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98-830: 1. Debt cancellation for southern countries. 2. Implement international tax on financial transactions, i.e., Tobin tax . 3. Dismantle all tax havens and corporate havens (described as "paradises"). 4. Universal right to employment, social protection and pensions. 5. Promote fair trade and reject all free trade agreements and World Trade Organization laws, emphasizing the importance of education, health, social services and cultural rights over commercial rights . 6. Guarantee of food security to all countries by promoting rural, peasant agriculture . 7. Outlaw patenting of knowledge on living things and privatization of "common goods for humanity", i.e., water. 8. Use public policies to fight discrimination , sexism , xenophobia , antisemitism and racism and fully recognize

196-527: A Poverty Reduction Strategy satisfactorily for at least one year. Under the goal of reducing inflation, some countries have been pressured to reduce spending in the health and education sectors. While the World Bank considers the HIPC Initiative a success, some scholars are more critical of it. The Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) is an extension of HIPC. The MDRI was agreed following

294-590: A "chancellor democracy". In a speech on 20 September 1949, Adenauer denounced the entire denazification process pursued by the Allied military governments, announcing in the same speech that he was planning to bring in an amnesty law for the Nazi war criminals and he planned to apply to "the High Commissioners for a corresponding amnesty for punishments imposed by the Allied military courts". Adenauer argued

392-598: A "competent Federal Government effectively from a standing start was one of the greatest of Adenauer's formidable achievements". Contemporary critics accused Adenauer of cementing the division of Germany, sacrificing reunification and the recovery of territories lost in the westward shift of Poland and the Soviet Union with his determination to secure the Federal Republic to the West. Adenauer's German policy

490-523: A Catholic Rhinelander who had long chafed under Prussian rule, Adenauer believed that Prussianism was the root cause of National Socialism, and that only by driving out Prussianism could Germany become a democracy. In a December 1946 letter, Adenauer wrote that the Prussian state in the early 19th century had become an "almost God-like entity" that valued state power over the rights of individuals. Adenauer's dislike of Prussia even led him to oppose Berlin as

588-413: A cash settlement for his house, which had been taken over by the city of Cologne; his unpaid mortgage, penalties and taxes were waived. With reasonable financial security he managed to live in seclusion for some years. After the failed assassination attempt on Hitler of July 1944, he was imprisoned for a second time as an opponent of the regime. He fell ill and credited Eugen Zander  [ de ] ,

686-831: A central position in Europe with a market -based liberal democracy , stability, international respect and economic prosperity. Adenauer belied his age by his intense work habits and his uncanny political instinct. As a strong anti-communist , Adenauer was deeply committed to an Atlanticist foreign policy and restoring the position of West Germany on the world stage. Adenauer was a driving force in re-establishing national military forces (the Bundeswehr ) and intelligence services (the Bundesnachrichtendienst ) in West Germany in 1955 and 1956. Adenauer refused

784-416: A city that was the setting for The Student Prince , at the time a popular American operetta based on the drinking culture of German student fraternities . As chancellor, Adenauer tended to make most major decisions himself, treating his ministers as mere extensions of his authority. While this tendency decreased under his successors, it established the image of West Germany (and later reunified Germany) as

882-576: A condition of U.S. postwar aid. Germany had suspended its reparations payments due under the 1919 Versailles Treaty and payable to Britain, France and others, as well as loans due to the United States. Chancellor Konrad Adenauer decided that permanent good will required their resumption. The 1953 Agreement on German External Debts , which resumed German's war reparations , is a notable example of international debt relief. Debt relief for heavily indebted and underdeveloped developing countries

980-424: A conflict between debtor farmers and creditor bankers. A 2024 study found that debt relief for debtors leads to a large increase in earned income, employment, assets, real estate, secured debt, home ownership, and wealth over subsequent decades. Another 2024 study found that debtors who receive debt relief are more likely to support incumbent governments. Debt relief plays a significant role in some artworks. In

1078-416: A creditor initiates this. As part of debt restructuring , the terms of the debt are modified, which may involve the debt owed being reduced. In case the debtor chooses bankruptcy despite being able to service the debt, this is called strategic bankruptcy . Certain debts can be defaulted on without a general bankruptcy; these are non-recourse loans , most notably mortgages in common law jurisdictions such as

