For the United States, who actually didn't care for reparations in the Treaty of Versailles the same as Great Britain and France did, it meant becoming a huge money lender for Germany to loan from in order to pay on their overwhelming debts.
In defense of GB and FR, other than the scores of raw numbers of lives lost Russia sustained in the eastern European front, the British and French were determined to ensure all their soldier's lives were not in vain (it seemed justified at the time, doing most of the fighting).
Big department store chains were coming to Germany, boosted by American industry. This was great for German traders and commercial businesses but not good for German farmers who benefited from financial inflation that made it easier to pay their property and agricultural lots. Now, their lands would be devalued by a recovering economy but very little actual innovation.
Basically, the rich were taken care first since fixing the economy was top priority in order to stabilize Germany during so many emerging coups and rebellions. This was possible since Germany's military was still intact despite being greatly cut in size, enjoying popular support across the nation (not to mention the Red Army Soviet faction gaining traction poking in neighboring Czarist Russia, causing uncertainty too).
Though, being so heavily dependent on American capital meant that when the U.S. stock market crashed in 1929, Germany went down with it in shock and panic.
A lot of this info came from the TIME GHOST HISTORY YouTube channel:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4DBfKNpE-dc
~~/o/
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[deleted]
5 years ago
" it will now be our fortunate duty to assist by example, by sorbent friendly counsel and by material aid in the establishment of just democracy throughout the world."
So, what does "sorbent friendly" mean?
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twinA (4826)
5 years ago
Turn former enemies into allies by becoming economic buddies.
Sorry, I love history and can get carried away sometimes. Thanks for keeping it short and simple.
~~/o/
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[deleted]
5 years ago
That's ok. :)
I still don't know how the word "sorbent" applies there. In my country, "Sorbent" is the name of a toilet tissue. Seriously, it is.
Not being facetious.
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twinA (4826)
5 years ago
Really? That's pretty interesting!
Living in the southern United States, the word "sorbent" has hardly ever been used in my experience. It must be an antiquated term.
The English language can be weird over time, changing a lot in just the last 100 years. It may come up when talking about chemistry or the death and dying (embalming), however.
~~/o/
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[deleted]
5 years ago
Yes, language changes all right. Sometimes not necessarily for the better.
That "sorbent" is going to bother me now! It must have been used ~ the 1918s, since that Tampa Bay newspaper item is dated 1918. And if they quoted Pres Wilson accurately, we can assume it's not a typo.
Curious.
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twinA (4826)
5 years ago
An astute observation. Great catch!
Wilson was an incredibly super smart leader, the only U.S. president to have an education in political science among other academia but held very unfashionable racial views, even for the social standards of his day, doing much to make them worse, not better.
He was known as the "cold, icy intellectual" who would be more at home giving lectures on theoretical physics than being a charmer at socialite parties to network with people.
Thank you for a most pleasant conversation, gratified to share this.
~~/o/
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