Should Germany pay Greece $300 billion?

[Glacier]

The Canadian satirical website, The beaverton is getting in on the action:

Greece demands Iran pay 800 billion euros in reparations from Greco-Persian wars

ATHENS - Following a conveniently timed demand that Germany pay further reparations arising from its occupation of Greece during WWII, the Greek government has gone on to demand the government of Iran pay an even larger amount to compensate Greece for repeated invasions by Ancient Persia in 5th Century BCE.

“Our accountants came up with a fair calculation based on damage done during the many invasions of Darius and Xerxes,” said deputy finance minister Dimitris Mardas. “They have calculated that we are owed $815 billion Euros, or 600 sacks of silver Drachmas, whatever the Ayatollah would prefer to pay.”

Greek authorities say the debt accrues from the loss of Greek life, the millions spent to feed, house and equip several armies, as well as the extreme cost of making enough animal sacrifices to Poseidon to get him to unleash “the winds of fury” upon the Persian ships.

“Not to mention how much we spent on soothsayers, philosophers and young boys for our soldiers to have sex with. You think they worked for free?” asked Mardas.

However the Iranian government did not appear ready to acquiesce to Greece’s demands. President Hassan Rouhani stated “the matter of reparations was closed in 2006, when Iran paid Greece hundreds of millions of dollars in the form of box office sales for the movie 300.”

At press time Greece had officially informed the government of Turkey that it would forget about the whole Ottoman Empire thing if it could just borrow, like, 50 bucks.

[The Green Barbarian]

THIS IS GREECE!!!

What will really be funny is if the dimwits at the UN support this nonsense. Not the Iran thing, but the actual German reparation demand. It would not surprise me in the least.

[steven lloyd]

What will really be funny is if the dimwits at the UN support this nonsense.

Hey! They could pass a “resolution” (ooo). Then it would be “international law”.

[Thinktank]

THIS IS GREECE!!!

^ That's Greece too.

[The Green Barbarian]

Germany dismisses Greek demand for billions in WW2 reparations

(Reuters) - Germany's economy minister branded Greece's demand for 278.7 billion euros in reparations from World War Two as "stupid" on Tuesday, while the German opposition said Berlin should repay a forced loan dating from the Nazi occupation.

Greek Deputy Finance Minister Dimitris Mardas made the demand on Monday, seizing on an emotional issue in a country where many blame Germany, their biggest creditor, for the tough austerity measures and record high unemployment connected with two international bailouts totaling 240 billion euros.

Sigmar Gabriel, who is economy minister and German vice chancellor, called the demand "stupid", saying Greece ultimately had an interest in squeezing a bit of leeway out of its euro zone partners to help Athens overcome its debt crisis.

"And this leeway has absolutely nothing to do with World War Two or reparation payments," said Gabriel, who leads the Social Democrats (SPD), junior partner in the ruling coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives.

Berlin is keen to draw a line under the reparations issue and officials have previously argued that Germany has honored its obligations, including a 115-million deutsche mark payment made to Greece in 1960.

A spokeswoman for the finance ministry said on Tuesday that the government's position was unchanged.

Eckhardt Rehberg, a budget expert for the conservatives, accused Athens of deliberately mixing the debt crisis and reform requirements imposed by Greece's international creditors with the issue of reparations and compensation.

"For me the figure of 278.7 billion euros of supposed war debts is neither comprehensible nor sound," he told Reuters.

"The issue of reparations has, for us, been dealt with both from a political and a legal perspective."

Makes sense. Who would be dumb enough to question this? Oh wait, there's always someone dumb enough, and usually they are from a certain segment of the political spectrum known for being insanely dumb:

LEFT AND GREENS: BERLIN SHOULD PAY

But Greece's demand for Germany to repay a forced wartime loan amounting to 10.3 billion euros found support from the German opposition, with members of the Greens and the far-left Linke party saying Berlin should cough up.

Both Manuel Sarrazin, a European policy expert for the Greens, and Annette Groth, a member of the leftist Linke party and chairman of a German-Greek parliamentary group, told Reuters that Berlin should repay a so-called occupation loan that Nazi Germany forced the Bank of Greece to make in 1942.

Berlin and Athens should "jointly and amicably" take any other claims to the International Court of Justice, Sarrazin said.

Groth went further, saying: "If you look at Greece's debt and the European Central Bank's bond purchases every month, it puts the figure of 278.7 billion euros into perspective."

She said the German government should, at the very least, talk to Athens about how it came up with that figure.

"The German government's categorical 'Nein' certainly cannot be allowed to stand. That's disgraceful 70 years after the end of the war," Groth said.

Gabriel did say that Germany needed to keep asking itself whether it had done enough in connection with World War Two.

He said that while the "Treaty on the Final Settlement with respect to Germany" signed in September 1990 by the then-West Germany and East Germany with the four World War Two allies had put a "formal end" to the reparations debate, Germany could not -- for the foreseeable future -- draw a line under its responsibilities that arose from World War Two.

Of course Germany should just pay whatever figure the Greeks pull out of their lazy butts. Why not just make it an even trillion? I mean, it's just money right? Good grief...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/ ... JR20150407

[maryjane48]

funny see folks on here defending what the nazi did

[Thinktank]

Why not just make it an even trillion? I mean, it's just money right?

that would be fine. USA spent $4 trillion bombing people so $1 trillion is not a problem
for paying for damage you did.

