"TO PAY 30 BILLION GOLD MARKS"

GERMAN GOVERNMENT PROPOSES NEW REPARATIONS OFFER 

Berlin,Germany (JFK+50) On May 2,1923, the German government made a new reparations* offer proposing to pay thirty billion gold marks to cover the total amount owed according to the Treaty of Versailles**.

A bond issue at normal interest rates will be the proposed means of covering the amount of payment.

According to the Alaska Daily Empire, if the proposed amount is unsatisfactory, the matter will fall into the hands of an "unprejudiced international commission" which has been the suggestion of U.S. Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes.

*reparations-compensation given for an abuse or injury

**The Treaty of Versailles (1919) required Germany to pay 133 billion German marks, equivalent to 33 billion US dollars, to cover civilian damage caused in WWI. 

SOURCE

"New Reparations Proposals Are Made By German Government," The Alaska Daily Empire, May 2, 1923, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/

 

 

Coat of Arms of the Weimar Republic

by David Liuzzo (2006)

"HOPE FOR SOLUTION THROUGH AMERICAN ACTION"

GERMANS CONFER WITH AMERICANS ON REPARATIONS QUESTION

Berlin (JFK+50) On April 27, 1921, Dr. Walter Simons*, German foreign minister, admitted in the Reichstag "that he had conferred with a spokesman for American businessmen close to Secretary of State (Charles Evans) Hughes regarding a solution of the reparations question."

The New York Tribune reported that some see this admission "as confirmation...that there is...an understanding between Germany and the United States regarding an ultimate agreement of the Allies."

Because of multiple conditions surrounding Germany's position with regard to the Versailles Treaty, German financiers, the Tribune states, "hope for a solution...through action on the part of America."

*Walter Simons (1861-1937) was foreign minister of the Weimar Republic 1920-21, & president of the Reichsgericht 1922-1929.  WS was awarded the Eagle Shield of the German Reich in 1931.

SOURCE

"GERMANS CLAIM UNDERSTANDING WITH HARDING," New York Tribune, April 28, 1921, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/ 

   

 

Walter Simons

German Federal Archives (1931)

Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-122791

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