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1176-723: A fall in the unemployment rate from 8% in 1950 to 0.4% in 1965. in addition, an advanced welfare state was established. In the spring of 1954, opposition to the Pleven plan grew within the French National Assembly ., and in August 1954, it died when an alliance of conservatives and Communists in the National Assembly joined forces to reject the EDC treaty under the grounds that West German rearmament in any form

1274-725: A former municipal worker in Cologne and a communist, with saving his life. Zander, then a section Kapo of a labor camp near Bonn, discovered Adenauer's name on a deportation list to the East and managed to get him admitted to a hospital. Adenauer was subsequently rearrested (as was his wife), but was released from prison at Brauweiler in November 1944. Shortly after the war ended, the American occupation forces once again installed him as Mayor of Cologne, which had been heavily bombed . After

1372-650: A future capital. Adenauer viewed the most important battle in the postwar world as between the forces of Christianity and Marxism , especially Communism. Marxism meant both the Communists and the Social Democrats as the latter were officially a Marxist party until the Bad Godesberg conference of 1959. The same anti-Marxist viewpoints led Adenauer to denounce the Social Democrats as the heirs to Prussianism and National Socialism. Adenauer's ideology

1470-546: A main reason for the assassination attempt by Zionists against Adenauer. On 27 March 1952, a package addressed to Chancellor Adenauer exploded in the Munich Police Headquarters, killing one Bavarian police officer, Karl Reichert. Investigations revealed the mastermind behind the assassination attempt to be Menachem Begin , who would later become the Prime Minister of Israel . Begin had been

1568-552: A number of ancient societies: If the debtor is in difficulty, grant him time till it is easy for him to repay. But, if ye remit it by way of charity, that is best for you if ye only knew. In the United States, the first serious movements to create debt relief were rooted in debtor farmer grievances against creditors. In the early 19th century, legislators created pathways for indebted farmers to take creditors to court to erase what they owed and enable them to start over. The first federal bankruptcy law, passed in 1841 and repealed in 1843,

1666-554: A policy of alliance with the occupying Allies in the 1950s without facing charges of being a "sell-out". After being dismissed, Adenauer devoted himself to building a new political party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which he hoped would embrace both Protestants and Catholics in a single party. According to Adenauer, a Catholic-only party would lead to German politics being dominated by anti-democratic parties yet again. In January 1946, Adenauer initiated

1764-564: A political meeting of the future CDU in the British zone in his role as doyen (the oldest man in attendance, Alterspräsident ) and was informally confirmed as its leader. During the Weimar Republic, Adenauer had often been considered a future Chancellor and after 1945, his claims for leadership were even stronger. The other surviving Zentrum leaders were considered unsuitable for the tasks that lay ahead. Reflecting his background as

1862-724: A statement which declared the great majority of the Wehrmacht had acted honorably. On 2 January 1951, Adenauer met with the American High Commissioner, John J. McCloy , to argue that executing the Landsberg prisoners would ruin forever any effort at having the Federal Republic play its role in the Cold War. At the time, American occupation authorities had 28 Nazi war criminals left on death row in their custody. In response to Adenauer's demands and pressure from

1960-531: A united, socialist and neutral Germany. As such, Adenauer was in favor of joining NATO, something that Schumacher strongly opposed. The Free Democrat Theodor Heuss was elected the first President of the Republic , and Adenauer was elected Chancellor (head of government) on 15 September 1949 with the support of his own CDU, the Christian Social Union , the liberal Free Democratic Party , and

2058-459: Is based ), the climactic event is the destruction of credit card records, dramatized as the destruction of skyscrapers, which allows for debt relief. The television series Mr. Robot (2015–2019), follows a group of hackers whose main mission is to cancel all debts by taking down one of the largest corporations in the world, E Corp. Konrad Adenauer Defunct Defunct Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967)

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2156-467: Is closely linked to the implementation of an enhanced pension system, which ensured unparalleled prosperity for retired people. Along with his Minister for Economic Affairs and successor Ludwig Erhard , the West German model of a " social market economy " (a mixed economy with capitalism moderated by elements of social welfare and Catholic social teaching ) allowed for the boom period known as

2254-534: Is the partial or total forgiveness of debt , or the slowing or stopping of debt growth, owed by individuals, corporations, or nations. From antiquity through the 19th century, it refers to domestic debts, in particular agricultural debts and freeing of debt slaves. In World War I the United States Treasury made large loans to the Allies that were postponed, reduced and finally paid off in 1953. In

