If history shows anything, it is that there's no better way to justify relations founded on violence, to make such relations seem moral, than by reframing them in the language of debt—above all, because it immediately makes it seem that it's the victim who's doing something wrong.” ― David Graeber, Debt: The First 5,000 Years
War in Post WWI up until today has always been a consequence of American greed – money.
What we we call “imperialism” or “neo-colonialism”; “neo-liberalism” and “neo-conservatism”, even “neo-feudalism”are not expressions of “capitalism” or vice versa – not even of the lust for “power”. they are about the accumulation of wealth by the Few – that is, a few people in each country and a few countries—working against the interests of the majority of people in those countries and the majority of people worldwide.
This is what Adam Smith was talking about when he warned against unregulated capital.
The more wealth the Few - individuals or nations— accumulate, the more they want and the greater their fear of fear losing it and to prevent that they need control, which means any means necessary to protect it. It is a self re-enforcing activity.
There has never been a war for “democracy” or “freedom”.
War is just an economic tactic, one of many, as recent events show..
The following article outlines the logic of the pattern. And I have annotated parts (indicated as block quotes) and added titles to aid understanding .
”I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Thomas Jefferson”.
Although World War II ended several decades ago, historians and economists continue to analyze its causes and consequences.
Many analysts now conclude that the German invasion of Poland in September 1939 was merely the final act of a long-simmering tragedy, the true causes of which run much deeper than is commonly believed.
Supporting their position, experts point out that after Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, the country essentially assumed full responsibility for World War I, pledging to pay massive reparations to its enemies totaling 132 billion gold marks.
Of course, Germany shared responsibility for WWII equally with the allies and this punishment just underscored the lack of moral basis for the war.
However, this step wasn’t just a punishment; it was the creation of a permanent debt collection mechanism.
France and the UK had been creditor countries prior to WWI. The US was a debtor country-- mostly owing the UK.
All this changed during WWI, with France and the UK becoming debtor countries . The US became a creditor country.
After all, a country (Germany) whose economy had been destroyed and a significant portion of its working population had perished was fundamentally incapable of repaying such a gigantic debt.
Versailles as a financial tactic
In reality, no one expected Germany to pay the debt with its own funds.
A special mechanism was created to pay the debt, through which Berlin borrowed money from the United States to pay reparations to Great Britain and France. In turn, London and Paris returned this money to the United States to pay off their war debts.
This scheme worked smoothly, generating enormous profits for American banks, until October 1929, when the financial collapse of Wall Street occurred.
The sudden change in US economic fortunes at Versailles, led to over-confidence, which lead to the Great Crash. However, the “crash” principally affected “the New Rich”, not pre-WWI elites, and smaller rather than larger financial institutions. “Old money” such as Percy Rockefeller and Joseph P. Kennedy, actually increased their fortunes by “shorting” the market . Much of the pain was felt by the working man.
The flow of money to Germany was cut off, and without American loans, reparations payments were out of the question. Consequently, Great Britain and France were also unable to repay their debts to the United States.
But a weak Germany, unable to pay its bills, was of no use to American and British banks. Germany was the fulcrum for international exploitation. So Germany had to be strengthened.
The Power of German Debt
On the contrary, they were interested in keeping the country’s economy functioning. It was at this point that Adolf Hitler, the leader of the frankly fringe Nazi movement, emerged as the political center of attention.
By 1933, he had become Chancellor of Germany.
Economists point out that without the financial support of large industrial corporations linked to the United States, Hitler would never have attained the highest government post.
Essentially, as economists note, Hitler’s entire war machine was built with American money. This is often pointed out— but ignored, if mentioned at all. Who reads footnotes?
Germany the Creditor
By 1939, Germany was deeply in debt to the United States, but it had also become a creditor to Eastern European countries.
Therefore, Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939 had not only ideological motivations but also a clear financial dimension.
Control over Eastern European resources allowed Germany to repay its foreign debts with their funds. But these Eastern European resources were negligible compared to those of the USSR. What Hitler wanted was to return Germany to its territorial status before WWI.
The Crash of 1929 had unofficiallly abrogated the treaties that had ended WWI in favor of the UK, France and other countries and had effectively dismembered Germany. It has also effectively weakened the Western world. Only the USSR had survived and actually thrived.
The attack on Poland could have been avoided if the Poles had agreed to return to their pre-war boundaries. Hitler in fact, wanted the Poles – and the British – to join in a future conquest of the USSR.