[FreeRights]

But Germany did pay for it. They paid war reparations after World War I that were so onerous they caused World War 2. Actually READ the article, Germany paid Greece already for damages from World War 2, back in the 1960's. This whole new demand is just the scumbag leftists in Greece trying to weasel a way out of their debts, using guilt, fraud and stupidity, the tools of all leftists.

War reparations didn't cause World War II. Prior to World War II, Germany stopped paying and nobody did anything about it.

The Treaty of Versailles was used to sew discontent within the population, and that helped the Nazi Party gain the support to eventually start World War II, but war reparations specifically didn't cause it.

that would be fine. USA spent $4 trillion bombing people so $1 trillion is not a problem
for paying for damage you did.

So, how did the US get involved with Greece requesting reparations from Germany?

It's amusing but very tiresome where most of your threads that are really about the USA bombing things, but falsely disguised as a separate and completely irrelevant topic. You appear to be truly obsessed with the USA.

[FreeRights]

Makes sense. Who would be dumb enough to question this? Oh wait, there's always someone dumb enough, and usually they are from a certain segment of the political spectrum known for being insanely dumb

You couldn't possibly be referring to any segment of the political spectrum here except right-of-centre.

[The Green Barbarian]

[
You couldn't possibly be referring to any segment of the political spectrum here except right-of-centre.

were they the ones that stupidly suggested that Germany submit to the moral blackmail of the idiotic debt shirking Greek government? No they weren't. It was the brain dead Green party.

[The Green Barbarian]

[
War reparations didn't cause World War II. Prior to World War II, Germany stopped paying and nobody did anything about it.

The Treaty of Versailles was used to sew discontent within the population, and that helped the Nazi Party gain the support to eventually start World War II, but war reparations specifically didn't cause it.
.

What about the crippling inflation that Germany suffered and the total collapse of their economy because of the overbearing WW1 reparations? You missed that part.

[The Green Barbarian]

funny see folks on here defending what the nazi did

LOL

[logicalview]

funny see folks on here defending what the nazi did

that would be fine. USA spent $4 trillion bombing people so $1 trillion is not a problem
for paying for damage you did.

While I assume your $4 trillion number is your usual prevarication regarding the US and Iraq, I see the point you are both making. Countries should just have free reign to use moral and emotional blackmail against any other nation, especially when they owe that country giant gobs of money, that they willfully accepted under mutually agreed repayment conditions. It totally makes sense.

By that same token then, Germany should owe what - about $6 trillion to Israel? I mean, come on, anything less, and you are "defending what the Nazi (sic) did". And I mean, the US spent "$4 trillion" bombing Iraq. So $6 trillion for Israel seems a pittance - a total bargain in fact.

And then of course there is the Arab incursion into Israel in 1946. The Jordanians, Syrians, Iraqis, Egyptians, the Saudis, owe Israel billions of dollars in reparations for attacking the legally mandated state of Israel's borders, and causing all kinds of damage to Jerusalem, including bulldozing ancient Jewish burial grounds. That could be settled quite easily, by establishing a Palestinian state within the borders of Jordan. Seems fair, right? Otherwise, you are just "defending what the Arabs did". And apparently, according to you Einsteins, that isn't right.

[FreeRights]

What about the crippling inflation that Germany suffered and the total collapse of their economy because of the overbearing WW1 reparations? You missed that part.

Actually, Germany's economic woes at the time were as a result of a range of 60 to over 100 marks per resident that the government contributed to social spending and infrastructure to combat 30% unemployment. At that same time, they were unable to generate much revenue due to international tariffs on the country. Essentially, it was financial mismanagement at the municipal level that primarily contributed to Germany's economic problems, and the rise of Hitler's party.

It's a popular myth, but a myth nonetheless that suggests that the war reparations in the Treaty of Versailles caused the economic problems in Germany, or contributed heavily to the start of WW2.

[The Green Barbarian]

Actually, Germany's economic woes at the time were as a result of a range of 60 to over 100 marks per resident that the government contributed to social spending and infrastructure to combat 30% unemployment. At that same time, they were unable to generate much revenue due to international tariffs on the country. Essentially, it was financial mismanagement at the municipal level that primarily contributed to Germany's economic problems, and the rise of Hitler's party.

It's a popular myth, but a myth nonetheless that suggests that the war reparations in the Treaty of Versailles caused the economic problems in Germany, or contributed heavily to the start of WW2.

The Treaty of Versailles was neither lenient[citation needed] enough to appease Germany, nor harsh enough to prevent it from becoming the dominant continental power again.[citation needed] The treaty placed the blame, or "war guilt" on Germany and Austria-Hungary, and punished them for their "responsibility" rather than working out an agreement that would assure long-term peace. The treaty provided for harsh monetary reparations, separated millions of ethnic Germans into neighboring countries, territorial dismemberment, and caused mass ethnic resettlement. In an effort to pay war reparations to Britain and France, the Weimar Republic printed trillions of marks, causing extremely high inflation of the German currency (see Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes_of_World_War_II

"Shrugs"

I would definitely say that no one action caused WW2. A lot of factors came into play. I have heard it said that the Weimar Republic went far too far to the left, and that opened the door to Hitler.