas Lamont, "Reparations," in Edward M. House and Charles Seymour,
What Really Happened at Paris (New York, 1921), p. 272.
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Sally Marks 233
was thus engendered in both Germany and the vic
many was able to propagandize effectively about th
to sign a "blank check,"6 delay was actually in Ger
cause of inflated popular expectations in the victor
rations totals discussed at the peace conference were a
to sixteen times the amount finally set. The British
ner and Cunliffe, were so unrealistic that they w
heavenly twins."7 As time passed, the proposed fi
sively reduced and by 1921 a substantial degree of
Finally, the Versailles Treaty specified that Germany
payment of 20 billion gold marks before May 1, 1
the Reparation Commission was to set the total li
billion marks is approximately what Germany pai
history of reparations.9 During the interim period
billion marks, mostly as credit for transferred stat
cally, none of this was considered reparations, as it
by prior charges, notably occupation costs and th
sioning Germany.10 In time, however, there deve
recognition ofthe 8 billion as reparations.
Reparations were to be paid in several categories
periodic cash payments and deliveries in kind, that
ments of certain commodities. For Germany, "kin
ber, chemical dyes, and pharmaceutical drugs. Th
shipments was to be credited as payment against G
rations bill. With two exceptions, reparations cred
6. Keynes, pp. 157-58; Bailey, p. 243.
7. P. A. Burnett, Reparations at the Paris Peace Conference, 2 vo
60; Gaston A. Furst, De Versailles aux experts (Nancy, 1927), p
8. Articles 235, 233, Versailles Treaty. The exchange rate was
marks to the dollar. "Billion" is used in the American sense (1
9. The total figure was 20.598 bilHon gold marks. (Waley to
1932, F.O. 371/15911.) Figures based upon publications ofthe
and the Bank for International Settlements. American figures
most a billion marks more, the discrepancy arising from small t
after 1932 and balances held by it in 1937. (FRUS PPC, 13: 4
10. While the Reparation Commission's estimate of pre-May
8 billion gold marks, the actual sum eventually realized and c
7.595 billion marks. (FRUS PPC, 13: 439; Reparation Commissio
many's Obligations, London, 1922: 11.) On prior charges, see V
235. The cost of armies of occupation to May 1,1921, was 3.143
and raw materials supplied to Germany amounted to almost 4 b
Commission, 4: 10, 16.)
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234 The Myths of Reparations
state properties in territories transferred to the victors, such as the Saar
coal mines and German state railways in districts awarded to Poland.11
Except in the case of Alsace-Lorraine, countries receiving German ter?
ritory assumed part ofthe German imperial and state debts as of August
1, 1914.12 Finally, reparations included certain one-time requirements.
Return of art treasures did not receive reparations credit but materials
to replace the destroyed Library of Louvain did. Similarly, supplies of
livestock, agricultural implements, factory machinery, and construction
materials in compensation for wholesale removals during the German
retreat were credited to the reparations account.13
The reparations provisions ofthe treaties with Austria and Hungary
were similar in broad outline to those imposed upon Germany. Again,
the total figure was left unspecified, and the costs of carrying out the
peace treaties were to be prior charges against payments made, not
credited to reparations accounts. However, credit was to be given for
payment in cash, deliveries in kind, and transfer of state properties,
while the successor states also were to assume substantial portions ofthe
prewar Austro-Hungarian state debt.14 The Bulgarian treaty set a fixed
sum, which was soon revised downward.15 In the unratified Treaty of
Sevres, Turkish reparation liability was sharply limited in view of the
magnitude of Turkish territorial losses, and in the Treaty of Lausanne it
was eliminated altogether.16 Austria became so impoverished that she
paid no reparations beyond credits for transferred property, while Hun?
gary paid little.17 As it became clear that Germany was the only defeated
il. The exceptions were Alsace-Lorraine and territories transferred to Belgium. (Ver?
sailles Treaty, Article 256.)
12. Versailles Treaty, Articles 254, 255. Germany had refused to assume any portion of
the French debt when she annexed Alsace-Lorraine in 1871. (Versailles Treaty, Article
255-)
13. Although the Reparation Commission decision of Apr. 27,1921, excluded restitutions
from the total reparations bill, credit was in fact given for such deliveries. FRUS
PPC, 13:433, 525,504, 508.
14. Articles 177-190, Treaty of Saint-Germain; Articles 161-174, Treaty of Trianon.
15. The specified sum was 2% billion gold firancs. (Article 121, Treaty of Neuilly-surSeine,
text in Israel, vol. 3.) Article 122 authorized reduction. In 1923, Bulgarian repara?
tions were reduced to 550 million gold ffancs pius a lump sum payment of 25 million
francs for occupation costs set in 1924. (Arnold J. Toynbee, Survey of International Affairs,
1924, London, 1926, pp. 439-49.)
16. Article 231, Treaty of Sevres (text in Israel, vol. 3); Article 58, Treaty of Lausanne
(text ibid., vol. 4).
17. Reparation Commission, 5, pt. 1: Report on the Work ofthe Commission from 1920 to
1922 (London, 1923): I59flf., 224-25. By the terms ofthe Protocols for the financial reThis
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Sally Marks 235
power able to pay appreciably, the battle was joine
arations.
Some controversy arose over credits for transfer
and one-time restitution shipments, but there was
all varieties of continuing German payments in c
shipments of dyes occasioned much difficulty, m
were not of Germany's making. In this connection
that, contrary to common belief, the United Stat
Germany amounting to almost $1% billion (or n
marks) and that the United States received regular
until late in 1922, when she renounced her right
Counting mixed claims of private individuals, Rh
costs, and governmental reparations claims, the Un
received over 400 million gold marks.18
Dyes were a peripheral issue, however, and the U
ernment was a peripheral power in the reparations
focused upon cash, coal, and timber, while the acti
powers were France, Britain, Italy, and Belgium,
the lion's share. Coal shipments were below quota
outset. At the Spa Conference in July 1920, the vi
Germany a five-mark premium for each ton of co
vide better nourishment for the miners, and advan
loans to facilitate coal shipments.19 Still the quot
construction of Hungary of Mar. 14,1924, reparations aside fro
be abandoned during the period of reconstruction (until June
duced amounts thereafter. (Toynbee, Survey, 1924, pp. 425-31
18. Reparation Commission, 5, pt. 1:108-14; Furst, p. 316;
While the largest American claims were for occupation costs
technically did not constitute reparations, United States gover
for submarine damage, the Veterans' Bureau, the Shipping Bo
ministration came to $110,668,701. From the Dawes annuities, t
300,430,667.80 gold marks up to May 21,1930. (FRUS PPC, 1
ments both for occupation costs and for mixed claims were reg
ican agreements signed on June 23,1930. For texts, see FRUS P
paid regularly on the mixed claims account through September
German payments were going to private American citizens, no
ernment. For occupation costs, she paid less than half of wha
the Hoover Moratorium, further claims for occupation cost
PPC, 13: 630, 778; Memo by U.S. delegation, n.d., London
1931, L.(E)2i, F.O. 371/15192.)
19. Reparation Commission, 5, pt. 1: 98-99. Germany evide
miums and advances to repay certain British claims, not for t
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236 The Myths of Reparations
Allied occupation ofthe Ruhr to force Germany to meet her obligations
was first discussed at the London Conference of March 1920, and was
seriously considered at Spa.20 Thereafter the question arose frequently,
as defaults continued under the permanent plan which replaced the in?
terim scheme in 1921.