2352-686: Is today considered a form of "modern day slavery " in international law, and banned as such, in Article 1(a) of the United Nations 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery . Nevertheless, the practice continues in some nations. In most developed nations, debts cannot be inherited. Debtors' prison has been largely abolished, but remains in some forms in the US, for example if one fails to make child support payments. In modern times,

2450-490: The Wirtschaftswunder ('economic miracle') that produced broad prosperity, but Adenauer acted more leniently towards the trade unions and employers' associations than Erhard. The Adenauer era witnessed a dramatic rise in the standard of living of average Germans, with real wages doubling between 1950 and 1963. This rising affluence was accompanied by a 20% fall in working hours during that same period, together with

2548-769: The G8 's Gleneagles meeting in July 2005. It offers 100% cancellation of multilateral debts owed by HIPC countries to the World Bank , IMF and African Development Bank . One of the targets of the UN Sustainable Development Goals , specifically Goal 17 , is to "assist developing countries in attaining long-term debt sustainability through coordinated policies aimed at fostering debt financing, debt relief and debt restructuring ". This will help poor countries "reduce debt distress". Debt relief existed in

2646-529: The German People's Party insisted that one of the conditions for entering into a coalition under Adenauer's leadership was that Gustav Stresemann stay on as Foreign Minister. Adenauer, who disliked Stresemann as "too Prussian," rejected that condition. When the Nazi Party won several municipal, state and national elections in between 1930 and 1932, Adenauer, a strong opponent of Adolf Hitler and

2744-645: The International Authority for the Ruhr led to heavy criticism. In the following debate in parliament Adenauer stated: The Allies have told me that dismantling would be stopped only if I satisfy the Allied desire for security, does the Socialist Party want dismantling to go on to the bitter end? The opposition leader Kurt Schumacher responded by labeling Adenauer "Chancellor of the Allies", accusing Adenauer of putting good relations with

2842-578: The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 provides that debt forgiven on a primary residence is not treated as income, for debts forgiven in the three-year period 2007–2009. The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 extended this by three years to the six-year period 2007–2012. The primary mechanism of debt relief in modern societies is bankruptcy , where a debtor who cannot or chooses not to pay their debts files for bankruptcy and renegotiates their debts, or

2940-531: The Oder–Neisse line as Germany's eastern frontier. This refusal was in large part motivated by his desire to win the votes of expellees and right-wing nationalists to the CDU, which is why he supported Heimatrecht , i.e. the right of expellees to return to their former homes. It was also intended to be a deal-breaker if negotiations ever began to reunite Germany on terms that Adenauer considered unfavorable such as

3038-563: The Treaty of Versailles were presented to Germany in June 1919, Adenauer again suggested to Berlin his plan for an autonomous Rhineland state and again his plans were rejected by the Reich government. He established a good working relationship with the postwar British military authorities, using them to neutralize the workers' and soldiers' council that had become an alternative base of power for

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3136-642: The United States . Choosing to default on such a loan despite being able to service it is called strategic default . If a debt cannot be or is not repaid, alternatives that were common historically but are now rare include debt bondage —including debt peonage : being bound until the debt is repaid; and debt slavery , when the debt is so great (or labor valued so low) that the debt will never be repaid—and debtors' prison . Debt slavery can persist across generations, future generations being made to work to pay off debts incurred by past generations. Debt bondage

3234-682: The Weimar Republic , serving as Mayor of Cologne (1917–1933) and as president of the Prussian State Council . In the early years of the Federal Republic, he switched focus from denazification to recovery, and led his country to close relations with France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. During his years in power, he worked to restore the West German economy from the destruction of World War II to

3332-588: The "Pleven plan", but was forced to support it when it became clear that this plan was the only way the French would agree to German rearmament. In 1950, a major controversy broke out when it emerged that Adenauer's State Secretary Hans Globke had played a major role in drafting anti-semitic Nuremberg Race Laws in Nazi Germany. Adenauer kept Globke on as State Secretary as part of his strategy of integration. Starting in August 1950, Adenauer began to pressure

