Greek PM: Germany should pay us the $200 billion they owe us in WWII reparations - Polidicks

[quote]In what was virtually his first act as prime minister Monday, Tsipras journeyed to the memorial site at the Kaisariani rifle range, where in 1944 Nazi soldiers executed some 200 Greek activists in retaliation for the death of a German officer killed in a Greek ambush. The visit was drenched in symbolism. The past half-decade of crippling austerity in Greece is the consequence of terms dictated by the "troika" — the European Commission, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Germany, Europe's largest economy, played a key role in delivering Greece's bailout and enforcing its strict conditions. Ill will toward Germany is high in Greece, where ordinary citizens blame their country's dire economic state in part on the high-handed policies of a distant European elite. Syriza, in particular, has been outspoken about the need for Germany to atone for its past in Greece, or at least show a bit more leniency now as compensation. Tsipras has campaigned on the issue for more than a year, including in the build-up to Sunday's election. "We are going to demand debt reduction, and the money Germany owes us from World War II, including reparations," he said earlier this month. A 2013 study carried out by the previous Greek government of defeated Prime Minister Antonis Samaras estimated that [B]Germany owed Greece some $200 billion for damages incurred during the Nazi occupation[/B], the cost of rebuilding destroyed infrastructure as well as loans Nazi authorities forced Greece to pay between 1942 and 1944. The Samaras government, whose critics accused of being handmaidens to Brussels' harsh mandates, did little with the report. [B]Another advocacy group claims that the sum owed to Greece could be as much as $677 billion.[/B] But Syriza may likely invoke this legacy in its bid to win greater debt forgiveness now. It has the sympathy, at least, of German leftists. "From a moral point of view, Germany ought to pay off these old compensations and the 'war loan' that they got during the Occupation," said Gabriele Zimmer, a leading member of Die Linke, a socialist German party that is allied with Syriza in the European parliament. As is often the case, though, the question of reparations is a fraught one. Not many countries have received reparations from Germany, which itself was ravaged by the war and then carved up by the victorious Allies. According to the New York Times, some experts believe that as many as 300,000 Greeks starved to death during the Nazi occupation. Brutal reprisals like that carried out at the Kaisariani site were not uncommon, given the active nature of Greece's resistance movement.[/quote] [img]http://pbs.twimg.com/media/B8czWxoIMAAKVj-.jpg[/img]

if I remember right, didn't they try this before?

That is so damm retarded.

and russia is condemning the annexation of the gdr what time period are we in again

Yea, that'll happen.

By that logic, the Greeks should pay Egypt for all the shit that happened in 300BCE

[QUOTE=Cornish;47039901]and russia is condemning the annexation of the gdr what time period are we in again[/QUOTE] what where?

[QUOTE=Bradyns;47039948]By that logic, the Greeks should pay Egypt for all the shit that happened in 300BCE[/QUOTE] Or the Serbians should pay Germany, Russia, and France for the shit that happened 100 years ago

Those Yankee bastards still owe us all the tea they sank during their War for Independence.

[QUOTE=Thomo_UK;47040063]Those Yankee bastards still owe us all the tea they sank during their War for Independence.[/QUOTE] It's always about the tea with you lot.

[QUOTE=Bradyns;47039948]By that logic, the Greeks should pay Egypt for all the shit that happened in 300BCE[/QUOTE] Wait, Alexander the Great was Macedonian! Either the Greeks admit he wasn't Greek, or pay up.

In which case maybe Greece should give Turkey reparations for the 1919-1922 war.

[QUOTE=Bradyns;47040088]It's always about the tea with you lot.[/QUOTE] When you drink 5 cups a day every day for the rest of your life, damn right it's about the tea.

I think you guys are misunderstanding what is Tsipras is trying to do here. It's not like he actually expects Germany to pay WW2 debts, or pay anything at all for that matter. The fact is, Greece can't realistically repay its massive public debt. It's outside the realm of economic reality. So the rhetoric that has been used for the past months by Germany and the European Commission is moralistic rather than economic: debt should be repaid because it's the [I]right [/I] thing do, not because it would benefit the economy of Greece or the EU as a whole. So, Tsipras gave them an answer in kind: in the 1950s Greece, together with other european countries, pardoned Germany's debt to allow it to grow again. So now that the situation is inverted, isn't it hypocritical to pretend Greece to pay up unsustainable debts? Is it stupid? Yeah it is. But so is pretending that Greece should willingly become a third world country for three decades to pay off debt. Make unrealistic demands, get unrealistic answers.

Yeah, it's the same thing as people asking for reparations for Slavery in America. Even if they truly want it and think its just to demand it, they know the U.S. Government will never give the black community that much money. It's mostly to prove the point that even centuries old events continue to affect the daily life of people today. Reparations are almost never actually paid, the rhetoric is used to extract other political concessions.

Holy shit dat valve employee does his job

[QUOTE=Sableye;47040006]Or the Serbians should pay Germany, Russia, and France for the shit that happened 100 years ago[/QUOTE] I still can't comprehend how people are dumb enough to actually believe that Serbia is the cause of WW1. How hard is it to look up events pre-assassination? There were literally several more events that could've caused WWI (Morroccan crisis, Bosnia annexation), WWI started in 1914 for the sole reason of Germany being ready for it.

