Hall Of
Mirrors, 1919
(Conspiracy
Nation, 2/23/05) – The peace talks consequent to the
November 11, 1918 armistice which ended the First World War took place
at Versailles, France,
in the Hall Of Mirrors, in 1919.
The word “armistice”
is from the
Latin arma + stitium, meaning a
temporary suspension of hostilities, a truce.
[1] It does not mean a surrender. Germany had not surrendered
on
November 11, 1918.
Huge debts followed
the Great
War. Consequent to Versailles, a fine
of $33
billion was imposed on Germany.
Managing implementation of the settlement were bankers, not statesmen.
The
blood money of the vast war tribute was crystallized into billions of
dollars
in bonds, offered for sale to the American people on assurances from
the
bankers. But Germany
felt that since it had never surrendered, punitive damages could be
rejected.
Apparently, American investors were suckered into buying “reparation
bonds,”
and in that way war debts were paid down under false pretenses. [2]
The Hall Of Mirrors
was where
scores of illusions coexisted with one reality also present: but which
were the
illusions and which the reality? Bankers not statesmen managed the
peace. “Reparation”
bonds were sold to too-trusting investors. Yet Germany
did not completely acknowledge
owing any punitive damages, since it had never surrendered. In 1925, France and Germany
met onboard a small boat,
the “Orange Blossom.” Newspapers ballyhooed the historic nature of the
meeting,
and thereby, by sleight-of-hand, the issue of Germany
and the disputed $33
billion damages was sidelined. Later, France
and Germany
privately agreed
“that bonds should be sold outside Europe and that Germany
should, for its
co-operation, receive one-third of the money thus obtained.” [2]
“Meanwhile,
preparations had been
made in America
for the purchase of these blood bonds. The borrowing rate of money
became
surprisingly low in our Federal Reserve Banks… Hundreds of millions of
dollars
of German bonds were sold at a price better than $90.00 each to
hundreds of
banks.” But then, Lo! The “Orange Blossom” agreement became discredited
in France.
Most
Germans never had any intention of honoring such bonds. The price of
the German
bonds collapsed, sinking from $91 to $68. Simultaneous with the
collapse came
economic depression in the United States. “The banks
which invested in these
bonds feverishly called their loans made to speculative individuals to
protect
their bond purchases. The market crashed! Those who had bought on
margin were
ruined!” [2]
And so, it can be
understood that
enormous sums of money were exported from the United States
“especially to the
national banks of allied governments whose policies have been
identified with
the Treaty of Versailles.” The growing realization that these
reparation bonds
would never be honored “had something to do with the crash of the stock
market,
which had been artificially inflated to secure the money which was
poured
abroad.” [2]
------- Notes -------
[1] Webster’s
Seventh New
Collegiate Dictionary. 1969.
[2] By The Sweat
Of Thy Brow
by Rev. Charles Coughlin. 1931
Conspiracy Nation
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