1. Introduction; 2. A framework for war reparations; 3. Sovereign debt; 4. Napoleonic Wars reparations; 5. Haiti indemnity and sovereign debt; 6. Franco-Prussian War indemnities; 7. Smaller 19th century war reparations; 8. German World War I reparations; 9. Russian and Bulgarian World War I reparations; 10. World War II reparations to the Soviet Bloc.
What happens when countries cannot default on its debt? This history of war reparations shows that state survival trumps economics.
Simon Hinrichsen runs investments in emerging market sovereign bonds for a pension fund and has published in journals on history and economics. He is an External Associate Professor at the University of Copenhagen where he teaches a course on sovereign debt. He has advised governments and was previously a Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics.
'War reparations are often viewed solely through the lenses of
German reparations following World War I. Simon Hinrichsen's
carefully researched book shows that war reparations are not only
common but that the German experience in terms of repayment is more
the exception than the rule. By framing the reparations issue in
the sovereign debt literature, the book offers new insights into
the political and economic aspects of war reparations.' Kim
Oosterlinck, Professor of Finance, Université libre de
Bruxelles
'War reparations has been a topic of considerable contemporary
debate given the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. Yet, much of the
discussion has been remarkably bereft of an understanding of how
these issues were tackled in the past. This book is a
wonderful treatment of the history, economics and politics of war
reparations and, hopefully, will result in the contemporary debates
becoming more sophisticated. I teach classes on Reparations
and Sovereign Debt and this book has already, even in draft form,
proved to be an invaluable resource.' Mitu Gulati, Professor of
Law, University of Virginia
'In this insightful book, Hinrichsen analyses how and, more
importantly, why war reparations have been paid, restructured,
repudiated or simply ignored over the last two centuries. War
reparations are unlike all other types of sovereign debt. If wars
of aggression were exclusively a feature of earlier centuries,
Simon Hinrichsen's book would be a fascinating study of how the
monetary reparations payable to the victors in those conflicts were
eventually handled. But as Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022
demonstrates, unprovoked aggression is not confined to earlier
centuries and the international community may soon need to grapple,
yet again, with the issue of war reparations.' Lee C. Buchheit,
University of Edinburgh
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