Wow you guys are really desperate at the moment.

[QUOTE=Thomo_UK;47040063]Those Yankee bastards still owe us all the tea they sank during their War for Independence.[/QUOTE] It was only about a million dollars worth, and that's taking inflation into account. The entire Boston Harbor was basically salty tea, though. You can't put a price on that

[QUOTE=Spirit_Breaker;47040892]I still can't comprehend how people are dumb enough to actually believe that Serbia is the cause of WW1. How hard is it to look up events pre-assassination? There were literally several more events that could've caused WWI (Morroccan crisis, Bosnia annexation), WWI started in 1914 for the sole reason of Germany being ready for it.[/QUOTE] Without wanting to derail this thread massively. Germany wasn't the most responsible belligerent for the start of WW1, France had a bigger standing army and put more money into their armed forces than Germany, whilst Russia was mid-way through a massive program of rearmament and modernisation and was the first one to mobilise once the crisis started IIRC. Germany didn't do anything to help ease tensions but it certainly wasn't the source of them. There were many causes of WW1 and Serbia's funding of terrorist activity in Austria-Hungary if not a cause was certainly a catalyst for the start of the war.

[QUOTE=Spirit_Breaker;47040892]I still can't comprehend how people are dumb enough to actually believe that Serbia is the cause of WW1. How hard is it to look up events pre-assassination? There were literally several more events that could've caused WWI (Morroccan crisis, Bosnia annexation), WWI started in 1914 for the sole reason of Germany being ready for it.[/QUOTE] Serbia's the spark that lit the powder keg of Europe.

[QUOTE=~Kiwi~v2;47040129]Same for you when it comes to shrimp on the barbie.[/QUOTE] Don't forget your kind and sheep.

Greece is turning more and more into a joke then what it already was.

Oh, if you want the money for reparations from germans, just steal their cars worked for us

[QUOTE=MrEndangered;47040115]When you drink 5 cups a day every day for the rest of your life, damn right it's about the tea.[/QUOTE] You are saying this like it was a joke [editline]30th January 2015[/editline] I literally drink 5 cups of tea a day lately

[QUOTE='[IT] Zodiac;47040162']I think you guys are misunderstanding what is Tsipras is trying to do here. It's not like he actually expects Germany to pay WW2 debts, or pay anything at all for that matter. The fact is, Greece can't realistically repay its massive public debt. It's outside the realm of economic reality. So the rhetoric that has been used for the past months by Germany and the European Commission is moralistic rather than economic: debt should be repaid because it's the [I]right [/I] thing do, not because it would benefit the economy of Greece or the EU as a whole. So, Tsipras gave them an answer in kind: in the 1950s Greece, together with other european countries, pardoned Germany's debt to allow it to grow again. So now that the situation is inverted, isn't it hypocritical to pretend Greece to pay up unsustainable debts? Is it stupid? Yeah it is. But so is pretending that Greece should willingly become a third world country for three decades to pay off debt. Make unrealistic demands, get unrealistic answers.[/QUOTE]Wonder what would happen if we forgave US debts Answer: Our economy would crash today's economy is based on holding debts.

It's funny that despite political ideological differences, everyone in Greece can band together for a good old "gibe money pls".

So basically this boils down to gib euro

[QUOTE=Thomo_UK;47040063]Those Yankee bastards still owe us all the tea they sank during their War for Independence.[/QUOTE] Odd historic fact... The act of throwing other ppls property (the tea) into the harbor was so repugnant to the founding fathers (as it was considered theft/vandalism) that they required the offenders to pay restitution.

[QUOTE='[IT] Zodiac;47040162']I think you guys are misunderstanding what is Tsipras is trying to do here. It's not like he actually expects Germany to pay WW2 debts, or pay anything at all for that matter. The fact is, Greece can't realistically repay its massive public debt. It's outside the realm of economic reality. So the rhetoric that has been used for the past months by Germany and the European Commission is moralistic rather than economic: debt should be repaid because it's the [I]right [/I] thing do, not because it would benefit the economy of Greece or the EU as a whole. So, Tsipras gave them an answer in kind: in the 1950s Greece, together with other european countries, pardoned Germany's debt to allow it to grow again. So now that the situation is inverted, isn't it hypocritical to pretend Greece to pay up unsustainable debts? Is it stupid? Yeah it is. But so is pretending that Greece should willingly become a third world country for three decades to pay off debt. Make unrealistic demands, get unrealistic answers.[/QUOTE] The problem is that Germany can't just cut the debt since that would mean other countries like Spain and Ireland would also demand a debt cut and that would pretty much make credits meaningless and disable the EU countries using credits as a credits-reassurance, as retarded as it sounds. [editline]30th January 2015[/editline] Basically the Greeks know they can't get their demands so they are being cocky bastards to force our idiotic right-conservative government that rather patches symptoms instead of causes to get into talks and actions that require communication instead of the usual "thanks for buying our tanks here is the credit for it".