Just a quick note to let those of you who might not know it, but World War I will officially end on Sunday, Oct 3rd 2010. Sure they signed the Armistice Treaty at 5:00 AM on November 11, 1918, which was to officially end the war at 11:00 A.M. that very day. (Although on the Western Front shelling continued an hour or so after that time.)
But the treaty of Versailles called for reparations, and Germany was made to pay for the damage done by the war, (about 15 billion dollars in today's money) which they will officially do on Sunday. The final payment of about 41 million dollars will go to private individuals, pension funds, and corporations which hold debenture bonds. It is important to note that one of the main reasons Adolph Hitler rose to power was his belief that reparations for World War I were destroying Germany. It's also important to note that World War II reparations were paid in machinery, goods, and German labor, (German prisoners of war were sent to work all over the world, including the Unites States where they were called Military Labor Force Units.) and also about 3 Billion Deutchmarks to the World Jewish Congress, and another 450 Million Duetchmarks to Isreal. Most of Germany's reparations for World War II were paid by 1953. So on Sunday be sure to raise a glass and celebrate the end of one of the Worlds most deadly wars. That's about it today, Ciao for now.
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