As required by the Versailles Treaty, the Reparation Commission an?
nounced on April 27,1921, a total German liability of 132 billion gold
marks. This figure was a Belgian compromise between higher French
and Italian totals and a lower British figure. It represented an assessment
ofthe lowest amount that public opinion in continental receiver states
would tolerate.21 The British pressure for a lower total and the continuing
British effort thereafter to reduce German reparations derived
from an assumption that restoration of British economic prosperity de?
pended upon a rapid return to prewar patterns of trade which in turn
required an immediate German economic revival. As British leaders as?
sumed that sizeable German reparations payments would delay this se?
quence of events or overstimulate German exports to the detriment of
British producers, they opposed enforcement of substantial reparations
requirements upon Germany.22
Paris, Quai d'Orsay archives, Leygues to Dubois, Nov. 20, 1920, Laurent to Leygues,
Nov. 22, 1920, tel., et seq., Millerand Papers/16.
20. Reparation Commission, 5, pt. 1: 229; DBFP, ser. 1, 7: 547; 8: 471-81, 584, 598-
605, 623-25; Paul Hymans, Memoires, 2 vols. (Brussels, 1958), 2: 567-68.
21. Furst, pp. 346,124-26; National Archives, Washington, Wallace to Hughes, Apr.
27, 28, 1921, tels. 291, 296, State Department 462.00R29/708, 713; Etienne Weill-Raynall,
Les Reparations allemands et la France, 3 vols. (Paris, 1947), 1: 665-66; John Maynard
Keynes, A Revision of the Treaty (New York, 1922), p. 39. For text of the Reparation
Commission decision, see FRUS PPC, 13: 433. Estimates of total reparations claims vary
because the claims were submitted in assorted nuctuating paper currencies. (Reparation
Commission, 5, pt. 1, Appendix VII, 191 A.) By American estimate, total Allied claims
came to about 266 billion gold marks. (FRUS PPC, 13: 475.) Furst (pp. 13-15) lists a
total of 213 billion marks, of which about 108 bilHon represented claims for material
damages while the remainder represented claims for pensions, wartime forced levies by
Germany on AlHed civiHan populations, and similar charges. WeiH-RaynaU, 1: 323 gives
a total of over 226 bilHon gold marks, about I02y2 bilHon for material damages and
more than 123% bilHon for damages to individuals. None of these totals includes United
States claims.
22. Some aspects of British views are displayed in David Lloyd George, The Truth
about Reparations and War-Debts (London, 1932), pp. 15, 43, 45-51, 83. Others may be
seen in Brussels, Foreign Ministry archives (hereafter BMAE), Moncheur to Hymans,
Mar. 4, 1920, no. 1034/346, B/366/II; Moncheur to Jaspar, Feb. 4, 1921, no. 505/202,
BMAE B/3 66/III; Report of Federation of British Industries on German Reparations,
n.d. [late 1921], BMAE B/366/V.
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Sally Marks 237
Historians have focused upon the figure of 132
amining the nature of its implementation. The
Payments of May 5,1921, both enshrined this sum
The full liability of all the Central Powers combine
alone, was set at 132 billion gold marks, subject t
adjustments. The German debt, however, was to be
series of bonds, labeled A, B, and C. Of these, the
tained the bulk ofthe German obligation, were del
be chimerical. They were entirely unreal, and thei
was to mislead public opinion in the receiver coun
that the 132-billion-mark figure was being mainta
knew that Germany could not pay 132 billion mark
Central Powers could pay little. Thus the A and B
genuine, represented the actual Allied assessment o
pay. The A Bonds, amounting to 12 billion gold ma
unpaid balance ofthe interim 20 billion, while the
to 38 billion. Therefore the A and B Bonds repres
man reparations liability to a face (or nominal) val
marks or $12% billion, an amount smaller than wh
cently offered to pay. The London Schedule also es
of payment toward redemption ofthe A and B Bo
schedules of quarterly deadlines for fixed and vari
In the summer of 1921, Germany met her first c
billion gold marks in full.24 She did so because w
posts and an area around Dusseldorf were unde
These measures had been taken in March 1921, prim
induce a satisfactory German offer, and were continu
23. It was also hoped that C Bonds could be transferred to the U
of disguising cancelation of AUied war debts to America. (Gai
BMAE B/366/V.) For a more detailed analysis ofthe London Sc
SaUy Marks, "Reparations Reconsidered: A Reminder," Central
1969): 356-65. The final version ofthe German offer of Apr.
States, came in two forms: 50 bilHon gold marks (capital value)
in annuities (nominal value). (FRUS, 1921, 2: 46-48, 53.)
24. Reparation Commission, 1: Statement of Germany's Oblig
The payment in gold and assorted hard currencies was spre
common consent to reduce dislocation of international mon
13: 439-40; WeiH-RaynaU, 1: 653.) For added details, see Pa
(hereafter AN), Reparation Commission, Annex 944b (199th m
Papers of French Delegation to the Reparation Commission, A
ration Commission, May 30, 1921, no. 3041, Mauclere to Do
1488F, AJV387.
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238 The Myths of Reparations
acceptance ofthe London Schedule. After the 1921 cash payment, the
Allies relinquished the customs posts but remained at Diisseldorf.25
Thereafter, Germany paid a tiny portion ofthe variable annuity due in
November 1921 and small amounts on annuities due in early 1922, but
made no further payments in cash until after the Dawes Plan went into
effect late in 1924. Through 1922, payments in kind continued, although
never in full, while a variety of expedients papered over the absence of
cash payments.26 However, these stopgap measures would expire at the
end of 1922 when either a new reparations plan had to be imposed or
the London Schedule would revert to full force.
By the summer of 1922, it was clearly impossible to restore the Lon?
don Schedule, which was in virtual abeyance, but there was no agree?
ment on what to do. By this time, Germany's currency depreciation
had become acute. This depreciation had begun during World War I
and had continued at an erratic pace. A conjunction had developed be?
tween reparations deadlines and dramatic inflationary lurches of the
mark.27 Germans argued that reparations were destroying their cur?
rency while British and French experts agreed that Germany was de?
liberately ruining the mark, partly to avoid budgetary and currency
reform, but primarily to escape reparations.28 In this, the Entente ex-
25. F.O. Summary, Mar. 16, 1921, F.O. 371/6018; PRO, I.C.P. 208, Aug. 13, 1921,
CAB 29/32; Hardinge to Curzon, Sept. 28,1921, no. 2672, F.O. to Ryan, Sept. 28,1921,
tel. 86, F.O. 371/6068. The continuing occupation at Dusseldorf was justified on grounds
that Germany had not met treaty requirements on disarmament and surrender of aHeged
war criminals. (FRUS PPC, 13: 434-35.)
26. The Nov. 1, 1921, variable annuity was 300 milHon marks. Germany paid a Httle
over 13 milHon. (Reparation Commission, 1: 28, 15.) The annuity was deemed to be
largely covered by payments in kind since May 1, 1921. (FaiUe to Jaspar, Oct. 17, 1921,
no. 8050/3842, BMAE B/366/V.) The original schedules for 1922 caUed for total pay?
ments ofa Httle over 3 bilHon marks. Germany paid about 435 miUion in cash. Cash
payments ceased altogether in the summer of 1922 (except for paper marks requisitioned
for use by occupation forces in the Rhineland). As the Cannes Conference in January
1922 did not resolve matters, a partial moratorium was devised in March 1922, and in
August six-month treasury biUs were substituted for cash for the remainder of the year.
(Reparation Commission, 1: 28,15; 4:22,12,19, 23; Reparation Commission to German
Government, Mar. 21,1922, C.P. 3916, Annex 1352, F.O. 371/7476; Reparation Com?
mission to German Government, Aug. 31, 1922, F.O. 371/7484.)
