It was interesting to read a contemporary account of the Treaty of Versailles and to see how Keynes was able to foretell that the injust peace inflicted by the treaty on Germany would create an atmosphere amenable to intolerable reactionary philosophies formed by "whatever instruction of hope, illusion, or revenge is carried to him on the air." Keynes saw that the punitive measures in the treaty would impoverish the German people to a point beyond endurance, where they could be carried by ideologues. In fact he says, "If we aim deliberately at the impoverishment of Central Europe, venceance... will not limp. Nothing can then delay for very long that final civil war between the forces of Reaction and the despairing convulsion of revolution, before which the horrors of the late German war will fade into nothing, and which will destroy... the civilization and progress of our generation." (268) He can see the peace prompting and even assisting the rise of reactionary politics that seek vengeance and the reassertment of Germany's dominance. It's almost as if he sees fascism rising in the distance, with its uber-nationalist tones and imperial ambitions. His book, written in 1919, predicts the coming of WWII, which did eclipse the horrors of WWI, and between them and the Depression, it was as if all progress had been erased. It's amazing how someone originally on the committee writing the treaty was able to see the potential for horror and point it out, yet still be ineffectual in trying to change it. Keynes' predictions do not enumerate the horrors that he sees as possible, but they do clearly indicate that this treaty could and will be the catalyst for a confrontation like no other. And, according to many historians, Keynes was right in his interpretation. The Treaty of Versailles is seen as a major contributing cause to the rise of Hitler and WWII. It was really great to read this essay, predicting the future conclusions about the treaty.

In 1919 nobody knew what the peace from WWI would bring but Keynes sussed out that the settlement was going to make for trouble in the form of political instability and political polarization as the economic chaos of the postwar settlement impoverished whole swaths of people. He didn't know it would cause the second world war but he had dark forebodings about Europe's settlement.

WW1 and how the US and our allies handled its peace is a great case of hindsight is 20/20. If we'd taken JMK advice perhaps we wouldn't have had WW2. Who knows now. We can only hope that future leaders think about the future as the secure peace today.

I decided to read a free book. This was extremely technical about the peace treaty from WWI. It was a good look into the post war treaty process and the minutiae of the settlement. It makes sense that the Allies would want everything they could and that Germany would be unable to pay back its debts. Just how out punitive the damages were was surprising. They even provided reasons for the damaging settlement and why Germany would not be able to pay them back nor live under their burden. It would have been a very interesting read had it not been so long and technical.

I mean for it’s time it was an insane feat, plus its awesome how much time he spends dogging on the president. Not super entertaining and definitely only worth skimming

Read this one for school. Keynes is a great communicator and sadly incredibly prescient in figuring out what the consequences (not just economic ones) of the Treaty of Versailles would be. A book for anyone interested in history and what we can still learn from it.

Very interesting and helpful to anyone trying to understand the fundamental connection between the Treaty of Versailles, the Great Depression, the rise of fascism, and the resultant second world war. It also gives insight into one of the most influential economists of the modern age- always useful. His thoughts, perhaps unsurprisingly, seem mostly to have been misinterpreted or watered down- which is both unsurprising, and probably why it seems like most people today have a low opinion of Keynes.

Wanted to read one of the most influential pieces of writing of the 20th century. Did that. Yay.