Perhaps one of the greatest sins of today is how short the collective memory. While Greece is pressed in a long agony seems endless and the Eurozone conditions for the country to support their extreme austerity measures are made to believe that the situation is the worst experience helena who has lived in Europe's history. And nothing could be further from reality.
The economic historian Albrecht Ritschl, a professor at the London School of Economics, believes that Germany is ignoring most of its history and what led to what it is today. In an interview with Der Spiegel and in this article for The Guardian, Ritschl points out that Germany was even more indebted to Greece in the last century and Germany invites the country to be more understandable to the crisis in the euro if it is to meet new demands remissions of 50% was applied in the Second World War in the payment of war reparations. Remember that Germany paid off the First World War, only in October 2010.
In the interview with Der Spiegel, which also collected Business Insider, Ritschl points out that the German government's attitude is unreasonable, since the failure to make payments that Germany starred in the twentieth century, with the first World War and the Second after World War has been one of the largest in history.
Costs of War
After the First World War, the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 demanded that Germany pay reparations or compensation to the winners. There were thousands of millions of gold marks, a huge amount that the country tried to take up that suspended payments during World War II by order of the Nazi regime of Adolph Hitler.
From 1924 to 1929, the Weimar Republic and even lived in the United States borrowed the money needed to pay war reparations. This credit bubble collapsed during the economic crisis of the 30 that dropped the gold standard not only existing but also the democracy of Weimar. The money disappeared, the damage to the United States was enormous "and the consequences for the world economy was devastating," says Ritschl, who is surprised at the brevity of the Germanic collective memory.
After the Second World War the situation was almost similar. And, to avoid the mistakes of the past, the U.S., then accepted the possibility of debt relief from Germany. Thus in the Treaty of London of 1953 was reduced by half the German debt and established that the payment of interest on foreign loans shall be suspended until the reunification of Germany, which occurred on October 3, 1990. "It was a gesture that saved his life," says Ritschl, and pemitió enable their economic miracle, he says. However, since 1990, the Germans have consistently refused to address the outstanding debt with several nations. As Ritschl says "have refused to open that can of worms."
The German non-payment was "the king of the default"
In fact, it was not until last October 2010 that Germany could terminate the share of payments of the First World War to make the last payment of that debt, 92 years after the war. For Albrecht Ritschl, the German default after the First World War "has been" the king of kings "of defaults, while Greece falls short of him." Ritschl believes that if the U.S. and other countries (including Greece) have not accepted the possibility of a remission in Germany, the Germany of today not be the same we know.
The historian notes that "no one in Greece has forgotten that Germany owes its prosperity to the consideration of other nations." Thus, in his opinion the only correct solution for Greece is to allow its default. The most reassuring, he believes, is that Greece is very small compared to Europe, so they accept a remission of their debt would not be a serious problem, unless it could be a possibility of infection.
"I have advocated for a long time away and not for a second rescue plan for Greece, for the same reason." Even with the optimism of the IMF, "the possibility that Greece can pay your debt is almost impossible." The country has two options: implement further cuts in exchange for more bailout money, or make default. In his view, the first option increases the chance that Greece will be able to pay, but the Greeks will be a disaster in their standard of living is concerned. So, for the Greeks, the default seems to be the best option.
It is time that the Germans remember the promises made in 1990 when he announced that Europe would compensate in other ways. The only country at that time refused and Germany openly defied demanding compensation in the courts was Greece. Now is the time that Germany must fulfill the promise.
http://www.elblogsalmon.com/entorno...o-olvidar-que-tiene-una-gran-deuda-con-grecia
