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WORLD-CRISIS : INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTIONS 295
some affinity with the war-debts among the allies themselves.
But neither historically nor legally can the wardebts
be regarded as bound up with the reparations.
They are two separate items of the post-war world-economy
and should logically be regarded as independent of
each other. It is, besides, noteworthy to observe that
even in pure arithmetic the reparations and the war-debts
do not balance each other. In 1930 the reparations exceed
the war-debts by 1,295,000,000 Reichsmarks, and
in 1942 the excess will still be measured by 745,400,000
Reichsmarks. 31
The cancellation of reparations is essentially a political
question. The theory of the Versailles Treaty (Art
231) that Germany was the only sinner in the
war-damages is wrong. There cannot be any peace in
the German soul until the reparations have been can­
,celled. It is this fundamental political necessity of the
people of Germany that has found expression in dozens
of anti-Versailles upheavals since 1919 and taken final
shape in the activities and demonstrations of the "Steelbelmet,
" "National-Socialist" (Hitler) and "Nationalist"
parties, and last but not least. in the von Papen
coup d' etat of July 1932. Of late the public opinion of
the allies has been getting somewhat sympathetic to the
demands of German nationalism.
For, among other reasons, it is objectively patent to
everybody that the devastated regions of France and
Belgium have long been' repaired and. modernized withvengeance.
Besides, on account of Germany's deliveries
.' 31
454.
Das Reparation.problem (Berlin, 1929) part I. edited by Salin, 'p.