Many of us have learned in school that World War I lasted four years and ended in 1919 with the Treaty of Versailles. Not many of us know however that Germany signed a war guilt clause and was required to pay reparations for the destruction caused by the war. Germany paid the last installment of its debt in October 2010 which means that World War I officially ended in 2010.
Germany discontinued its payments between 1931 and 1953. Payments were continued by German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. Germany made the last payment of about $93.8 million in 2010, 91 years after the agreement was made.
More about World War I:
- Germany is believed to have lost the most soldiers during the war, with almost 1.8 million deaths.
- Nearly 10 million soldiers died during World War I and a further 22 million were injured.
- Although the armistice ending the war was signed early in the morning of the 11th of November, 1918, over 2700 soldiers were killed in the hours before it went into effect at 11 a.m.