USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The nation’s burden of reparations eventually topped 132 billion gold Reichsmarks, the equivalent of some $33 billion, a sum so great that no one expected Germany to be able to pay in full; in fact, economists like John Maynard Keynes predicted the European economy would collapse if it did.

Detailed explanation-2: -The Treaty of Versailles (signed in 1919) and the 1921 London Schedule of Payments required Germany to pay 132 billion gold marks (US$33 billion [all values are contemporary, unless otherwise stated]) in reparations to cover civilian damage caused during the war.

Detailed explanation-3: -In January 1921, the total sum due was decided by an Inter-Allied Reparations Commission and was set at 132 billion gold marks, about £6.6 billion or $33 billion (roughly $393.6 billion US dollars as of 2005). This was a sum that many economists believed to be too much.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Treaty of Versailles didn’t just blame Germany for the war-it demanded financial restitution for the whole thing, to the tune of 132 billion gold marks, or more than $500 billion today.