Carlene Haddock History 12 March. 9th 2008
Definition:
“ Dawes Plan – in 1924 by the committee headed by Charles G. Dawes to the Reparations Commission of the Allied nations. It was accepted the same year by Germany and the Allies.
à Dawes committee consisted of ten representatives: 2 each from Belgium, France, Great Britain, Italy, and U.S; it was entrusted with finding a solution for the collection of German reparations debt, set at almost 20billion marks.
Germany had been lagging in payment of this obligation, and the Dawes Plan provided that the Ruhr area be evacuated by Allied occupation troops, that reparation payment should being at 1 billion marks for the year and should rise over a period of four years to 2.5 billion marks per year, that the German Reichsbank be reorganized under Allied supervision and the sources for the reparation money should include transportation, exercise, and custom taxes. The plan went into effect in Sept. 1924. Although German business picked up and reparations payments were made promptly, it became obvious that a Germany could no longer continue those huge annual payments. As a result, the Young Plan was substituted in 1929.”
Main points of the Dawes Plan
In an agreement of August 1924, the main points of The Dawes Plan were:
1. The Ruhr area was to be evacuated by Allied occupation troops.
2. Reparation payments would begin at “one million marks the first year, increasing to two and a half million marks annually after five years" (Merrill 93)
3. The German Reichsbank would be reorganized under Allied supervision.
4. The sources for the reparation money would include transportation, excise, and custom taxes.
The Dawes Plan did rely on money given to Germany by America. The German economic state was one in which careful footing was required, and the Dawes plan was of the nature that only with the unrelated help of loans from America could it succeed.
The plan was accepted by Germany and the Allies and went into effect in September 1924. Although German business rebounded and reparation payments were made promptly, it became obvious that Germany could not continue those huge annual payments for long. As a result, the Young Plan was substituted in 1929.
How it added to the failure of collective security:
"It made the German economy dependent on foreign markets and economies, and therefore problems with the U.S. economy (e.g. the Great Depression) would later severely hurt Germany as it did the rest of the western world, which was subject to debt repayments for loans of American dollars."
Source(s): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawes_Plan