3430-727: The "Spandau Seven" finally bore fruit with the release of Konstantin von Neurath . Adenauer congratulated Neurath on his release, sparking controversy all over the world. At the same time, Adenauer's efforts to win freedom for Admiral Karl Dönitz ran into staunch opposition from the British Permanent Secretary at the Foreign Office, Ivone Kirkpatrick , who argued Dönitz would be an active danger to German democracy. Adenauer then traded with Kirkpatrick no early release for Admiral Dönitz with an early release for Admiral Erich Raeder on medical grounds. Adenauer

3528-828: The British proposal met with considerable approval. In the ensuing London conference , Eden assisted Adenauer by promising the French that Britain would always maintain at least four divisions in the British Army of the Rhine as long as there was a Soviet threat, with the strengthened British forces also aimed implicitly against any German revanchism. Adenauer then promised that Germany would never seek to have nuclear, chemical and biological weapons as well as capital ships, strategic bombers, long-range artillery, and guided missiles, although these promises were non-binding. The French had been assuaged that West German rearmament would be no threat to France. Additionally, Adenauer promised that

3626-633: The East German leader Walter Ulbricht , who proclaimed the reunification of Germany under communist rule to be imminent. To soothe French fears of German rearmament, the French Premier René Pleven suggested the so-called Pleven plan in October 1950 under which the Federal Republic would have its military forces function as part of the armed wing of the multinational European Defense Community (EDC). Adenauer deeply disliked

3724-557: The FTC. As the disposition of personal debt is a highly regulated industry, consumers are urged by the FTC and other trade organizations to do significant research and find an independent credit counselor to guide them through the process. In 2019, the Texas Legislature forgave an estimated $ 2.5 billion in debt when it abolished its "Driver Responsibility Surcharge" in all but driving while intoxicated (DWI) cases. This surcharge

3822-516: The German public, McCloy and Thomas T. Handy on 31 January 1951 reduced the death sentences of all but the 7 worst offenders. By 1951 laws were passed by the Bundestag ending denazification. Denazification was viewed by the United States as counterproductive and ineffective, and its demise was not opposed. Adenauer's intention was to switch government policy to reparations and compensation for

3920-521: The Legislature eliminated red-light cameras statewide and effectively canceled those debts, and re-defined "undue hardship" in the Code of Criminal Procedure to allow judges to waive traffic-fine debt for more people. In US tax law , debt forgiven is treated as income, as it reduces a liability, increasing the taxpayer's net worth . In the context of the bursting of the United States housing bubble ,

4018-519: The Nazis should join the Reich government in a leading role. At the end of 1932, Adenauer had indeed demanded a joint government by his Zentrum party and the Nazis for Prussia. During the next two years, Adenauer changed residences often for fear of reprisals against him, while living on the benevolence of friends. With the help of lawyers in August 1937 he was successful in claiming a pension. He received

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4116-426: The Nazis to power on 30 January 1933. By early February, Adenauer finally realized the futility of all discussions and any attempts at compromise with the Nazis. Cologne's city council and the Prussian parliament had been dissolved; on 4 April 1933, he was officially dismissed as mayor and his bank accounts were frozen. "He had no money, no home and no job." After arranging for the safety of his family, he appealed to

4214-469: The Nazis, still believed that improvements in the national economy would make his strategy work: ignore the Nazis and concentrate on the Communist threat. He thought that based on election returns, the Nazis should become part of the Prussian and Reich governments, even when he was already the target of intense personal attacks. Political maneuverings around the ageing President Hindenburg then brought

4312-567: The Rhineland and that the new currency Rentenmark , which had replaced the now worthless Mark would not circulate in the Rhineland. To save the Rhineland economy, Adenauer opened talks with the French High Commissioner Paul Tirard in late October 1923 for a Rhenish republic in a sort of economic union with France which would achieve Franco-German reconciliation, which Adenauer called a "grand design". At

4410-510: The SPD. The German Restitution Laws ( Bundesentschädigungsgesetz ) were passed in 1953 that allowed some victims of Nazi prosecution to claim restitution. Under the 1953 restitution law, those who had suffered for "racial, religious or political reasons" could collect compensation, which were defined in such a way as to sharply limit the number of people entitled to collect compensation. In November 1954, Adenauer's lobbying efforts on behalf of