27. Dubois to MiUerand, July 18, 1922, MiUerand/22. For data on German currency
depreciation, see WeiU-Raynal, 2: 78n., i5on., 19m., 24m. Reparation Commission, 3:
Official Documents (London, 1922): 121-24, 6: Official Documents (London, 1923): 20-22;
I.C.P. 250, 251, Aug. 7, 1922, F.O. 371/7481.
28. F.O. memo, Nov. 23,1922, F.O. 371/7487; Paris, Quai d'Orsay archives (hereafter
FMAE), Saint-Aulaire to Poincare, July 13, 1922, tel. 605, Serie Z/AUemagne/473; LasThis
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Sally Marks 239
perts were correct. Those historians who have acc
claim that reparations were the cause ofthe inflati
the fact that the inflation long predated reparations.
overlooked the fact that the inflation mushroome
the summer of 1921 to the end of 1922 when Ge
paying very little in reparations. They have also f
the period of least inflation coincided with the per
tions payments in the late 1920s or why German
that reparations were causing deflation.30 There is
and French suspicions late in 1922 were sound. Th
archives indicate that in 1922 and 1923 German l
pone tax reform and currency stabilization measur
ing substantial reductions in reparations.31
However, the Entente agreement on the facts yie
teyrie note, July 15, 1922, Seydoux note, Aug. 8, 1922, MiHe
weU reaHzed, the depreciation of the mark also gave German
vantages on world markets. (Gaiffier to Jaspar, Dec. 9, 192
B/366/V; Seydoux note, May 23, 1923, MiUerand/26.)
29. For instance, David FeHx, Walther Rathenau and the Wei
1971), p. 84. Felix also stresses the German budget deficit (pp.
contributed to the inflation. However, aU AlHed experts cons
monetary problems arose from irresponsible printing of pape
massive flights of German capital to other countries, and th
budget which itself stemmed from lavish expenditures and very
those in victor countries (where deficits were also large as a resu
For a careful AUied analysis based upon German data, see Con
xeUes, Rapport aux gouvernements aUies, Jan. 18, 1921, BM
reform was ineffectual because extremely slow coUection in c
flation insured that the tax yield remained low. See also R
Wirth, Mar. 21, 1922, AN, AJ7385.
30. Heinrich Briining, Memoiren, 1918-1934 (Stuttgart, 1970)
payments in the late 1920s were financed chiefly by governm
investment, such payments as were made in the early 1920s w
fashion. See, for instance, Kerchove to Hymans, July 2, 19
B/366/II; Nieuwenhuys to Jaspar, Aug. 1, 1921, no. 5950/3
31. Stephen A. Schuker, "A Comparative Study of German, B
egies for Economic Reconstruction after the First World War
icy in the Era ofthe German Inflation," paper read at confer
der deutschen Inflation, Berlin, July 1976, sponsored by Histori
Hn. See also Charles S. Maier, Recasting Bourgeois Europe (Pri
298-99, 358; Fritz K. Ringer, ed., The German Inflation of 19
90-93; Stephen A. Schuker, The End of French Predominance in
pp. 16, 22; Akten der Reichkanzlei, Weimarer Republik, Da
(Boppard am Rhein, 1973), 2, passim; Das Kabinett Cuno (B
passim.
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240 The Myths of Reparations
Britain and France drew opposite policy conclusions from the same assessment.
The British maintained that, since Germany had succeeded in
destroying her currency, she should be granted a full four-year mora?
torium on all reparations payments to facilitate financial reconstruction,
while the French objected to awarding a long moratorium as a bad con?
duct prize and insisted upon Allied seizure of something?mines, state
forests, customs posts, or whatever?as a revenue-yielding guarantee
that payment would eventually resume. The British opposed the sei?
zure of "productive guarantees," arguing that any compulsion would
damage German recovery, while the French maintained that a mora?
torium without them would mean the end of reparations.32 Through
the latter part of 1922, neither the Reparation Commission nor Allied
conferences achieved any compromise.
The tension heightened on December 26,1922, when the Reparation
Commission by a three to one vote, with Britain dissenting, formally
declared Germany in default on timber deliveries.33 There was no dis?
agreement about the fact ofthe default nor its size. Contrary to histor?
ical myth, the timber default was massive even though 1922 timber
quotas had been based upon (and in most categories revised downward
from) a German offer.34 Nor was there any Allied dispute about the
causes ofthe default, which implied German governmental bad faith.35
32. F.O. memo, Nov. 23, 1922, F.O. 371/7487. See also Great Britain, ParHament,
Cmd. 2258, Minutes ofthe London Conference on Reparations, August 1922 (London, 1924)
and Cmd. 1812, Inter-allied Conferences on Reparations and Inter-allied Debts Held in London
and Paris, December 1922 and January 1923: Reports and Secretary1s Notes of Conversations
(London, 1923).
33. Reparation Commission, 5, pt. 1: 260.
34. For the myth, see, for example, W. N. MedHcott, British Foreign Policy since Ver?
sailles (London, 1968 ed.), p. 49, or E. H. Carr, International Relations between the Two
World Wars, 1919-1939 (London, 1955), p. 56. For the German offer and actual 1922
timber quotas, see Reparation Commission, 5, pt. 1: 140-41. There had been prior defi?
ciencies from 1919 on; in 1921 France received only 20% of her quotas, but the balance
was canceled by the Wiesbaden Agreement (which otherwise never went into effect). In
1922, at quota deadlines France had received 29% of her sawn timber aUotment and 29%
of her share of telegraph poles. The default was specificaUy declared on deHveries to
France. (Ibid., pp. 138-42, 249; WeiU-RaynaU, 2: 268-69.) There was also substantial
default on timber deHveries to Belgium and Italy, while Britain admitted that she was
still awaiting 99.80% of her 1922 quota of sawn timber. Reparation Commission, 5, pt.
1: 243-44, 246; pt. 2 (French ed.): 465-70.
35. Although the Reparation Commission credited German deHveries of timber in
gold, the German government had entered into contracts with suppHers at fixed rates in
paper marks. The faU ofthe mark rendered supply at the agreed price impossible, but the
German government tried to enforce the contracts and refused to authorize the commencement
of renegotiation until late July. (Reparation Commission, 5, pt. 1: 241-42,
246; pt. 2: 456-66.)
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Sally Marks 241
But Britain opposed declaring the default for fear tha
lead to action.36 The only feasible Entente action o
occupation of the Ruhr Basin, which Britain oppo
vigor as the prospect came closer.37 While no act
timber default, its declaration raised the spectre o
of coal default in January, as French patience was
leaders became determined to use the technicality
faults to force execution ofthe Versailles Treaty in
were monthly; Germany had fulfilled them in Jan
1920, but otherwise had defaulted regularly in vary
several downward quota revisions, especially after
lesian coal fields. Thus in January 1923 there occurred
coal default in thirty-six months.38
36. Sir John Bradbury, British delegate to the Reparation C
the failures "in view of the financial obHgations under the Tr
scopic." (Reparation Commission, 5, pt. 1: 253.) NaturaUy, def
in a single year would not loom large in comparison with tot
gories over thirty-six years. Bradbury's argument also overloo
coal and (to aU practical purposes) in cash. See also Reparati
473-88.
37. Unlike the Belgians, who had no iUusions about the magnitude ofthe Ruhr opera?
tion, who opposed actions which would heighten the German desire for revenge, and
who above aU feared rupture of the Western Entente, British leaders had no clear-cut
reasons for opposing the Ruhr occupation. PoHcy formulation was as unsystematic as
usual, and the view had merely evolved that Britain was by definition opposed to punitive
measures. See, for instance, Moncheur to Jaspar, Apr. 8,1921, no. 1648/576, BMAE
B/366/IV. Britain had instinctively reverted to her traditional balance-of-power role,
and since British leaders consistently underestimated the German power of recuperation
and equaUy overestimated the French power of sustained miHtary predominance, the
power aHgnment graduaUy shifted until it was, more often than not, Germany and Brit?
ain against an overmatched France, reluctantly supported by Belgium and sometimes
Italy.
