# Economic Interdependence of Europe in The Economic Consequences of the Peace

> Theme guide for The Economic Consequences of the Peace by John Maynard Keynes.

Keynes argues that pre-war Europe was a delicate, interconnected economic system where the prosperity of each nation depended on the others, and that the Treaty of Versailles destroyed this system by crippling Germany, the continent's industrial heart.

## Where it surfaces

- [Europe Before the War](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_economic_consequences_of_the_peace_se/chapters/ii-europe-before-the-war): Keynes details how Germany's trade and capital investments tied the continent together, with Germany as the best customer and supplier for many nations.
- [Population](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_economic_consequences_of_the_peace_se/chapters/i-population): Germany's transformation into an industrial machine dependent on external factors for subsistence illustrates the deep economic interdependence of pre-war Europe.
- [Organization](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_economic_consequences_of_the_peace_se/chapters/ii-organization): The chapter details how Germany's economy was intertwined with its neighbors through trade, capital investment, and organization, making the whole European system dependent on German prosperity.
- [IV: The Relation of the Old World to the New](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_economic_consequences_of_the_peace_se/chapters/iv-the-relation-of-the-old-world-to-the-new): Europe's pre-war prosperity depended on capital exports to the New World and cheap food imports, creating a fragile equilibrium.
- [Germany's Capacity to Pay](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_economic_consequences_of_the_peace_se/chapters/iii-germany-s-capacity-to-pay): Germany's ability to pay depends on trade with Europe and the world; disruption of this system limits reparations.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_economic_consequences_of_the_peace_se/themes/economic_interdependence
- Themes index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_economic_consequences_of_the_peace_se/themes