A Long Trail

The history of the reparations tangle is outlined by the French Bureau of Information (in Manhattan) :

1) Versailles, 1919: Germans offered to pay 100 billion gold marks; Allies wanted 375 billion.

2) Boulogne, June, 1920: Allies asked 269 billion gold marks.

3) Spa, July, 1920: Germany agreed to deliver two million tons of coal monthly against cash advances from France.

4) Brussels, December, 1920: Payments made easier for Germany.

5) Paris, January, 1921: German reparation debt reduced to 226 billion gold marks plus 10% on German exports.

6) London, March and April, 1921: German debt further reduced to 132 billion gold marks.

7) London, May, 1921: Germany accepted total of 132 billion and agreed to financial reforms.

8) Wiesbaden, October, 1921: Agreement made between Rathenau and Loucheur concerning payment of reparation in kind.

9) Cannes, January, 1922: Allies granted Germany a short moratorium and asked her to submit a plan of financial reform.

10) Paris, March, 1922: Sir Robert Home, Chancellor of the British Exchequer, proposed 45 billion gold marks as the negotiable part of the German debt.

11) Paris, March, 1922: Reparations Commission made additional concessions to Germany. Insisted on financial reforms being carried out.

12) Berlin, July, 1922: Germany agreed to start new financial policy.

13) London, August, 1922: Germany asked for a new moratorium. (Germany asked for a four years' moratorium; four months was granted August 31, 1922.)

14) London, December, 1922: New German proposition rejected by the Premiers of France, Italy, Belgium, Britain.

15) Paris, January, 1923: Bonar Law's scheme rejected by Poincare. France occupied the Ruhr.

The French Bureau of Information gives this resume of conferences in the hope of establishing a general belief that France has shown all along a policy of moderation.