4508-473: The Social Democrats. In a speech on 1 February 1919 Adenauer called for the dissolution of Prussia, and for the Prussian Rhineland to become a new autonomous Land (state) in the Reich . Adenauer claimed this was the only way to prevent France from annexing the Rhineland. Both the Reich and Prussian governments were completely against Adenauer's plans for breaking up Prussia. When the terms of

4606-642: The Stalin overture; they shared the Western Allies' suspicion about the genuineness of that offer and supported the Allies in their cautious replies. Adenauer's flat rejection was, however, still out of step with public opinion; he then realized his mistake and he started to ask questions. Critics denounced him for having missed an opportunity for German reunification . The Soviets sent a second note, courteous in tone. Adenauer by then understood that "all opportunity for initiative had passed out of his hands," and

4704-466: The U.S. and Commonwealth. From the beginning of his Chancellorship, Adenauer had been pressing for German rearmament . After the outbreak of the Korean War on 25 June 1950, the U.S. and Britain agreed that West Germany had to be rearmed to strengthen the defenses of Western Europe against a possible Soviet invasion. Further contributing to the crisis atmosphere of 1950 was the bellicose rhetoric of

4802-530: The West for the sake of the Cold War ahead of German national interests. After a year of negotiations, the Treaty of Paris was signed on 18 April 1951 establishing the European Coal and Steel Community . The treaty was unpopular in Germany where it was seen as a French attempt to take over German industry. The treaty conditions were favorable to the French, but for Adenauer, the only thing that mattered

4900-589: The Western Allies to draft a constitution for the three western zones of Germany. He was the chairman of this constitutional convention and vaulted from this position to being chosen as the first head of government once the new " Basic Law " had been promulgated in May 1949. The first election to the Bundestag of West Germany was held on 15 August 1949 , with the Christian Democrats emerging as

4998-601: The Western Allies to free all of the war criminals in their custody, especially those from the Wehrmacht , whose continued imprisonment he claimed made West German rearmament impossible. Adenauer had been opposed to the Nuremberg Trials in 1945–46, and after becoming Chancellor, he demanded the release of the so-called "Spandau Seven", as the seven war criminals convicted at Nuremberg and imprisoned at Spandau Prison were known. In October 1950, Adenauer received

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5096-593: The Western Front. He paid special attention to the civilian food supply, enabling the residents to avoid the worst of the severe shortages that beset most German cities during 1918–1919. In 1918, he invented a soy-based sausage called the Cologne sausage to help feed the city. In the face of the collapse of the old regime and the threat of revolution and widespread disorder in late 1918, Adenauer maintained control in Cologne using his good working relationship with

5194-594: The abbot of the Benedictine monastery at Maria Laach for a stay of several months. According to Albert Speer in his book Spandau: The Secret Diaries , Hitler expressed admiration for Adenauer, noting his civic projects, the building of a road circling the city as a bypass, and a "green belt" of parks. However, both Hitler and Speer concluded that Adenauer's political views and principles made it impossible for him to play any role in Nazi Germany . Adenauer

5292-430: The area to an autonomous region wholly under German sovereignty; the Americans were not prepared to grant the same for Frankfurt. He also resisted the claims of Heidelberg , which had better communications and had survived the war in better condition; partly because the Nazis had been popular there before they came to power and partly, as he said, because the world would not take them seriously if they set up their state in

5390-740: The autonomy of journalists, and favor alternative media . 12. Reform international institutions based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and incorporate the World Bank , International Monetary Fund and WTO into the United Nations. The signatures of the manifesto (so-called "Group of Nineteen") are Aminata Traoré , Adolfo Pérez Esquivel , Eduardo Galeano , José Saramago , François Houtart , Boaventura de Sousa Santos , Armand Mattelart , Roberto Savio , Riccardo Petrella , Ignacio Ramonet , Bernard Cassen , Samir Amin , Atilio Borón , Samuel Ruiz García , Tariq Ali , Frei Betto , Emir Sader , Walden Bello , and Immanuel Wallerstein . Debt relief Debt relief or debt cancellation

5488-438: The back garden as a child, which was not welcomed by his father who told him "One should not try to meddle with the Lord's hand", then in 1904 he invented a reaction steam engine which was supposed to filter out dust produced by cars. However, as his hobby of inventing grew ever more costly, Adenauer's activities in this area slowly diminished. After final school examination ( Abitur ) in 1894, Adenauer studied law and politics at

