A few years ago, alongside my beloved, we had the opportunity and privilege to walk through the corridors, these glorious chambers found in the palace of Versailles. I was truly enamored by such feat of creation in the mind of perhaps – in my humble opinion- one of the most admirable kings of France, Louis the XIV. What captivated me wholeheartedly was how this king wielded the power of France at the beginning of his reign. The power of France originally resided in Paris, but with his vision of the future, his passionately, rational mynd moved the power of France to a father old hunting chateau. It would become the center of his government, the new standard of luxury living for aristocrats.

As a Pynk Elephant, an individual who enjoys history, even at times getting lost through books, imagining myself in those periods; I recall how I was speechless once I set foot inside this glorious palace. So fascinated was I as my beloved and I walked through the hall of mirrors in Versailles. Feeling the chill of the wind coming through the opened doors, wrapping her arms around men, women, and children as we all were seeing the beautiful and grandioso paintings through the ceiling, the Venetian mirrors made by the finest Venetians of the time, including the beautiful chandeliers giving the hall such glorious candlelights for the many balls held at night during Louis the XIV’s reign. I was lifted to a century of the past I had studied, fallen in luve with, but brought back to reality when my spirit, my mynd, took me to another event held in the great hall of mirrors in this marvelous palace.

I recall standing still, somberly entranced, one can say- and not in a romantic type of way, as I felt the weight, the presence of my thoughts as I pondered and imagined the event held in this beautiful hall which turned the world upside down in the 20th century. The event I speak about is the signing of The Treaty of Versailles, which was held on June 28, 1919, and went into effect on January 10, 1920.¹

As I stood there while my beloved took pictures, I kept imagining the allies gloating over the “defeated” German nation. How individuals of the media were aligning themselves to take their coveted photos of the ‘big four’ to publish on their daily paper, but in the depth of my thoughts, I was aiming to ‘feel’ the sentiment, the weight of the day. The aroma of victory as The Great War was finally put to rest.

In this paper, my fellow pynk elephant, I hope to illuminate you with what I have learned from reading certain books which contradict the narrative of history we have been presented since our grammar schooling days. Yes, history has been written, what has transpired is established in the record books of the annals but, certain truth of history has been omitted.  And it is here, where one who is a pynk elephant finds a way to follow the pynk rabbit down some fascinating rabbit holes of curiosity. Society will consider those chasing such rabbits as ‘conspiracist,’ ‘lunatics,’ etc., but the truth tends to always favor the seeker over the accepting ignorant bloke. Remember, facts do not have feelings.

Now, to understand the aftermath of The Great War (WWI), the twenty years that led to world WWII, one must understand The Treaty of Versailles. This is point six on Ten Things I learned About Reading a Bio, Mein Kampf And a Financial Book on Hitler. (To understand this blog, I recommend you read my previous blog post: Capitalism and bankers.)

Point Six: The TREAT of Versailles

The ‘Treat’ (yes, it was a treat) of Versailles was drafted by the champions of WWI -Great Britain, France, Italy, and The United States- alongside minor states.² The essence of the treaty was to not only blame the nation of Germany for ‘starting’ the war but, enslave them with a bill for the total damages caused in the war.³ (A blank check which later amounted to 32 billion dollars. Understanding inflation from this moment to our time, $32 billion seems like a small number. But to put it in perspective, this would equate to half a trillion dollars in our time. Remember, inflation is the silent killer of purchasing power)

This treaty was presented to the public as nations coming to peace. (Politics 101: showmanship.) Yet, in private, the real skullduggery was being conducted in secret. (Representing the head of five powerful governments, heads of state or representative of them) At first, these secret meetings were conducted by ten individuals of the Great Powers, these meetings were known as The Council of Ten, but when the military leaders were present of these Great Powers, it was called The Supreme Council.⁴ These meetings were informal at first, and after their 64th meeting, the number of men dwindled to “four.”⁵

The big four (or representatives of them) would come in concert to orchestrate The Treaty of Versailles & clauses with the advice of financial bankers, having over 200 meetings in 13 weeks. These ‘experts’ better known as international financiers (bankers), aided these four men in establishing the needed clauses which would purposely favor them (bankers- and the head of states, somewhat) to make this treaty come to fruition.⁶ These ‘experts’ were harsher what was to be written on the treaty itself than the politicians since they aimed to enslave the loser of The Great War. What these bankers conducted is known as realpolitik.

