# The Reparation Commission — The Economic Consequences of the Peace character guide

> The Reparation Commission in The Economic Consequences of the Peace by John Maynard Keynes.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** the Commission

**First appearance:** 0014-iv-the-reparation-commission

## Snapshot

The body charged with extracting Germany's debt, it turns victors' justice into an arithmetic that Europe's shattered economy may not survive.

## Who they are

Summoned into being by the Treaty to fix what Germany owes, the Commission inherits a continent that is sick and dying, its transport ruptured and its population too large for the livelihood left to it. Its task is to honor engagements and satisfy justice, yet every figure it sets must be weighed against the fragile, artificial organization on which ordinary life still depends. Keynes watches how the Commission's demands, shaped by French tactics and Allied fatigue, become the hinge on which the whole peace settlement swings.

## Relationships

### [Germany](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_economic_consequences_of_the_peace_se/characters/germany)

_rivalry_

Germany is in a hostile, antagonistic relationship with the Reparation Commission, which demands crushing reparations payments.

### [Germany](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_economic_consequences_of_the_peace_se/characters/germany)

_rivalry_

Germany is in a hostile, antagonistic relationship with the Reparation Commission, which demands crushing reparations payments.

### [Germany](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_economic_consequences_of_the_peace_se/characters/germany)

_rivalry_

Germany is in a hostile, antagonistic relationship with the Reparation Commission, which demands crushing reparations payments.

## In the story

### [IV: The Treaty](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_economic_consequences_of_the_peace_se/chapters/iv-the-treaty)

Empowered to expropriate German interests abroad and manage the distribution of spoils among victors.

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

Body established to determine claims, mode of payment, and abatements.

### [The Reparation Commission](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_economic_consequences_of_the_peace_se/chapters/iv-the-reparation-commission)

Central subject of the chapter; endowed with wide powers over German economic life, including determining reparations, scheduling payments, and triggering reoccupation if Germany defaults.

### [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_economic_consequences_of_the_peace_se/chapters/endnotes)

Described as the body with final authority over financial and economic questions, including Austrian and Bulgarian reparations.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_economic_consequences_of_the_peace_se/characters/the_reparation_commission
- 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