38. Coal defaults in March and June 1920 exceeded 50% of quotas and in July 1920
neared 50%. Between January 1920 and January 1922, Germany was scheduled to deHver
53,209,350 tons of coal but only deHvered 37,554,461 tons. For 1922, Bradbury estimated
the coal default at 16%%. French estimates were higher. (Reparation Commission, 5,
pt. 1: 229,104-5; pt. 2: 465-88, 430-31; FRUS PPC, 13: 512; WeiU-Raynal, 2: 281.) On
June 4, 1921, the Reparation Commission, in response to the Silesian problem, divided
the coal quota into three categories of urgency, indicating that Germany should fiU the
first category. This was not fulfiUed, although Germany was exporting coal to Austria
and Switzerland. Therefore, on Dec. 9, 1921, the Reparation Commission banned Ger?
man coal export except to HoUand. Germany then agreed to fulfiU the categories of first
and second urgency if export were permitted, but in fact did not fulfiU the first category.
(Reparation Commission, 5, pt. 1: 181-82; WeiU-Raynal, 2: 275-77.) Bradbury himself
admitted that "it is no doubt true that until December 1922 the Reparations Commission
exhibited a good deal of patience in dealing with Germany." (PRO, Bradbury to Bonar
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242 The Myths of Reparations
On January 2, 1923, the Entente powers and Germany met at Paris.
Each country except Belgium brought a plan and published it at once,
thus inflaming public opinion everywhere.39 The German plan, offering
a Rhineland pact and thus foreshadowing Locarno, was an unsuccessful
attempt at distraction from reparations default.40 The French and Italian
plans called for limited economic sanctions and Entente unity, although
France declared that, in the absence of full unity, she would take more
drastic steps.41 The British brushed both plans aside and insisted that
theirs was the only basis for discussion. The new British prime minister,
Andrew Bonar Law, ailing, inexperienced in reparations, and distracted
by domestic politics and the Turkish crisis, had accepted the plan of Sir
John Bradbury, British delegate to the Reparation Commission. This
scheme was merely a variation of one already rejected by France, and it
had been termed "impossible of execution" by Germany.42 It was so
excruciatingly complex that Carl Bergmann, the leading German ex?
pert, grumbled that he would rather pay reparations than master the
Bradbury Plan.43 Amongst its other unpalatable features, the British
scheme would have destroyed all Belgian benefits from reparations,
granted Germany a four-year moratorium (twice what she had requested
in December) on payments in cash and kind without any productive
Law, Feb. 19, 1923, Premier 1/23.) For further data on coal defaults, see Le Trocquer
note, Dec. 23, 1922, AN, AJV414.
39. W. M. Jordan, Great Britain, France, and the German Problem, 1918-1939 (London,
1943), p- 90.
40. Cmd. 1812, pp. 68-70.
41. Texts ofthe French and ItaHan plans may be found in France, Ministere des Affair es
Etrangeres, Documents Diplomatiques: Demande de moratorium du gouvernement allemand
a la commission des reparations (14 novembre 1922); conference de Londres(9~n decembre 1922);
conference de Paris (2-4 janvier 1923) (Paris, 1923). AU the plans are summarized in Carl
Bergmann, The History of Reparations (Boston, 1927), pp. 163-69.
42. Cmd. 1812, pp. 112-16; Bradbury to Blackett, Oct. 13, 1922, F.O. 371/7486;
Bradbury to Baldwin, Dec. 15,1922, F.O. 371/7490; Bergmann, p. 160. British officials
had given the plan to Germany, although apparently not to Entente representatives.
Reparations were a Treasury matter and, since communication between the Treasury and
the Foreign Office had deteriorated acutely (as it did from time to time), the Foreign
Office did not see the final plan until after Cabinet approval. While the Foreign Office
was aware eariier ofthe saHent features ofthe plan, it did not take upon itself the task of
reminding the Treasury of the poHtical reaHties which were bound to dictate the plan's
fauure. (Phipps to Curzon, Dec. 17, 1922, no. 2944, F.O. 371/7490; Wigram to Crowe,
Jan. 4, 1923, F.O. 371/8626; C.P. 4376, n.d., received at F.O. Jan. 2, 1923, F.O. 371/
8625.)
43. WeiU-Raynal, 2: 336.
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Sally Marks 243
guarantees, required open cancellation ofthe C Bon
ficult act), reduced and reconstructed the Repara
end French preponderance therein, provided a Brit
tive measures against future defaults, and accorded Br
of Entente policy on non-German reparations.44
have meant the practical end of reparations, no c
could accept it and expect to remain in office. Non
ference failed.45
On January 9, 1923, the Reparation Commission
default by a vote of three to one and, by the sam
occupy the Ruhr. On January 11, French, Belgian,
entered the Ruhr to procure the coal, accompanied
of French and Belgian troops.46 Britain stood aloof
cupation as immoral and illegal, but rendered it fe
France to mount it on British-controlled railways
While the question of morality perhaps depends u
British legal opinion was based more upon what Br
the Versailles Treaty had said than upon what it a
though no definitive ruling was ever made, since a
of the Reparation Commission was impossible, a c
44- For text, see Cmd. 1812, pp. 112-19. In return for its stri
British plan offered war-debt relief to France and Italy. For the
9, 1922, see pp. 57-60.
45. Ibid., pp. 101-8, 135-36.
46. Bergmann, p. 176; FRUS PPC, 13: 486-87, 781-82; F.O
F.O. 371/9832; WeiU-Raynal, 2: 284. Denise Artaud, "A prop
Ruhr," Revue d'histoire moderne et contemporaine, 17 (Jan.-Ma
McDougaU, "Treaty Execution vs. Rhineland Revisionism: Fr
Reintegration after VersaiUes, 1919-1924" (paper deHvered at A
ciation annual meeting, Washington, D.C, Dec. 30, 1976), bo
made the decision to occupy the Ruhr in June 1922 and that h
the Anglo-Americans to underwrite reparations (and, accord
war debts). This author finds their evidence slender and su
Jacques Bariety that Poincare's decision was taken reluctantl
with Prof. Bariety, Mars HiU, N.C., Oct. 16, 1975.) See also
47. Godley to War Office, Jan. 7, 1923, tel. co. 371/7/1 and
The British later adjusted zonal boundaries to transfer a key railw
that France could handle her increasing Ruhr traffic. (Crewe
tel. 173, F.O. 371/8713; Cab 10 (23), Feb. 15, 1923, CAB 23/4
care, Feb. 16, 1923, tel. 166-68, FMAE Z/Ruhr/11.)
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244 The Myths of Reparations
text ofthe Versailles Treaty48 indicates that the majority view had much
legal substance.
