Greece: Germany In 1919 Revisited?
Per the article World War 1 Treaties And Repatriation, United State Holocaust Museum
It is ironic that ninety years later the Euro Zone, led by Germany, is imposing strict conditions on Greece resulting in Greeks rioting in the streets objecting to the sanctions. The two situations are not identical; however, they are very similar. Other countries are imposing stiff santions on another soverign country that are perceived to be unbearably strict from the perspective of the citizens who must live by the sanctions.
"For the populations of the defeated powers -- Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Bulgaria -- the respective peace treaties appeared an unfair punishment.... Revision of the Versailles Treaty represented one of the platforms that gave radical right wing parties in Germany, including Hitler's Nazi Party, such credibility to mainstream voters in the early 1920s and early 1930's."
It is ironic that ninety years later the Euro Zone, led by Germany, is imposing strict conditions on Greece resulting in Greeks rioting in the streets objecting to the sanctions. The two situations are not identical; however, they are very similar. Other countries are imposing stiff santions on another soverign country that are perceived to be unbearably strict from the perspective of the citizens who must live by the sanctions.
Germany resented austerity imposed on them by other countries in 1919. The German people accepted their self-imposed austerity to unify East and West Germany towards the end of the last century. The Euro Zone needs to be more realistic with the sanctions imposed on Greece if they indeed want to be a United Europe.
Valid analogies are too often overlooked. There is no substitute for experience. It's not enough for people to embrace pie in the sky theories that didn't work for the last President and didn't work for Hoover. Keep it real.
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