And this is why we study history.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/germany-makes-final-reparation-payments-world-war/story?id=11755920&page=1

Read this article.

Title: Germany makes final World War I reparation payments

Remember in your high school history classes when your teacher (Mr. Wegkamp) taught you about World War I and how through the Treaty of Versailles, France and Great Britain punished Germany by requiring them to pay them for their losses? There was a set amount, and it was SO high and SO demanding, that it crippled Germany into a state even worse than they had been after a world war had ravaged their people, cities, economy, political systems, and countryside. It caused economic devastation while the world was on the brink of depression anyway.

The article explains that the German government stopped paying around 1931, and then Hitler came into power and it was a surprise to nobody that he also refused to pay. Instead, massive amounts of interest on the reparations accrued, and when the Berlin Wall fell the country started paying the interest. The debt will be paid off completely on October 3, 2010.

Quoted from the article: "It's a historical curiosity that the Versailles Treaty should continue to have a financial impact to this day," Professor Gerd Krumeich, a German historian who has specialized in the World War I, told SPIEGEL ONLINE.

It's a miracle, that's what it is. And do you see how the history that we learned about in school still affects our lives? While there are only three known World War 1 vets still living, the consequences of the war are still being seen by the German, French, and British people. Can you believe that?

This is why I love history.