Germany to Finish Paying Reparations for WWI Sunday

I still say that this is a Crowning Moment Of Awesome for Germany. I mean, think about it - World War I was almost a century ago. Nobody, and I mean nobody, is ever going to be able to say that the Germans do not honor their agreements after this. It may take time, blood, sweat, and tears, but dammit if Germany doesn't prove to the world that their people are indomitable and that no power - foreign or otherwise - is going to prevent Germany from honoring its promises.

Just to break it down, since the Treaty of Versailles, Germany has survived the worst economic collapse in modern times, the iron yoke of two tyrants, a genocide which wiped out a good portion of their upper middle class, secret nazi police, secret commie police, Stalin's blockade of Berlin, the Berlin Wall, and Mutually Assured Destruction hanging over their heads for half a century, yet this Sunday the Germans will show the world that despite all the crap that was thrown at their great nation, they have not only survived, but prospered. This is despite the fact that for much of the last two centuries Germany has been the puppet of greater powers, despite the fact that most of Europe has tried their damnedest to destroy the country, and despite the fact that Germany has almost single-handedly fought the entire planet in two devastating wars. Here's your paycheck France, I'm going to make you eat it!

edited 29th Sep '10 9:11:24 AM by Bioelectricclam

Fear is our ally. The gasoline will be ours. A Honey Badger does not kill you to eat you. It tears off your testicles.

What about the other countries, Central Powers? Note to self. Create Central Powers Hetalia!

• Austria (Austria Hungary)
• Bulgaria (Bulgaria)
• Turkey (Ottoman Empire)

TU NE CEDE MALIS CLASS OF 1971

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{off-topic comments deleted. Madrugada}

That doesn't change the fact that this was insanely generous... and I'm ashamed my country accepted this. I really am.

edited 29th Sep '10 9:37:11 AM by Madrugada

The term "Great Man" is disturbingly interchangeable with "mass murderer" in history books.

secretist: They were absolved from paying anything in reparations by the Treaty Of Versailles. The entire load of reparations was placed solely on Germany.

...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.

What? Why?

And that's how I ended up in the wardrobe. It Just Bugs Me!

Well, Austria-Hungary and the Ottomans dissolving was probably a factor.

[1] This facsimile operated in part by synAC.

Because France wanted to strike a killing blow against their long-time enemy and the British were more moderate but didn't mind watching Germany get it. Only the US was against it, and France dominated the talks.

I don't know if the British were actually for the reparations. They certainly wanted a more merciful deal. They might actually simply have been fence-sitting bastards over the matter.

The term "Great Man" is disturbingly interchangeable with "mass murderer" in history books.

WWI Sunday? When is that?

Thanks, Bioelectricclam. I... I almost kind of nearly feel like I might be a little proud of my country now?

Almost.

The French wanted to use reparations to break their rival Germany.
Why? Because they still held a grudge from the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, when Prussia invaded France to unify the German states (minus Austria), humiliating France by crowning an Emperor in the Palace of Versailles.
Why? Because they were nursing a grudge against Napoleon I for dissolving the Holy Roman Empire.

Oversimplified, of course.

“Love is the eternal law whereby the universe was created and is ruled.” — St. Bernard

^^^: No, I mean why they're still paying this stuff.

And that's how I ended up in the wardrobe. It Just Bugs Me!

...oh.

That, only the German government knows. As for why the money was accepted... I might just write to my MP to ask that very question...

The term "Great Man" is disturbingly interchangeable with "mass murderer" in history books.

The other Empires not paying was probably also linked into the question of who would they pay? The Austrians fought against the Russians who'd already negotiated their own peace and the Ottomans fought mostly in the Middle East and against Russia, Britain getting involve only in arabic territories which it took for itself afterwards and one large campaign in the Turkish homeland.

The Turks didn't have to pay because they returned to their own personal round two of WWI in the 20s where they kicked out the Europeans and Greece, undid the peace treaty, conquerd some territory back and founded the Republic of Turkey. I'm not sure if this included reparations, though.

edited 29th Sep '10 11:44:00 AM by DasAuto

Now if you excuse me, Starfleet is about to award the Christopher Pike Medal to my dick. — SF Debris

The Turks were not assessed any reparations in the first place. No one except Germany was assessed any reparations.

...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.

^ Because the French didn't give a damn about justice. They just used an argument to the effect of "Aggressors should pay restitution for damage" to punish the Germans for 1870.

The British was depressingly cool with this.

“Love is the eternal law whereby the universe was created and is ruled.” — St. Bernard

Britain always struck me as a bit Lawful Stupid at times.

The term "Great Man" is disturbingly interchangeable with "mass murderer" in history books.

Pragmatic / unconcerned, I'd more put it. There was certainly no gain for Britain (as far as short-sighted politicians go, anyway) in opposing France on the matter.

A brighter future for a darker age.

Nichts zu danken! (I'm sure that the online translator screwed that up)

I mean, I know Germany has a rather big skeleton in its closet, but the country, the people, and the language are all very beautiful. If you put Hitler to the side, Germans gave us Bach and Beethoven, have written some of the most remarkable operas in history, invented calculus, discovered genetics, saved the lives of over two billion people with the invention of the haber-bosch process, created modern physics, got the scientific revolution started in the first place, ended Catholic hegemony, and in ways both small and large have enriched the lives of everybody on planet Earth.

Fear is our ally. The gasoline will be ours. A Honey Badger does not kill you to eat you. It tears off your testicles.

Not to mention they seem to be the only European country run with any degree of competence...

Yes, I include Britain in that too.

edited 1st Oct '10 4:06:28 PM by GameChainsaw

The term "Great Man" is disturbingly interchangeable with "mass murderer" in history books.

Nope, it's good.

From the wikipedia page: "The Haber process is important because ammonia is difficult to produce on an industrial scale, and the fertilizer generated from the ammonia is responsible for sustaining one-third of the Earth's population."

Holy shit. Didn't know that.

Now if you excuse me, Starfleet is about to award the Christopher Pike Medal to my dick. — SF Debris

^You should read The Alchemy of Air. It's a great book about a subject that, despite the fact that our entire modern society depends on it, is very little known outside of chemistry circles. Well written too.

Fear is our ally. The gasoline will be ours. A Honey Badger does not kill you to eat you. It tears off your testicles.

Why should France be ashamed of demanding of the reparations? The German Empire did start a war which has severly weakend France and devasted its north-eastern areas (and Belgium). France were right to demand a lot and to weaken Germany in the long term. Their main mistake was not to enforce the treaty in the 1930s.

Lazy and pathetic

^ Historically reparations were a major motivator for the Nazi movement. Hell even French Marshal Foch saw right through the charade that reparations and forcibly weakening Germany would only lead to greater conflict.

The Treaty Of Versailles that ended World War One was the Most Triumphant Example of Nice Job Breaking It, Hero that Real Life has to offer.

edited 2nd Oct '10 9:15:12 AM by MajorTom

"Allah may guide their bullets, but Jesus helps those who aim down the sights."