5586-416: The city was transferred into the British zone of occupation , however, the Director of its military government, General Gerald Templer , dismissed Adenauer for incompetence in December 1945. Adenauer considered the Germans the political equals of the occupying Allies, a view that angered Templer. Adenauer's dismissal by the British contributed much to his subsequent political success and allowed him to pursue

5684-401: The city's left wing. During the Weimar Republic , he was president of the Prussian State Council from 1921 to 1933, which was the representation of the provinces of Prussia in its legislature. A major debate had occurred within his Centre Party since 1906 regarding the question of whether it should "leave the tower" (i.e. allow Protestants to join, becoming a multi-faith party) or "stay in

5782-425: The commander of Irgun and at that time headed Herut and was a member of the Knesset . His goal was to put pressure on the German government and prevent the signing of the Reparations Agreement between Israel and West Germany , which he vehemently opposed. The West German government kept all proof under seal in order to prevent antisemitic responses from the German public. When the East German uprising of 1953

5880-671: The continuation of denazification would "foster a growing and extreme nationalism" as the millions who supported the Nazi regime would find themselves excluded from German life forever. He also demanded an "end to this sniffing out of Nazis." By 31 January 1951, the amnesty legislation had benefited 792,176 people. They included 3,000 functionaries of the SA, the SS, and the Nazi Party who participated in dragging victims to jails and camps; 20,000 Nazis sentenced for "deeds against life" (presumably murder); 30,000 sentenced for causing bodily injury, and about 5,200 charged with "crimes and misdemeanors in office. The Adenauer government refused to accept

5978-419: The court in Cologne for four years. As a devout Catholic, he joined the Centre Party ( German : Deutsche Zentrumspartei or just Zentrum ) in 1906 and was elected to Cologne's city government in the same year. In 1909, he became Vice-Mayor of Cologne, an industrial metropolis with a population of 635,000 in 1914. Avoiding the extreme political movements that attracted so many of his generation, Adenauer

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6076-450: The debt, either in full or in part. The first method is declaring bankruptcy, which has the immediate effect of stopping any payments made to creditors. In the United States, the two primary avenues of bankruptcy for an individual are Chapter 13 bankruptcy and Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Another option is to consolidate these debts into a single loan, commonly known as debt consolidation . Debt relief, on an individual level, refers mainly to

6174-693: The diplomatic recognition of the rival German Democratic Republic as an East-German state and the Oder–Neisse line as a post-war frontier to Poland . Under Adenauer, West Germany joined NATO . As a proponent of European unity , he signed the Treaty of Rome in 1957. Adenauer is claimed as one of the " Founding fathers of the European Union ". Konrad Adenauer was born as the third of five children of Johann Konrad Adenauer (1833–1906) and his wife Helene (née Scharfenberg; 1849–1919) in Cologne , Rhenish Prussia , on 5 January 1876. His siblings were August (1872–1952), Johannes (1873–1937), Lilli (1879–1950) and Elisabeth, who died shortly after birth c. 1880. One of

6272-437: The face of severe opposition both from the public and from his own cabinet, Adenauer was only able to get the reparations agreement ratified by the Bundestag with the support of the SPD. Israeli public opinion was divided over accepting the money, but ultimately the fledgling state under David Ben-Gurion agreed to take it, opposed by political parties such as Herut , who were against such treaties. Those treaties were cited as

6370-452: The formative influences of Adenauer's youth was the so-called Kulturkampf , the struggle of the Prussian state with the Catholic church, an experience that as related to him by his parents left him with a lifelong dislike for " Prussianism ", and led him like many other Catholic Rhinelanders of the 19th century to deeply resent the Rhineland 's inclusion in Prussia. Having a passion for inventing, Adenauer started experimenting with plants in

6468-466: The late 20th century, it came to refer primarily to Third World debt , which started exploding with the Latin American debt crisis (Mexico 1983, etc.). In the early 21st century, it is of increased applicability to individuals in developed countries, due to credit bubbles and housing bubbles . War debt payments by World War I Allies to the U.S. had been suspended in 1931—only Finland paid in full—and American public opinion demanded repayments resume as