As German passive resistance escalated the Ruhr occupation into a
major military operation, Britain refused to take sides and thus both
prolonged and exacerbated the crisis. Bonar Law dreaded breach with
France and refused to recognize that it had arrived. As he wished above
all to keep the breach from becoming irreparable, he took no decisive
action in either direction. He also failed to understand the French premier,
Raymond Poincare. In the weeks before the occupation, Bonar
Law ignored evidence that Poincare was seeking to avoid such a drastic
step, and he never realized that, in combination with the French right,
notably Alexandre Millerand, he had forced Poincare into the Ruhr by
rejecting more moderate options.49 Once the step had been taken, Poin?
care recognized that France had played her last trump and must win on
this card or go down to permanent defeat. She was inherently weaker
than Germany and had already failed to enforce delivery of alleged war
criminals, to obtain German compliance with the military clauses ofthe
treaty, or to gain any effective German participation in the costly French
reconstruction of the devastated provinces. If Germany did not pay
reparations and remove some of the burden from France, her innate
economic superiority, together with further progressive crumbling of
the peace treaty, would soon tip the balance altogether. In applying the
ultimate sanction ofthe Ruhr occupation, Poincare was above all mak-
48. Curzon to Kilmarnock, Jan. 15, 1923, tel. 3, F.O. 371/8793; Cab 1 (23), Jan. 11,
1923, CAB 23/45. For the legal opinion of the Law Officers of the Crown (pohtical
appointees whose task it was to find the interpretation the Cabinet wished), see F.O.
memo, Apr. 10,1924, F.O. 371/9824. For relevant portions ofthe VersaiUes Treaty and
prior Reparation Commission interpretations thereof, see VersaiUes Treaty, Part VIII,
Annex II, pars. 12, i3f, 18; FRUS PPC, 13: 484.
49. On Bonar Law's reluctance to break with France, see Saint-Aulaire to Poincare\
Dec. 24, 1922, tel. 1171-77, FMAE Z/AUemagne/477; Saint-Aulaire to Poincare, Dec.
24, 1922, tel. 1171-77(2), FMAE Z/Allemagne/236; Saint-Aulaire to Poincare, Jan. 17,
1923, tel. 50-53, FMAE Z/AUemagne/237. On Poincare's reluctance to occupy the Ruhr,
see Crowe memo, Dec. 27,1922, F.O. 371/7491; France, Demande de moratorium ..., pp.
93-97; Ryan to Lampson, Jan. 5, 1923, no number, F.O. 371/8626. And later on: Gra?
hame to Curzon, Mar. 1,1923, tel. 39, F.O. 371/8718; Crewe to Curzon, July 14,1923,
no. 680, F.O. 371/8643; Phipps to TyrreU, Sept. 8,1923, Phipps to Crowe, Nov. 6,1923,
Phipps Papers (courtesy of Lady Phipps, WUcot, Pewsey, WUtshire). To this should be
added the evidence from French sources presented by Schuker, End of French Predomi?
nance, pp. 21, 24-25, 117, and Jacques Bariety, Les Relations franco-allemandes apris la
premiere guerre mondiale (Paris, 1977), PP- 101-9. See also Poincare to Saint-Aulaire, Dec.
26,1922, tel. 2681, FMAE Z/Grande-Bretagne/50, and Gaiffier to Jaspar, Apr. 27,1923,
no. 5614/2595, BMAE, Correspondance PoHtique, France 1923.
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Sally Marks 245
ing a final effort to force Germany to acknowledg
War I and to accept the Versailles Treaty. He well
damental issues were not coal and timber but rat
treaty and of France's victory in the war.50 The B
that they were watching an extension of World W
hending neither the basic issues nor France's genu
money, could not understand why Poincare hung g
and Belgium lost heart.
The British, who clearly won the propaganda batt
the Ruhr occupation was unprofitable. Misleadingly
Ruhr receipts to the London Schedule of Payment
that the London Schedule was dead beyond recall
at their own insistence, had been between the Ruhr re
In fact, the Ruhr occupation was profitable, mod
then very considerably after the end of passive res
penses and Rhineland occupation costs, the net Ru
three powers involved and ultimately to the Unite
nearly 900 million gold marks.52
Others benefited as well. As the German governm
resistance from an empty exchequer,53 the mark reac
The astronomic inflation which ensued was a resul
not ofthe occupation itself. The inflation enabled t
ment to pay off its domestic debts, including the war
the state enterprises in worthless marks. Certain indu
German cabinet profited greatly as well.54 The ail
50. Curzon to Crewe, July 4,1923, tel. 283, F.O. 371/8641; Br
rales du Royaume, minutes, Franco-Belgian meeting, Apr. 9, 1
Papers/3; Archives Generales du Royaume, Jaspar to Gaiffier
minutes, Franco-Belgian meeting, June 6,1923, Jaspar Papers/226
Predominance, pp. 220-21; Le Trocquer note, Dec. 28,1922, M
Hymans, July 2,1920, no. 4557/1702, BMAE B/3 66/11; Delacr
1921, no. 3/466, BMAE B/366/IV.
51. Lord KUmarnock, British High Commissioner in the Rhi
fact but went unheeded. (KUmarnock to Curzon, Jan. 22,1923
52. FRUS PPC, 13: 487, 785. Furst (p. 336) gives higher net to
Ministers' Agreement of Jan. 14,1925, the United States ultim
gold marks ofthe Ruhr receipts for occupation costs. (FRUS
53. Das Kabinett Cuno, pp. 158-59; Bergmann, p. 181; Seydou
MiUerand/27.
54. Maier, p. 367; Reparation Commission, 14: Official Docum
42; Seydoux note, May 23, 1923, MUlerand/26; WilHam Carr,
1813-1943 (New York, 1969), pp. 314-15; Furst, p. 10.
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246 The Myths of Reparations
also benefited considerably from the disruption of German exports, but
British officials would never acknowledge this fact, even to themselves.55
Convinced that their economic data bore no relation to the evil event,
they never ceased to urge resolution ofthe crisis.
Their urgings became more imperative after a new German govern?
ment under Gustav Stresemann abandoned passive resistance in Sep?
tember 1923 and quickly terminated the inflation. A new reparations
plan was necessary, along with German financial reconstruction and a
scheme to extract France and Belgium from the Ruhr. Other powers
quickly combined to minimize the damage to Germany, and France
found herself increasingly isolated. A decline ofthe franc further weakened
her diplomatic position. When President Calvin Coolidge indi?
cated that American experts could participate as private citizens in draw?
ing up a new reparations plan, thus facilitating the essential involvement
of American bankers,56 a certain degree of inevitability set in. Poincare
could and did delay, but he could not prevent altogether. Thus the
Dawes Committee began work in January 1924.57 Its labors signified
that while Poincare had won the war, he had lost the peace.
The Dawes Plan of April 9,1924, operated at two levels.58 Its precise
technical details owed much to the Belgian Etudes of June 11, 1923,
concerning potential sources of reparations revenues, while the deliber?
ately ambiguous political settlement was chiefly the work ofthe Amer?
ican expert, Owen D. Young. Although the Dawes Committee indi?
cated that the problem ofthe Ruhr occupation was outside its frame of
reference, it tacitly assumed an immediate end to the economic occupa?
tion and reduction of the military occupation to a skeleton force (to
save French face).59 The plan called for complete reorganization of Ger?
man finances with foreign supervision, a large international loan to Ger?
many, and an Agent-General for Reparations in Berlin to oversee a
complex supervisory structure. To raise revenues toward reparations,
55. Cole to Wigram, Jan. 30,1923, F.O. 371/8709; Ramsbottom to Bennett, Aug. 24,
1923, Board of Trade memo, Aug. 25, 1923, F.O. 371/8651.
56. FRUS, 1923, 2: 69; Library of Congress, Washington, Hughes interviews with
ChUton, Oct. 13, Oct. 15, 1923, Hughes Papers/i75/77a.
57. Reparation Commission, 14:10. Once Poincare recognized that an expert inquiry
could not be avoided, he took the lead in proposing it in order to limit its scope. (Poin?
care to Barthou, Nov. 11, 1923, no. 1337, Dec. 6, 1923, no. 1417, AN, AJY362.)
58. For text, see Reparation Commission, 14.
59. For the text ofthe Belgian iiudes, see Moncheur memo, June 11, 1923, F.O. 371/
8639. For a summary, see Furst, pp. 166-69. On Young's role, see Schuker, End of French
Predominance, p. 180. See also Phipps to Crowe, Mar. 20, 1924, Phipps Papers.
