Replies

But the reparations were beyond impossible, they defied logic. Germany’s industrial base, which as you correctly point out, was largely intact at the end of the war, was to have bene virtually dismantled and shipped to the Allies. Germany’s economy would have to grow to 50X the size of WW I, and at that lever, EVERY drop of output would have gone to pay the reparations. There have been several excellent studies which make this point.

This was not the case.

The reasoning was simple: during the runup to WWI, Germany had been spending about 7% of GDP on its military.

The Treaty provided for about 40 years of reparations at the rate of about 7% of 1910 GDP.

The goal was hardly dismantling Germany's industrial production, but diverting a portion of its products to the Allies.

German industrial production was back up to prewar levels by 1921.

Your claim of 50x is simply divorced from reality.

The original total reparations were 269mm gold marks and German GDP was about 85mm gold marks - three years worth of GDP, not 50 years.

The reparations were easily sustainable by Germany.