Once the chancellor of Germany signed the treaty -since the first Reich was dismantled (monarchism) after the armistice, birthing the second Reich: The German Republic- the domino effect began to occur through Europe.⁷ This is where the rise of the dictators was potent. First, the buffer states of Europe, which were under the control of the Ottoman Empire, collapsed as WWI changed how nations/ States conduct affairs.⁸ The Ottoman Empire reigned for more than 800 years, annexing many buffer states through its reign (these buffers States owned by the Ottoman Empire were Turkey, Ukraine, Poland, Czechoslovakia, etc.). As this empire collapsed, the fighting European nations became hungry for these pieces of land, like the desire of a hungry man observing a hanging apple on a lovely hot summer day.⁹

As Europe was carving up the new world after the signing of The Treaty of Versailles and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, The United States went back into isolation. The U.S from 1919-to 1929 had the greatest boom in economic history (at that time).¹⁰ The roaring twenties filled with amazement, morality at its maximum with the banning of booze -it did not stop ‘criminals’ from making a profit in the black market as the demand was high for such desired product. Apart from the ever-growing black market of this banned product, the macroeconomics of the U.S began to boom like never before. Countries of Europe were paying back their loans (from the land lease Act passed to aid the allies in WWI) as well as purchasing much-needed products & materials for rebuilding.

Keep in mynd my fellow pynk elephant, Europe was in recovery mode after WWI, they were rebuilding their countries as fighting off inflation, and the United States was now at the forefront as sellers to the much-needed buyers. After WWI, the United States went from being a nation of debtor to the creditor, and loans that were given out through WWI, were being repaid, but it also led the United States to give new loans to nations purchasing much-needed goods and services. As goods were being sold pennies on the dollar, domestically, products sold overseas (at higher rates) led to skyrocketing stock prices of many companies throughout the decade.¹¹

What the United States did not foresee, or most of society -except for bankers- as European countries began to reconstruct cities and their factories is that these countries, little by little, were becoming self-sufficient. These European nations left the US in a quagmire: what was the United States to do with a high supply of goods and little to no demand? Many companies, who had too many raw materials, could not sell them domestically because they were already selling them cheaply.¹²

This is what history tells us that led to the stock market crash of 1929, too much supply, and little to no demand. But the truth, the birth of the Treaty of Versailles was the impact of the market crash of 1929.

Bankers who helped draft the Treaty of Versailles had alternative motives. Their goal was to own most goods & services of the defeated nation (Germany) to maximize their profits and give loans to the rising States from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.¹³ The roaring twenties was the making of bankers, and they flushed the markets with cheap interest rates, began to repurchase bonds they created during WWI, and oh did they cashed out royally. (War is the god of profit) These Bankers envisioned monopolizing European markets with new loans to favor their interest.¹⁴ American Banks began to make massive loans to foreign countries as these war-torn countries began rebuilding. Germany was the victim of two international loans: the Dawes Plan and the Young Plan.¹⁵ From 1918 to 1923, Germany was heavily impacted by the war, enough to survive or even minimal, with goods and services and taxes to the roof, the nation was unable to pay the ‘debt’ imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. All of this led Germany into hyperinflation.¹⁶ No longer could one purchase bread at a reasonable price, all goods prices skyrocketed, work was scarce, hyperinflation took the economy of Germany to the trash bin. With the help of international bankers, the Dawes Plan helped stop the bleeding and put Germany back on its ‘feet.’¹⁷

The Dawes Plan (1924)- aided Germany to initiate payment to their ‘debt’ imposed upon them by the allies. It rebooted their economy from the insane hyperinflation of 1923 as factories began to reopen, prices became stable on goods and services. But most importantly, the private sector began to build military equipment (Pre-Hitler, mynd you) while the loan enslaved the markets of Germany to international bankers.¹⁸ The strong grips of this international-banking octopus were usurping the reaping profits of many markets in Germany; the roaring twenties was the decade many ‘friends’ of bankers made fortunes investing in foreign companies and ventures.