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Sally Marks 247
the plan demanded mortgages on German industr
ways, reassumption of domestic indebtedness by
ment, and sweeping tax reform to end the ano
Treaty violation) of much lower tax rates in Germa
powers. While some accounts indicate otherwise, in
tion of occupation costs, commission costs, and a
prior charges into the global amount of annual G
payments effectively reduced the total reparation
size of the reduction was unclear, as the duration
specified. Germany would pay one billion marks t
out of the international loan, increasing amounts
2% billion gold marks for one year. Thereafter s
lion marks pius a percentage based upon a comple
prosperity.
The call for commensurate taxation in the Dawes Plan was political
window-dressing on the order ofthe C Bonds ofthe London Schedule.
Tax rates equivalent to those in the victor powers were not imposed
because the leading British expert, Sir Josiah Stamp, estimated that such
rates would yield a surplus applicable to reparations of 4% billion marks
a year, far more, he thought, than could be transferred.61 The transfer
problem (that is, the difficulties involved in transferring real resources
from one country to another or, in effect, in converting German wealth
into foreign currencies for reparation payments without depreciating
the mark) plagued the history of reparations and provided a convenient
impediment to payment.62 Those who for political reasons stressed the
impediments to transferring reparations generally remained silent about
the vast investment of foreign capital into Germany before and after
the Ruhr debacle, which constituted transfers of real wealth lost to the
60. Until the Dawes Plan went into effect, the cost ofthe Rhineland occupation, clearing
house charges, and the considerable expense of maintaining the various commissions
established under the treaty were all prior charges on German payments and only the
balance, after these items were paid, was applied to the reparations account. (For instance,
Versailles Treaty, Art. 241.) On commensurate taxation, see Part VIII, Annex II, par. 12.
The misconception that the Dawes Plan did not reduce the total reparations bill is par?
ticularly prevalent in textbooks. See, for example, F. Lee Benns and Mary Elizabeth
Seldon, Europe, 1914-1930 (New York, 1965), p. 168.
61. Furst, p. 225.
62. This author agrees with Professor Marc Trachtenberg that the transfer problem has
been greatly exaggerated. Marc Trachtenberg, "France and Reparations: The First Phase"
(paper read at American Historical Association annual meeting, Washington, D.C, Dec.
29, 1976).
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248 The Myths of Reparations
foreign investors through hyperinflation or debt repudiation and which
provided Germany with foreign exchange for reparations payments. As
to the German payments themselves, such transfer difficulties as arose
with payment ofthe first billion in 1921, which constituted the only
payment of substance before the Dawes Plan went into effect, were
largely induced by Germany in an effort to escape reparations. In the
later history of reparations, with the reduced payments of the Young
Plan, transfers caused no problem. Under the Dawes Plan itself, protec?
tion against potential transfer difficulties was provided by specifying
that Germany pay reparations into the new German Reichsbank and
empowering an Allied Transfer Committee under the American AgentGeneral
for Reparations to decide when transfers could safely be made.63
When the Dawes Plan was issued in April 1924, the countries con?
cerned were uniformly unenthusiastic for widely varying reasons, but
each accepted it for lack of an alternative.64 There remained the me?
chanics of its implementation, reconstruction ofthe Reparation Com?
mission, and arrangements to remove France from the Ruhr. These
were devised at the London Conference of July and August 1924,65
which was a personal triumph for the British prime minister, Ramsay
MacDonald. He deserves considerable credit for jollying his reluctant
colleagues toward compromise, although the inexperience of the new
French premier, Edouard Herriot, eased his task. Behind the scenes,
however, decisive pressure was exerted by representatives of J. P. Mor?
gan and Company, whose imprimatur was essential to raise the large
loan to Germany upon which the Dawes Plan depended. Further, the
French franc had continued to decline, and France urgently needed loans
63. Reparation Commission, 14:14,20-21, 31-32. While the mark depreciated in con?
junction with payment ofthe first billion in 1921, it did so because the German govern?
ment chose to acquire much ofthe foreign currency involved by massive selling of paper
marks on the open market. Schuker, End of French Predominance, p. 16.
64. MacDonald to Barthou, Apr. 24, 1924, F.O. 371/9741; Brussels, Archives G&ie^rales,
Hymans and Theunis to Barthou, Apr. 24, 1924, Mussolini to Barthou, Apr. 24,
1924, Hymans Papers/171; Poincare to Barthou, Apr. 24,1924, F.O. 371/9742; D'Abernon
to MacDonald, Apr. 15, 1924, tels. 151, 152, F.O. 371/9740; F.O. Summary, July
10, 1924, F.O. 371/9750.
65. Heavily edited minutes of the technical work of the conference may be found in
Great Britain, Parliament, Cmd. 2258, Minutes ofthe London Conference on Reparations,
August 1924 (London, 1924), and Cmd. 2270, Proceedings ofthe London Reparations Con?
ference, July and August 1924 (London, 1924). No formal minutes were kept of political
discussions.
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Sally Marks 249
from American bankers, again dependent upon
Thus France had to accept the final scheme, even t
required provisions making future sanctions agai
impossible, since the American loans would exten
years, whatever happened to reparations. Financial
isolation equally obliged France to swallow other
As a perceptive British observer remarked, "The
was for the French 'man in the street' one long C
M. Herriot abandoning one by one the cherished p
preponderance on the Reparation Commission, the
the event of German default, the economic occupa
French-Belgian railway Regie, and finally, the m
the Ruhr within a year. . . ."67
Under the Dawes Plan, Germany always met her
in full, thanks largely to a flood of foreign loans
the amount paid in reparations. Each year there w
probably as a point of honor, but never enough t
ever, as the French knew, Germany had always c
temporary expedient and counted upon revision b
came onerous. After the Agent-General for Repa
more permanent scheme late in 1927, Germany too
as the Dawes standard year of 2% billion marks a
early in 1928 Stresemann openly sought immediat
uation of the Rhineland. French leaders, badly sc
66. Schuker, End of French Predominance, pp. 300-318, 351-52;
2 vols. (Paris, 1948-52), 2: 155-58.
67. Phipps to MacDonald, Aug. 29,1924, no. 1893, Phipps Pap
Belgian troops left the Ruhr (and the area around Dusseldorf
68. Waley to F.O., June 8, 1932, F.O. 371/15911. This not
annual defaults but also that German payments under the Daw
billion gold marks. According to Reparation Commission, 22: O
1930): 214, German borrowing abroad from January 1925 to
6.7 billion gold marks, to which must be added the 800 millio
Loan pius any other loans made to Germany late in 1924. Muc
done not by the Reich but by the several states, provinces, mun
prises, and church organizations. It should be noted that, on t
Erich Eyck reports higher borrowing totals for 1925-26 (A Histor
2 vols., Cambridge, Mass., 1962,1: 75). For further informatio
data on German borrowing and reparations payments, see n.
remarked that the Wiggin-Layton Report on Aug. 18, 1931,
German foreign payments (reparations and other items) were no
own resources (DBFP, ser. 2, 2: 487).
