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SPIEGEL ONLINE: Mr. Ritschl, Germany is coming across like a know-it-all
in the debate over aid for Greece. Berlin is intransigent and is
demanding obedience from Athens. Is this attitude justified?
Ritschl: No, there is no basis for it.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Most Germans would likely disagree.
Ritschl: That may be, but during the 20th century, Germany was
responsible for what were the biggest national bankruptcies in recent
history. It is only thanks to the United States, which sacrificed vast
amounts of money after both World War I and World War II, that Germany
is financially stable today and holds the status of Europe's headmaster.
That fact, unfortunately, often seems to be forgotten.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: What happened back then exactly?
Ritschl: From 1924 to 1929, the Weimar Republic lived on credit and even
borrowed the money it needed for its World War I reparations payments
from America. This credit pyramid collapsed during the economic crisis
of 1931. The money was gone, the damage to the United States enormous,
the effect on the global economy devastating.
full:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/economic-historian-germany-was-biggest-debt-transgressor-of-20th-century-a-769703.html
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