The reparations argument is basically BS. See "Paris 1919" for details on the reparations issue. First, Germany delayed payments. Second, payments did not start until 1921? 1922? Third, reparations payments were increasingly reduced by the victorious powers--France, UK, US., and Italy. Fourth, Germany, after Hitler was elected in 1932, ended all reparations payments. Fifth, Germany, like most of the world suffered greatly as a result of the Great Depression, which began in the U.S., like the 2008 recession, as a result of the machinations of Wall Street criminals.