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250 The Myths of Reparations
financial crisis which France had suffered in 1926 and aware that the
bargaining value of an early Rhineland evacuation was declining as the
treaty date for withdrawal drew closer, decided to trade early evacua?
tion for French military and financial security. Thus the Geneva com?
munique of September 16,1928, issued by the Entente powers and Ger?
many, called for a new, permanent, and final reparations plan, an early
Rhineland evacuation, and a commission of verification to engage in
permanent inspection of the demilitarized zone.69
As the reparations plan was the most complicated part ofthe package,
it was dealt with first. Thus, in an effort to achieve "final liquidation of
the war"70 and of the postwar, a committee under Owen D. Young
devised a New Plan in the spring of 1929.71 It specified that Germany
pay annuities in varying amounts, all below the Dawes standard-year
figure of 2% billion, for fifty-nine years, the duration of Allied debt
payments to America. These annuities would cover all charges, includ?
ing service of the Dawes Loan, but only 660 million marks (generally
about one-third) of each annuity was unconditionally payable, the re?
mainder being postponable under certain conditions of economic or
monetary distress. This device papered over the gap between Entente
expectations and German views of her capacity to pay, although the
French demand for financial security was partially met by awarding her
five-sixths ofthe unconditional annuities. Further, Germany succeeded
in keeping annuities for all ofthe first ten years below two billion marks
and expected either the end of reparations or another reduction within
that period. Finally, in an effort to put reparations on a purely commer?
cial basis, transfer protection was substantially reduced, while both the
Reparation Commission and the entire Dawes supervisory structure
were abolished. In their stead, a Bank for International Settlements was
69. Jon Jacobson, Locarno Diplomacy (Princeton, 1972), pp. 143-202 passim; Belgium,
Academie Royale de Belgique, Documents Diplomatiques Belges, 1920-1940, 5 vols. (Brus?
sels, 1964-66), 2: 480-560 passim; DBFP, ser. 1A, 5: 335.
70. Jacobson, p. 279. The phrase was common parlance in this era. For instance, Part 9
ofthe Young Plan was entitled "Liquidation ofthe Past" and began: "In order to arrive
as rapidly as possible at a general liquidation of the financial questions raised by the war
and the subsequent treaty of peace ...": Reparations Commission, 20: Report ofthe Com?
mittee of Experts (Cmd. 3343) (London, 1929): 26. Further, the first Hague Conference
was omcially entitled "The Conference on the Final Liquidation ofthe War," and one of
the committees it established was called "the Committee on the Liquidation ofthe Past."
Arnold J. Toynbee, Survey of International Affairs, 1930 (London, 1931), pp. 496-97;
Denys P. Myers, The Reparation Settlement (Boston, 1929 [sie]), p. 36.
71. For text, see Reparation Commission, 20.
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Sally Marks 251
established in Basel to receive and disburse reparati
provide a much-needed agency for cooperation am
In its second function, the Bank still survives72 a
reparations.
The first Hague Conference to implement the Young Plan in August
1929 was largely consumed by Entente dispute over allocation ofthe
receipts and by the related political questions. Stresemann, whose goal
was to make an "unconditional Rhineland evacuation" conditional upon
another reduction of reparations payments, was considerably abetted in
his maneuvers by the new British Labour government, which successfully
demanded a greater share in the Young conditional annuities, de?
clared that it would withdraw British forces from the Rhineland before
Christmas, and showed little interest in French security. Thus France
had to abandon the commission of verification and advance the evacua?
tion date in order to gain the reduced but supposedly permanent repa?
rations settlement. While the essential decisions were taken in August, a
second Hague Conferende was necessary in January 1930 to formalize
matters and to provide a comprehensive settlement of non-German rep?
arations.73 By then, hostility to the Young Plan in Germany had already
become acute, expressing itself in a plebiscite in December 1929 in
which Adolf Hitler gained significant national attention and valuable
right-wing financing.74 Further, 5.8 million voters registered opposition
to the Young Plan.75 While this raised questions about future German
good faith, the sole guarantee of fulfillment, it did not overturn German
ratification. As the plan had been designed to go into effect on Septem?
ber 1, 1929, it was made retroactive to that date, and Germany was
paying less than half what she would have owed under the Dawes
72. For the convention establishing the Bank for International Settlements, see Great
Britain, Parliament, Cmd. 3766, International Convention Respecting the Bank for Interna?
tional Settlements (London, 1931). For its present role in the European Economic Com?
munity, see Encyclopaedia Britannica (1975 ed.), Micropaedia, 1: 792.
73. For the Hague Agreements, see Great Britain, Parliament, Cmd. 3392, Protocol with
Annexes Approved at the Plenary Session ofthe Hague Conference, August 31,1929 (London,
1929); Cmd. 3763, International Agreements Regarding the Financial Obligations of Germany
(London, 1931); and Cmd. 3484, Agreements Concluded at the Hague Conference, January
1930 (London, 1930), which includes all the non-German settlements. For the negotia?
tions, see Myers or Jacobson, chaps. 8 and 9. On attitudes of the Labour government
toward the Young Plan, see David Carlton, MacDonald versus Henderson (New York,
1970), chap. 2.
74. Joachim C. Fest, Hitler (New York, 1975 ed.), pp. 260-65.
75. Nicholls, pp. 136-39; Karl Dietrich Bracher, The German Dictatorship (New York,
1970), pp. 160-62.
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252 The Myths of Reparations
Plan.76 Her reward for accepting this reduction was evacuation of the
Rhineland on June 30, 1930.
When Germany slid into acute financial crisis on the heels ofthe Sep?
tember 1930 election, German leaders began to seek reparations relief,
although the initial credit crisis itself was caused primarily by a dramatic
flight of capital in response to Hitler's electoral success, not by repara?
tions. Since the French countered with political conditions, notably in
regard to the Austro-German customs union proposal,77 an impasse de?
veloped. It was broken by President Herbert Hoover's sudden proposal
for a one-year moratorium commencing July 1,1931, on all intergovernmental
debts.78 This represented the reaction of American investors
to the deteriorating situation in Germany and was designed to insure
the safety of private investments, which were specifically exempted
from the moratorium. In brief, for creditor nations, including America,
private investments would be put ahead of public accounts.79
France, which would suffer a net loss under the scheme, recognized
that, once halted, reparations would never resume. In addition, she
76. Waley to F.O., June 8, 1932, F.O. 371/15911; Myers, p. 44.
77. FRUS, 1931,1: 2, 4, 9-12; Edward W. Bennett, Germany and the Diplomacy ofthe
Financial Crisis, 1931 (Cambridge, Mass., 1962), pp. 15-25, 34-36, 99, 181-82. On the
sudden flight of capital, see n. 85. From 1928 on, new American investment in Germany
slowed, but this decline was partially offset by investment from other countries. Thus,
while the net inflow of capital decreased somewhat, there was no net outflow until the
dramatic withdrawals after the 1930 election. Before the election, Germany was in recession,
not depression. While the working class was suffering, it did not vote for the
Nazis in noticeable numbers (William S. Allen, The Nazi Seizure of Power, Chicago,
1965* PP- 12, 24, 34; Eyck, 2: 278-79). Foreign-policy issues, including widespread calls
for repeal ofthe newly ratdfied Young Plan, dominated the campaign (DBFP, ser. 2,1:
502). Thereafter, the sharp reaction of investors to the election returns led to the flight
of capital which in turn not only much accelerated Germany's swift plunge into acute
depression but also aggravated the mounting international economic crisis. Germans,
however, tended to blame both economic distress and currency deflation on the Young
Plan (Bennett, pp. 116-17).
78. For text, see FRUS, 1931, 1: 33-35.
79. Lindsay to Henderson, July 10,1931, no. 1083, F.O. 371/15188; Bennett, pp. 129,
136-40; Charles G. Dawes, Journal as Ambassador to Great Britain (New York, 1939), pp.
350-52, 356. Dawes was in America and in close touch with Hoover at the time. See also
DBFP, ser. 2, 2: 70-71. As German trade balances improved in 1929 and 1930, Germany
was earning enough foreign exchange in 1930 and 1931 to cover reparations payments in
full (conditional and unconditional) but not enough to cover the annuities and the interest
on her private debts. In 1930, the balance was covered by borrowing. The flight of capital
after the 1930 election and the unwillingness of new investors to replace the old precluded
continuation of this course; hence the credit crisis of 1931 and the Hoover Moratorium.
