FROM THE TREATY TO THE LONDON CONFERENCE San Remo to Spa.—In April and May 1920 the Allies (Great Britain, Belgium, France, Italy and Japan) met in conferences at San Remo and Hythe, and discussed the methods of comput ing the liability of the enemy countries and also of sharing the proceeds. The Supreme Council had their own experts making computations, the Reparation Commission in the meantime con tinuing their investigation of the damages and mode of collec tion. (At this stage there was a tentative agreement for France to pay her debt as and when she received payment from Ger many.) In June 1920 at Boulogne, statements of actual amounts emerged. A minimum annuity of 3,00o million gold marks for 35 years, with a maximum aggregate of 269,00o million, was proposed; the actual amount to be settled by economic conditions. The costs of military occupation were to be a first charge on the "deliveries in kind," of which coal was the chief, and customs and natural resources were to be employed as guarantees. At the important Spa Conference—July 192o (following a meeting of experts at Brussels) and with Germany and Portugal represented, they discussed proposals for Germany to pay 42 annuities aggre gating 240,000 million gold marks; coal deliveries were fixed at two million tons monthly forthwith. There was an actual agree
ment, which has survived, as to the division of the proceeds as follows :— These 42 annuities were to be paid from 1921 equal to 12% of the value of Germany's exports. Supervision of Customs and occupation of the Ruhr in event of failure were discussed. In Feb. 1921 the various Allies had submitted their "claim" to the Reparation Commission. For damages alone the claims totalled about 1 oo milliard gold marks (I milliard gold marks= 5o million sterling), but including other claims the total was about 225 milliard gold marks, or, say 11,6o0 million sterling. In March 1921 at the first London Conference, Germany proposed 1,500 million pounds in cash over 3o years, with credit for i,000 millions already paid. In April through the United States a vastly in creased offer was made with stipulations about the return of surrendered territory.