The Reparation Commission, also Inter-Allied Reparation Commission (sometimes "Reparations Commission"), was established by the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

to determine the level of World War I reparations which Germany should pay the victorious

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

. Its remit was soon broadened to reparations by other

central powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...

, namely

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

(by the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye),

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

( treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine), and

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

(

Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (french: Traité de Trianon, hu, Trianoni békeszerződés, it, Trattato del Trianon) was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace Conference and was signed in the Grand Trianon château in ...

). The Commission relied on a General Secretariat and on General Services, both headquartered in Paris. It was restructured and downsized in late 1924 as a consequence of the Dawes Plan, and eventually disbanded in 1930 following the adoption of the Young Plan and the establishment of the

Bank for International Settlements The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is an international financial institution owned by central banks that "fosters international monetary and financial cooperation and serves as a bank for central banks". The BIS carries out its work thr ...

(BIS). The BIS took over the residual activity of the Agent General for Reparation Payments, until the reparations themselves effectively ended by the mid-1930s.

Membership

Seven nations were represented at the Reparation Commission, namely

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, the

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Since the U.S. had not ratified the Treaty of Versailles, however, their representatives had no official status. Each of the seven nations appointed a delegate and a deputy delegate. Only Belgium, France, Italy and the UK had an unconditional vote.

Leadership

The Commission elected a chair among the delegates for a renewable one-year term. The first chair elected in 1920 was France's

Raymond Poincaré Raymond Nicolas Landry Poincaré (, ; 20 August 1860 – 15 October 1934) was a French statesman who served as President of France from 1913 to 1920, and three times as Prime Minister of France. Trained in law, Poincaré was elected deputy in 1 ...

. Arthur Salter was appointed the first Secretary General to the commission, a position he held from 1920 to 1922. He was succeeded by

Andrew McFadyean Sir Andrew McFadyean (1887–1974) was a British diplomat, economist, Treasury official, businessman, Liberal politician, publicist and philosopher. He was born at Leith in Scotland on 23 April 1887 and died at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, Lon ...

from 1922 to 1924.

Agent General for Reparation Payments

Owen D. Young Owen D. Young (October 27, 1874July 11, 1962) was an American industrialist, businessman, lawyer and diplomat at the Second Reparations Conference (SRC) in 1929, as a member of the German Reparations International Commission. He is known for t ...

was the first Agent General for Reparation Payments tasked with overseeing Germany's payments, and was succeeded in October 1924 by

Seymour Parker Gilbert Seymour Parker Gilbert (October 13, 1892 - February 23, 1938) was an American lawyer, banker, politician and diplomat. He is chiefly known for being Agent General for Reparations to Germany, from October 1924 to May 1930. Afterwards, in 1931, ...

who held the role until 1930. Gilbert's Paris office was initially hosted by the investment bank Morgan, Harjes & Co. From early 1925 onwards, he worked from two offices, respectively in Paris (18, rue de Tilsitt) and Berlin (Luisenstrasse 33).

References

{{reflist International commissions Organizations established in 1919 Organizations disestablished in 1930

Membership

Leadership

Agent General for Reparation Payments

See also

References