Wiggin-Layton Report, Aug. 18, 1931, DBFP, ser. 2, 2: 487-89.
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Sally Marks 253
hoped to obtain a political moratorium on treat
naval rearmament, and the customs union in retu
moratorium. Predictably, France protested the Hoo
that Germany's problem was credit, not reparation
reparations the German budget was virtually balan
most European countries. Surely she could pay th
nuities. Germany had indeed expected to pay that
Treasury conceded that she had this capacity, but i
short of a full moratorium would satisfy panicky
To save French face and to maintain a precarious f
payment, a paper device decreed that Germany w
to herself, and the moratorium went into effect.81
During the Hoover moratorium year, the worldw
ened. As Hoover found it politically impossible to
rium in a presidential election year, Britain and Fr
the Entente powers and Germany together at Lausa
effect "a lasting settlement."82 What they arrange
many was to make a final lump sum payment o
marks after the convention was ratified. But it was
the four principal recipients signed an agreement n
debt relief was obtained from America, which was
sible.83 Thus the Lausanne Convention was a dead
80. Cahill minute, June 24,1931, Tyrrell to F.O., June 22,1931
Ross to Vansittart, June 24,1931, Layton to Noel-Baker, June
Tyrrell to F.O., June 28, 1931, tels. 133, 134, F.O. to Lindsay,
F.O. 371/15183; Dawes, pp. 353-54-
81. Bennett, pp. 186,177. To insure that Germany did not use
her naval building program or other rearmament, the final sche
tions (minus service of the Dawes Loan) be paid by Germany
corporation. France was induced to accept the moratorium by
that, if Germany postponed the conditional annuities, France,
ofthe unconditional annuities, would be required to deposit 50
the BIS as a guarantee fund to safeguard the eventual rights
circumstance, together with continuing war debt payments t
Great Britain, would leave France with a net loss for the ye
despite receipt ofthe unconditional annuities. (Cmd. 3343, p. 6
Ross to Layton, Nov. 27, 1931, F.O. 371/15200.)
82. Tyrrell to Simon, Jan. 16,1933, no. 70 (France, Annual R
17299.
83. For text, see Great Britain, Parliament, Cmd. 4126, Final Act ofthe Lausanne Con?
ference, Lausanne, 9 July 1932 (London, 1932). For the "Gentlemen's Agreement" not to
ratify, see Great Britain, Parliament, Cmd. 4129, Further Documents Relating to the Settle?
ment Reached at the Lausanne Conference (London, 1932). In a press release onjuly 9,1932,
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254 The Myths of Reparations
reparations were overtaken by events, as the futility of inviting Hitler
to discuss payment became evident to all. Reparations were never for?
mally canceled, but fell into limbo as they became increasingly unre?
alistic.
After the Lausanne Convention, reparations per se met their de facto
death, but in actuality the problems they were designed to resolve still
remained. The ultimate effect of German failure to pay reparations in
substantial quantity was transfer of the burden to the victors. Recon?
struction ofthe devastated regions still had to be paid for. Pensions for
disabled veterans and war widows still remained. So did Allied war
debts. In the end, the victors paid the bills. It is evident that the net
effect of World War I and the peace settlement was the effective enhancement
of Germany's relative strength in Europe, particularly in re?
gard to her immediate neighbors. As Gerhard Weinberg has remarked,
"The shifting ofthe burden of reparations from her shoulders to those
of her enemies served to accentuate this disparity."84
In addition to reinforcing German economic superiority, the history
of reparations generated a vast bureaucracy, a mountain of arcane doc?
uments, much bitterness, endless propaganda, more than its share of his?
torical myths, and just over 20 billion gold marks or $5 billion, which
was predominantly financed by foreign loans, many of which were
eventually repudiated by Hitler.85 It is evident that Germany could have
the State Department confirmed that United States views of war debts remained unchanged.
(FRUS PPC, 13: 407.)
84. Gerhard L. Weinberg, commentary at "Reparations Reconsidered" panel, Amer?
ican Historical Association annual meeting, Washington, D.C, Dec. 29, 1976. See also
Gerhard L. Weinberg, "The Defeat of Germany in 1918 and the European Balance of
Power," Central European History 2 (1969): 248-60.
85. See n. 9. The exact figures for foreign loans to Germany are difficult to ascertain
after April 1930, the last date covered by the reports ofthe Agent-General for Repara?
tions. (See n. 68.) After the September 1930 elections, Germany lost within three months
at least 1.3 to 1.6 billion Reichsmarks out ofa total of 3.8 billion RM in foreign credits
then in Germany. The losses were chiefly transfers out of Germany by German Jews and
German liberals along with withdrawals of short-term credits by French, Belgian, and
Swiss financiers. On the whole, Anglo-American creditors did not withdraw. (Bennett,
pp. 15-17.) The Wiggin-Layton Committee Report of Aug. 18, 1931, for the BIS estimated
withdrawals of short-term credits in the first seven months of 1931 to be 2.9 billion
RM. Some long-term credits were also sold by foreigners, creating a total loss of around
3% billion RM. The Wiggin-Layton Report estimated that during 1924-30 inclusive (a
longer period than that covered by the Dawes Plan), German foreign indebtedness grew
faster than her foreign assets by 18.2 billion RM. This influx of capital (together with
earnings on shipping and services) enabled her to pay the interest on her debts, increase
her holdings of gold and foreign exchange, cover an unfavorable trade balance in several
years, and pay reparations to a total of 10.3 billion RM. At the end of 1930, the net debt
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Sally Marks 255
paid a good deal more if she had chosen to do so, p
paid little out of her own considerable resources. B
reason to pay and from start to finish deemed rep
insult. Whether it was wise to seek reparations fro
able, although the consequences of not seeking th
far-reaching, as the failure to obtain them proved
tainly it was unwise to inflict the insult without r
In the last analysis, however, despite the fact tha
were intended to transfer real economic wealth fr
battered victors and despite the financial complex
the reparations question was at heart a political is
dominance of the European continent and to main
military verdict of 1918.
Historians, distracted by the intricacies of the re
have either avoided the problem altogether or hav
upon German capacity to pay, often on the basis
tions, instead of addressing the more relevant que
to pay or, to be precise, determination not to p
clearly recognized the political implications ofthe r
from beginning to end, devoted their inexhaustible
or reducing payments. As the international climate
hostile to the use of force during the twenties, Ge
in the end at great cost to herself and to others. S
not pay and the other Central Powers could not, r
and died. The tangled history of reparations rem
historian and also to demonstrate the futility of
ments on nations which are either destitute or resent
powerful to translate that resentment into effective
to foreigners was estimated at 15.8 biUion RM, of which 10.3
term loans, over half of which were owed in March 1931 to A
vestors. (DBFP, ser. 2, 2: 486-89.) The German government d
that the Wiggin-Layton Report's estimates of German foreign
too low, claiming that the total foreign debt was 28 or 29 bilHon
RM were in short-term credits. (Ibid., p. 304.) As the German
ing to avoid resumption of repayment of private foreign cred
six-month StandstiU Agreement on Feb. 29, 1932, it was in Germ
her total estimates of foreign indebtedness, and these figures
with some reserve. (Rowe-Dutton to Leith-Ross, Dec. 8, 193
cording to American sources, German borrowing in doUar bon
with an outstanding value of $840,389,113, all of which were
government on June 9, 1933. ObHgations in other currencies
to about $250 milHon. (FRUS PPC, 13: 410.)
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