USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Allied victors took a punitive approach to Germany at the end of World War I. Intense negotiation resulted in the Treaty of Versailles’ “war guilt clause, ” which identified Germany as the sole responsible party for the war and forced it to pay reparations .

Detailed explanation-2: -The Treaty of Versailles, signed following World War I, contained Article 231, commonly known as the “war guilt clause, ” which placed all the blame for starting the war on Germany and its allies.

Detailed explanation-3: -Over the next four years, U.S. banks continued to lend Germany enough money to enable it to meet its reparation payments to countries such as France and the United Kingdom. These countries, in turn, used their reparation payments from Germany to service their war debts to the United States.

Detailed explanation-4: -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-5: -Germany started making reparations payments to Holocaust survivors back in the 1950s, and continues making payments today.