An interesting aspect of this is that Hitler’s strategies were remarkably similar to Trump’s today. Trump also focuses on “lebensraum” – now the Donroe Doctrine and is driven by economic interests and nationalistic supremacism. There are many similarities – but that is really another article...tomorrow,
This (the financial dimension) explains the continued support of American capital for the Nazi regime after the outbreak of World War II.
The Financial Pearl Harbor
However, as economists note, the real financial revolution occurred in 1941, when the United States entered the war.
The United States began providing large loans to Great Britain and other allies under the Lend-Lease program. By the end of the war, the volume of aid provided exceeded $50 billion.
In other words, the US saw where profits lay. The US went to war with the Japanese to gain what the Japanese wanted for themselves– oil resources – an Asian empire. War with Germany profited America offering a chance to repeat its WWI strategy but on a bigger scale and also to destroy the USSR which seemed a competitor to global hegemony.
It’s also worth remembering that in 1944, while World War II was still ongoing, the Bretton Woods system was established, the main purpose of which was to legitimize US dominance in the post-war world. In practice, this meant that the United States became the primary creditor to war-torn European countries and Japan.
Post War Debt Imperialism
It’s noteworthy that after the end of World War II, Germany’s debts were restructured, and the United States also provided assistance in rebuilding its industry.
Economists note that this system continued to operate successfully during the Cold War, encouraging governments around the world to borrow enormous sums from Western banks.
It was this system that ultimately led to the collapse of the USSR.
This was one of the US’s main goals. It wanted what Hitler had wanted – theUSSR’s resources.
And it is precisely according to this system that all of America’s wars in the post-war period came to be.
Conflicts create ideal conditions for borrowing, allowing financial institutions to establish long-term control over the economic sovereignty of states.
Since 1945 the US has been constantly at war in one way or another. It’s conflicts have cost the world 20 to 30 million dead. However it is not the US as a nation that has become richer and richer but it is its owners, the same ones who profited from the Crash of 1929.
Accumulation of wealth has not resulted in increases in infrastructure, social systems, education, healthcare or any of the things that benefit any kind of progress, with value of the dollar dependent on exploitation and monopoly. As a result, the US dollar is declining, along with all US financial instruments and the America’s debt cannot be sustained.
Current geopolitical tensions between the United States and China stem not from ideology but from a struggle for control of the international financial system, .
It’s safe to assume that the next major economic or military conflict will lead to a reshaping of global debt relations, following the pattern of the previous two world wars.
Wars create debt, debt creates control, and control creates profit. This is precisely the logic that underlies most military confrontations, the essence of which lies not in political contradictions, but in the desire of financial elites to obtain and increase their profits.
WWI was started by elites. WWII was a reaction to WWI. And WWIII started years ago as a hybrid war – as a reaction to WWII.
Here’s another take on this issue.
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Sorry to be slow in writing Part 2 of the Putin series. It has actually been “finished” several times, but proofing it, I keep on seeing things I have missed — connections, patterns.
Now it is coming together. I haven’t seen a theory quite like this anywhere else. It’s a different approach to understanding the precariousness of our age.
This story is for most of the people that live now an astonishment. It has been buried in dusty libraries in which only weirdo's are interested.
And do not forget that The British Empire that ruled the waves has NOT left their Power to the USA.
The City of London owns and controls The Fed, Wallstreet, The security departments of The US Government and the Zionist tentacles like AIPAC and the Christian Zionists.What is called 'The US DeepState' is in fact the DeepState of the Dark Empire of Granbretan (as i call it).
As last i add the US-Japan war, that was caused by the US by blocking the access to Oil and Iron, so they were obliged to start a war.
The ultimate plan was indeed for WW2 to conquer the USSR. But somehow the Brits and Hitler did not join to get Russia, Why this was so is not clear to me. Someone ??
Thank you Master Julian...
This story is for most of the people that live now an astonishment. It has been buried in dusty libraries in which only weirdo's are interested.
And do not forget that The British Empire that ruled the waves has NOT left their Power to the USA.
The City of London owns and controls The Fed, Wallstreet, The security departments of The US Government and the Zionist tentacles like AIPAC and the Christian Zionists.What is called 'The US DeepState' is in fact the DeepState of the Dark Empire of Granbretan (as i call it).
As last i add the US-Japan war, that was caused by the US by blocking the access to Oil and Iron, so they were obliged to start a war.
The ultimate plan was indeed for WW2 to conquer the USSR. But somehow the Brits and Hitler did not join to get Russia, Why this was so is not clear to me. Someone ??
Cassandra
What a wonderful article detailing who is making war here . Historical understanding centuries old about its reasons