Bankruptcy?

[Sid Guttridge]

Hi ljadw,

I see no necessary "causal effect between both" either. However, it seems that the German Government ran up considerable obligations to a number of parties that the war prevented it having to address.

Germany was not behind with payments to Latin America before the war. However, the nature of the ASCI Mark transactions necessarily meant that the Latin Americans sent their raw materials to Germany in exchange for discounted ASCI Marks that could only later be exchanged for discounted German manufactured goods. There seems no reason to believe that Germany wouldn't have honoured its obligations had war not intervened, but it conveniently did.

Moreoever, as Germany chose the timing of both the outbreak of war in 1939, which prevented it honouring its Latin American commitments, and the timing of its invasion of the USSR, which hopefully nullified its commitments there, it cannot have been unconscious of the fact that it would effectively be running at least part of its war effort on unpaid for foreign resources.

Cheers,

Sid.

[OpanaPointer]

They also had an empire that was a negotiable asset, as the destroyers-for-bases deal showed.

They didn't give entire territories, just room for advanced patrol bases.

[Sid Guttridge]

Hi Opanapointer,

Yes, which shows how valuable the whole empire was.

In 1940 Roosevelt and his governor of Puerto Rico, Rexford Tugwell, actually discussed whether they should ask for the cession of entire Caribbean islands by the British in return for US aid, but settled for basing rights. (See The Stricken Land by Rewxford Tugwell).

Cheers,

Sid.