# M. Klotz — The Economic Consequences of the Peace character guide

> M. Klotz in The Economic Consequences of the Peace by John Maynard Keynes.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** poor M. Klotz, M. Klotz

**First appearance:** 0008-iii-the-conference

## Snapshot

France's finance minister, whose reparations arithmetic Keynes treats with wry pity as one of the Conference's more damaging enthusiasms.

## Who they are

Klotz belongs to the French ministerial cohort whose extreme initial proposals Clemenceau could later discard with an air of impartial moderation. His fixation on what Germany could be made to pay embodies the French tactic of opening from an extreme position, expecting double compromise with allies and then with the Germans. Keynes's pity for him is telling: the finance minister's figures were taken seriously enough to shape the Treaty, yet not seriously enough by the French themselves, and the eleventh-hour refusal to discuss terms with the Germans sealed their effect.

## Relationships

### [The French](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_economic_consequences_of_the_peace_se/characters/the_french)

_professional_

M. Klotz, as French finance minister, is a colleague of the French delegation, focused on extracting maximum reparations.

## In the story

### [III: The Conference](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_economic_consequences_of_the_peace_se/chapters/iii-the-conference)

French minister whose extreme claims were sometimes abandoned by Clemenceau for tactical reasons.

### [V: Reparation](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_economic_consequences_of_the_peace_se/chapters/v-reparation)

French finance minister with overwhelming difficulties; his policy of pretense.

### [Undertakings Given Prior to the Peace Negotiations](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_economic_consequences_of_the_peace_se/chapters/i-undertakings-given-prior-to-the-peace-negotiations)

French Finance Minister who grossly exaggerated French claims to $26.8 billion, criticized by Keynes for deception.

### [The Conference and the Terms of the Treaty](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_economic_consequences_of_the_peace_se/chapters/ii-the-conference-and-the-terms-of-the-treaty)

French Finance Minister whose policy of pretense on reparations conflicted with Clemenceau's realpolitik.

### [VI: Europe After the Treaty](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_economic_consequences_of_the_peace_se/chapters/vi-europe-after-the-treaty)

M. Klotz is mentioned as an example of how the capitalist class may bring about revolution through weakness.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_economic_consequences_of_the_peace_se/characters/m_klotz
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_economic_consequences_of_the_peace_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_economic_consequences_of_the_peace_se/characters