The Economic Consequences of the Peace · Chapter
Endnotes explained
The endnotes provide supplementary citations, statistical data, and critical commentary on the Treaty of Versailles and its consequences, including the dire health and economic conditions in Central Europe, the mechanics of reparation payme
What happens
The endnotes provide supplementary citations, statistical data, and critical commentary on the Treaty of Versailles and its consequences, including the dire health and economic conditions in Central Europe, the mechanics of reparation payments, and the flawed processes of the Paris Peace Conference.
Themes in this chapter
Reparations and Inter-Allied Debt
The endnotes extensively discuss the structure, limits, and impracticalities of reparation payments, including occupation costs and the role of the Reparation Commission.
Social Upheaval and Revolution
The notes document the humanitarian catastrophe in Central Europe, with widespread disease, malnutrition, and suffering among civilian populations.
Political Failure and Leadership
The endnotes criticize the treaty's drafting process, the vagueness of key provisions, and the delegation of critical decisions to the Reparation Commission.
Characters to notice
- M. Bilinski
Cited for his optimistic tone regarding the Austrian situation.
- The Germans
Referenced in the context of surrendering merchant marine and suffering from malnutrition and disease.
- Mr. Hoover
Mentioned in connection with the Hoover Mission to the Erzgebirge.
- Sir Sidney Low
Quoted for his exaggerated estimate of German wealth and criticized for his reductio ad absurdum.
- The Reparation Commission
Described as the body with final authority over financial and economic questions, including Austrian and Bulgarian reparations.
- Germany
Subject of reparation demands, occupation costs, and surrender of merchant marine.
- The Allies
Mentioned regarding food supply conditions, occupation costs, and reparation collection.
- Europe
Implied as the broader context for the economic collapse and health crises described.
Key passages
“Never has the substance of a treaty of peace so grossly betrayed the intentions which were said to have guided its construction as is the case with this Treaty … in which every provision is permeated with ruthlessness and pitilessness, in which no breath of human sympathy can be detected, which flies in the face of everything which binds man to man, which is a crime against humanity itself, against a suffering and tortured people.”
The Austrian Treaty is a complete betrayal of its stated principles, showing no compassion and constituting a crime against humanity.
Keynes quotes the Arbeiter Zeitung to illustrate the perceived injustice of the Austrian peace terms.
“Tuberculosis, especially in children, is increasing in an appalling way, and, generally speaking, is malignant. In the same way rickets is more serious and more widely prevalent. It is impossible to do anything for these diseases; there is no milk for the tuberculous, and no cod-liver oil for those suffering from rickets.”
A medical commission reports that tuberculosis and rickets are rampant among German children, with no supplies to treat them.
This excerpt from a report by Dutch, Swedish, and Norwegian doctors highlights the severe health crisis in Germany.
“The whole method of the Conference tended towards this—the Council of Four wanted, not so much a settlement, as a treaty. On political and territorial questions the tendency was to leave the final arbitrament to the League of Nations. But on financial and economic questions, the final decision has generally be left with the Reparation Commission—in spite of its being an executive body composed of interested parties.”
The Paris Peace Conference prioritized producing a treaty over a fair settlement, deferring key decisions to the League of Nations or the Reparation Commission, which was biased.
Keynes criticizes the conference's method for creating vagueness and leaving critical economic matters to an interested party.
