Well, WW I is finally over

Strange. Britain only paid off its WW2 lend-lease debts a few years ago. I had no idea Germany were still paying off reparations.

The part of the article that really caught my eye was the 2nd picture: Three soldiers appear to be crouching as they move forwards past barbed wire, and a fountain of earth beyond indicates a shell bursting rather close in front of them. They would scarcely have had time even to flinch at the explosion, but bizarrely this is captioned "French run from an explosion during WWI".
 
Jack by the hedge said:
Strange. Britain only paid off its WW2 lend-lease debts a few years ago. I had no idea Germany were still paying off reparations.
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Actually, Germany wasn't paying off reparations. The title of the article is misleading. It links to an article in Der Spiegel which sheds more light on it.

In the 1920s, Germany issued bonds which it used to pay off the war reparations. The payment of those bonds was suspended when the 1929 crisis hit. After WW2, it was agreed that Germany would repay those, and part of those payments was suspended until reunification. See the 1953 London Agreement of German External Debt.

Payment of the actual WW1 war reparations, that were lowered under the Dawes Plan and later again lowered under the Young Plan, were also suspended by Germany when the crisis hit. There were talks in Lausanne in 1932 to call them quits, but those talks never finalized. So, as far as I can see, Germany still owes the Entente war reparations as per the Young Plan. :)
 
Jack by the hedge said:
Strange. Britain only paid off its WW2 lend-lease debts a few years ago. I had no idea Germany were still paying off reparations.

The part of the article that really caught my eye was the 2nd picture: Three soldiers appear to be crouching as they move forwards past barbed wire, and a fountain of earth beyond indicates a shell bursting rather close in front of them. They would scarcely have had time even to flinch at the explosion, but bizarrely this is captioned "French run from an explosion during WWI".
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Looks to me like they're flinching backwards. I've see a fair number of explosions and always flinched when they went off that close. The troops have had time to react somewhat given the height and spread of the debris.
 
That's the bee's knees. I am sure am glad they finally stuck it to that dagnab Kaiser, what marchin' all over Europe like that. Boy if I ever get ahold of him...
 
There'll be hearty sighs of relief all over Germany.
Finally they're free to start another World War.
 
ARubberChickenWithAPulley said:
That's the bee's knees. I am sure am glad they finally stuck it to that dagnab Kaiser, what marchin' all over Europe like that. Boy if I ever get ahold of him...
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Some say the Germans are warlike and mean
But that couldn't happen again
We taught them a lesson in 1918
And they've hardly bothered us since then.

-MLF Lullaby by Tom Leher
 
Delvo said:
Reunification was planned/expected/assumed all along?!
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Not "all along" no, but at the very beginning it must have seemed a reasonable supposition.

I dare say when Germany was divided by the occupying powers nobody expected that it would stay that way forever. A couple of decades after the Berlin wall went up, it certainly felt like it was there to stay (until we eventually got around to frying ourselves in WW3).
 
Gawdzilla said:
Looks to me like they're flinching backwards. I've see a fair number of explosions and always flinched when they went off that close. The troops have had time to react somewhat given the height and spread of the debris.
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It is an american journal. Seeing how much joke and dribble goes on "french being coward" and french surrendering, I would not be surprised this tainted the editorial caption of the picture.

They might be flinching, but who would not flinch ? They certainly are FACING the explosion, therefore could not be running away as the caption pretend.

just saying.

Plus really even if they were, why show PRECISELY such a photo of french fleeing ? Why not many of those 100's of photo of trench ?

Think about it.
 
Aepervius said:
It is an american journal. Seeing how much joke and dribble goes on "french being coward" and french surrendering, I would not be surprised this tainted the editorial caption of the picture.

They might be flinching, but who would not flinch ? They certainly are FACING the explosion, therefore could not be running away as the caption pretend.

just saying.

Plus really even if they were, why show PRECISELY such a photo of french fleeing ? Why not many of those 100's of photo of trench ?

Think about it.
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At least they don't photoshop them eating cheese at the same time.
 
Cainkane1 said:
Wonder when WW2 is going to end?
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Hasn't it then? The 2+4 treaty was the peace treaty with Germany, AFAIK. What the Allies wanted in reparations from Germany, they simply took with them (esp. the Soviets) in the late 1940s. The UK has paid off all Lend-Lease, so that's over too.

I don't know the details about the Pacific war, though.
 
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