The German Question, Part Ninety-Three

"A Divisive Treaty" Part Five
"Reparations"

The Treaty of Versailles required Germany to make reparations for damages to other nations in accordance with Germany's acceptance of responsibility for the war.* A "Reparation Commission" was to be established to determine the exact amount owed by Germany and her allies, with that amount to be reported on or before May 1, 1921. The treaty made special mention that the Commission give "the German Government just opportunity to be heard."

To give some attempt at perspective here, the actual claims submitted to the Commission came to somewhere around 55 billion dollars in the dollar amount of those times. In 2011 dollar value, the sum would be around 725 billion. The Commission reduced the amount of claims to between 31 and 32 billion dollars (around 420 billion in 2011 dollar value). Understand, the calculations in those times were done in "Reichsmarks" (actually "gold" Reichsmarks) not dollars, as they were the basis of the German monetary system. Further, also understand, the Germans could not just write a check for the amount they owed. Much of the payment was to be made in natural resources (mainly coal) and German products. One of the German industrial and coal areas, which came to be called the "Saarland," and bordering on France, was put under British and French control for fifteen years, although it was administered exclusively by France. This is the area including the city of Saarbrücken, and the region had an approximate population back then of 800,000, with a small, but not insignificant, French minority of about 10%.

Besides France, Germany made reparations in vast sums to Belgium, and in a lesser amount to Italy. The overall amount of the reparations and Germany's ability to pay have been much debated since those times, with the actual debate naturally beginning back then.** Famous British economist John Maynard Keynes protested the amount of reparations as being excessive, even writing that the amount could so damage Germany as to bring about political instability.***

Next...the territorial adjustments. It is my "intention" to make the "territorial adjustments" the last part about the Treaty of Versailles and then move on to post-World War One Germany and the rise of Adolf Hitler.

* This is why the assignment of "blame for the war" was so important. In times past, it was more typical for the victor to more or less say, "Look, I won and you owe me." While it could certainly be argued that this was much the same; that is, "We, the Allies, won and now you, Germany, owe us," the Reparation Commission was to review the claims by the various nations and determine which were valid and assign an amount, but at least with some German input. It is important to remember, just as France had been unhappy with the conditions of the treaty ending the war with Germany in 1871, the Germans were not likely to be happy with whatever came out of a treaty ending the Great War.

** It should be noted that the amount of reparations was later adjusted downward. The whole matter is highly complex, but Germany finally made its last payment in World War One reparations in 2010!

*** There is no question that Keynes' views have contributed much to the notion of the Treaty of Versailles bringing about Hitler's rise.

WORD HISTORY:
Pig-The origins of this word are uncertain, although some linguists wonder if it could be linked to "pike," a long pointed weapon of old, because of the pig's pointed snout (besides "pike," both "peak," the pointed top of a mountain, and "pick," a pointed implement or tool, come from the same source). All that seems to be agreed upon is that Old English had "picg/picga," used in compounds, and used in reference to "young swine." Hey! I got it now. That must be why we have that child's saying, "This little picga went to market, and this little picga stayed home." Ahh, ya didn't buy that one, huh? Later the spelling became "pigge," still with the meaning "young swine." Gradually the usage began to drop the idea of "young," and the word took on the general meaning of "swine." While quite common in usage today, it wasn't until the 1500s that the word finally overtook "swine" as the main word for the animal, although, of course "swine" is a word still much in use. The word "piglet" (a young pig), with the diminutive ending "let," seemingly came into use in the mid to latter part of the 1800s. Low German, Dutch and Frisian, all very close relatives of English, have forms of "bigge" and "big," for a "young swine," with the Dutch form apparently being "bicghe" in the 1200s, and later being "bigghe" in Dutch, Low German and Frisian, and "vigge" in Flemish, but again, where these come from originally is unknown. So, there are lots of similarities between these forms and the English forms, and it's not much of a leap to Anglo-Saxon dialect using a "p" in place of "b." English once also had "ferh"/"fearh" for "young pig," which then became "farrow." These English forms are related to German "Ferkel" and Dutch "varken," which mean, "young pig." They all come from a base related to English "furrow," with the obvious notion of the pig's snout being used to "furrow/dig in the soil." (See "Etymologisch woordenboek van het Nederlands" [Etymological Dictionary of the Netherlands"] originally started in the late 1980s by Dr. Willy J.J. Pijnenburg, then taken over by Dr. Marlies L.A.I. Philippa in the early 1990s. The editor from 1995 until 2009 was Frans Debrabandere.)