6566-475: The matter was put to rest by the Allies. Given the realities of the Cold War , German reunification and recovery of lost territories in the east were not realistic goals as both of Stalin's notes specified the retention of the existing "Potsdam"-decreed boundaries of Germany. Adenauer recognized the obligation of the West German government to compensate Israel for The Holocaust . West Germany started negotiations with Israel for restitution of lost property and

6664-438: The most common alternatives to debt relief in cases where debt cannot be paid are forbearance and debt restructuring . Forbearance meaning that interest payments (possibly including past due ones) are forgiven, so long as payments resume. No reduction of principal occurs, however. In debt restructuring, an existing debt is replaced with a new debt. This may result in reduction of the principal (debt relief), or may simply change

6762-401: The negotiation for a reduction of a debt by either the consumer or a debt settlement agency. Through this arrangement, consumers agree to pay the creditor a fixed amount of money (generally a discount on their outstanding debt) either in a lump sum or under a payment plan. The debt settlement industry has had significant regulatory scrutiny since its inception with changes implemented in 2010 by

6860-408: The neutralization of Germany as Adenauer knew well that the Soviets would never revise the Oder–Neisse line. Privately, Adenauer considered Germany's eastern provinces to be lost forever. At the Petersberg Agreement in November 1949 he achieved some of the first concessions granted by the Allies, such as a decrease in the number of factories to be dismantled, but in particular his agreement to join

6958-511: The non-housing personal debt market and ease with which one can obtain personal credit has led to some consumers falling behind on payments. As of Q3 2017, student loans have the highest rates of serious delinquency (90 or more days delinquent) with approximately 9.6% of all student loan debt falling into this bucket. Credit card debt and auto loan debt have serious delinquency rates of 4.6% and 2.4% respectively. When consumers begin to fall behind on payments, they have several options to discharge

7056-705: The payment of damages to victims of Nazi persecution. In the Luxemburger Abkommen , West Germany agreed to pay compensation to Israel. Jewish claims were bundled in the Jewish Claims Conference , which represented the Jewish victims of Nazi Germany. West Germany then initially paid about 3 billion Mark to Israel and about 450 million to the Claims Conference, although payments continued after that, as new claims were made. In

7154-401: The play The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare , c.  1598 , the heroine pleads for debt relief (forgiveness) on grounds of Christian mercy . In the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz , a primary political interpretation is that it treats free silver , which engenders inflation and hence reduces debts. In the 1999 film Fight Club (but not the novel on which it

7252-484: The political, cultural and economic rights of indigenous peoples. 9. Take steps to end environmental destruction and the greenhouse effect using alternative development models. 10. Dismantle all foreign military bases and the removal of troops from all countries except those under the explicit mandate of the United Nations . 11. Guarantee the right to information and the right to inform through legislation that would end concentration of media ownership , guarantee

7350-447: The reduction in the nominal value of currency, reduces the real value of debts. While lenders take inflation into account when they decide the terms of a loan, unexpected increases in the rate of inflation cause categorical debt relief. Inflation has been a contentious political issue on this basis, with debasement of currency a form of or alternative to sovereign default , and the free silver in late 19th century America being seen as

7448-458: The right-wing German Party . It was said that Adenauer was elected Chancellor by the new German parliament by "a majority of one vote – his own". At age 73, it was thought that Adenauer would only be a caretaker Chancellor. However, he would go on to hold this post for 14 years, a period spanning most of the preliminary phase of the Cold War . During this period, the post-war division of Germany

7546-545: The same time, Adenauer clung to the hope that the Rentenmark might still circulate in the Rhineland. Adenauer's plans came to naught when Stresemann, who was resolutely opposed to Adenauer's "grand design", which he viewed as borderline treason, was able to negotiate an end to the crisis on his own. In 1926, the Zentrum suggested Adenauer becoming Chancellor, an offer that he was interested in but ultimately rejected when

7644-653: The so-called " Himmerod memorandum " drafted by four former Wehrmacht generals at the Himmerod Abbey that linked freedom for German war criminals as the price of German rearmament, along with public statements from the Allies that the Wehrmacht committed no war crimes in World War II. The Allies were willing to do whatever necessary to get the much-needed German rearmament underway, and in January 1951, General Dwight Eisenhower , commander of NATO forces, issued