While Germany was rebuilding, Europe was stabilizing back into pre-WWI (the house of Morgan being at the forefront), this international-banking octopus (through the assistance of The Federal Reserve) began to ship gold to Britain. As the export of gold was being conducted, these bankers sold bonds to the American people to move their gold into bonds, informing the public the return on their investment would be great (like in wartime bonds). The people purchased these bonds from banks, even though repurchasing the gold back from their European banking friends was not in these American bankers’ mynd.¹⁹

Once the market began to crash in 1929, Bankers began to purchase these bonds pennies on the dollar, as people panic-sold. (Justifiable panic, in my opinion) A plethora of small banks, even big banks, did not have enough gold in their reserve volts when people came inquiring for their dollars & bonds to be repurchased as they demanded their gold back.²⁰ (The dollar was reattached to gold after WWI but would later lead Franklin D. Roosevelt to detach the dollar from gold in 1933. The gold standard, a fascinating topic for another time.)

The exporting of gold out the United States -and companies having an excess of goods but no demand,²¹ caused the infamous stock market crash of 1929. The real impact was felt after companies and banks collapsed from 1929 to 1933.

The roaring twenties was the diplomatic age of banking. These cartels of bankers made the United States go from debtor to creditor. The Federal Reserve Bank conducted the bidding for bankers and the plethora of loans created for foreign nations. (The two famous loans made to Germany to enslave a nation into more debt) Yes, all these events created a perfect storm made by a cartel of bankers. A perfect storm, made by the international-banking octopus, would elevate one man to take the bull of Germany by the horn.

This Treaty, the Treaty of Versailles, helped Germany birth Hitler. The people needed a savior; they needed a man with a vision to unshackle them from the fangs of the vampire(s) who were sucking out their hope as it instilled into their veins fear. It is through the Treaty of Versailles that led Hitler to amass a following. It birthed the Nazi Party and almost helped Hitler impose his will by force in 1923 through the infamous beer hall putsch. And because of this treaty, these bankers discovered it was better to maximize their profits by investing in a man with a vision, a plan who could take over the nation of Germany ‘legally’ and not forcefully.

Now, as this point ends, I can pick up on the following last five points I learned from Reading a Bio, Mein Kampf, and a financial book that helped raise Adolf Hitler as he led the world once more into another world war.

Until then, Thynk Pynk!

 

Endnotes:

1. Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Treaty of Versailles”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 19 Aug. 2021,     https://www.britannica.com/event/Treaty-of-Versailles- Accessed 19 January 2022.
2. Quigley, Carroll. Tragedy & Hope: A History of the World in Our Time (New York: Macmillan Co, 1974) 270.
3. Ibid, 280-85.
4. Ibid, 270.
5. Ibid, 270.
6. Ibid, 270.
7. Ibid, 274-75.
8. Ibid, 276.
9. Ibid, 280-85.
10. Chernow, Ron. The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance (New York: Macmillan Co, 2001) 207, 223, 225-29.
11. Griffen, G. Edwards. The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve (California: American Media, 2010) 471-74, 476-77,
12. Quigley, Carroll. Tragedy & Hope: A History of the World in Our Time(New York: Macmillan Co, 1974) 339, 343-5.
13. Ibid, 305-10.
14. Ibid, 315-20, 321, 324-26.
15. Ibid, 305-07.
16. Ibid, 306-08.
17. Ibid, 312, 427, 429.
18. Sutton, Antony C. Wall Street & The Rise of Hitler (California: 76’ Press, 1976) 23-32.
19. Quigley, Carroll. Tragedy & Hope: A History of the World in Our Time(New York: Macmillan Co, 1974) 324-33.
20. Smith, Jean Edward. FDR (New York: Random House Publishing Co, 2007) 288-9, 298-300, 314, 360-1.
21. Quigley, Carroll. Tragedy & Hope: A History of the World in Our Time(New York: Macmillan Co, 1974) 324-33.