7742-591: The start of 2003 to a peak of $ 2.71 trillion in Q4 of 2008. It was not until Q3 of 2012 that unsecured personal debt reached this level again. Since that time, unsecured personal debt has risen steadily to $ 3.76 trillion at the end of the third quarter of 2017. The other large change in unsecured personal debt is that an increasing portion of it is now student loan debt, from 12% in Q1 of 2003 to 53% in Q3 of 2017. The increasing size of

7840-515: The strongest party. There were two clashing visions of a future Germany held by Adenauer and his main rival, the Social Democrat Kurt Schumacher . Adenauer favored integrating the Federal Republic with other Western states, especially France and the United States in order to fight the Cold War , even if the price of this was the continued division of Germany. Schumacher by contrast, though an anti-communist, wanted to see

7938-419: The terms of repayment, for instance by extending the term (replacing a debt repaid over 5 years with one repaid over 10 years), which allows the same principal to be amortized over a longer period, thus allowing smaller payments. Personal debt that can be repaid from income but is not being repaid may be obtained via garnishment or attachment of earnings , which deduct debt service from wages . Inflation,

8036-573: The tower" (i.e. continue to be a Catholic-only party). Adenauer was one of the leading advocates of "leaving the tower", which led to a dramatic clash at the 1922 Katholikentag , the annual meeting of German Catholics under the presidency of Adenauer. Cardinal Michael von Faulhaber publicly admonished Adenauer for wanting to take the Zentrum "out of the tower". In mid-October 1923, the Chancellor Gustav Stresemann announced that Berlin would cease all financial payments to

8134-455: The universities of Freiburg , Munich and Bonn , demonstrating competent but not exceptional academic ability. In 1896, he was mustered for the Prussian army , but did not pass the physical exam due to chronic respiratory problems he had experienced since childhood. He was a member of several Roman Catholic students' associations. He graduated in 1900, and afterwards worked as a lawyer at

8232-417: The victims of Nazi rule ( Wiedergutmachung ). Officials were allowed to retake jobs in civil service, with the exception of people assigned to Group I (Major Offenders) and II (Offenders) during the denazification review process. Adenauer pressured his rehabilitated ex-Nazis by threatening that stepping out of line could trigger the reopening of individual de-Nazification prosecutions. The construction of

8330-522: Was European integration. Adenauer was keen to see Britain join the European Coal and Steel Community as he believed the more free-market British would counterbalance the influence of the more dirigiste French, and to achieve that purpose he visited London in November 1951 to meet with Prime Minister Winston Churchill . Churchill said Britain would not join the European Coal and Steel Community because doing so would mean sacrificing relations with

8428-487: Was a German statesman who served as the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), a newly founded Christian-democratic party, which became the dominant force in the country under his leadership. As a devout Roman Catholic , Adenauer was a leading politician of the Catholic Centre Party in

8526-732: Was an extra three-year civil penalty added onto certain criminal traffic infractions like DWI or driving without a license or insurance. Surcharges were created in 2003 to pay for a roadway network that was never built, and instead half the money was diverted to hospitals, which became reliant on the money, with the rest going into the state treasury. However, the majority of drivers who had surcharges assessed could not pay them. Many people who could not afford either surcharges or insurance continued to drive and racked up huge sums in debt they could never expect to pay. A little-advertised amnesty program and an indigence program that still required partial payment helped some, and were criticized by some who felt it

8624-458: Was an unacceptable danger to France. The British Prime Minister Winston Churchill told Adenauer that Britain would ensure that West German rearmament would happen, regardless if the National Assembly ratified the EDC treaty or not, and Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden used the failure of the EDC to argue for independent West German rearmament and West German NATO membership. Thanks in part to Adenauer's success in rebuilding West Germany's image,

8722-498: Was at odds with parts of the CDU, who wished to unite socialism and Christianity . Adenauer worked diligently at building up contacts and support in the CDU over the following years, and he sought with varying success to impose his particular ideology on the party. Adenauer's leading role in the CDU of the British zone won him a position at the Parliamentary Council of 1948 , which had been called into existence by

8820-638: Was based upon Politik der Stärke (Policy of Strength), and upon the so-called "magnet theory", in which a prosperous, democratic West Germany integrated with the West would act as a "magnet" that would eventually bring down the East German regime. In 1952, the Stalin Note , as it became known, "caught everybody in the West by surprise". It offered to unify the two German entities into a single, neutral state with its own, non-aligned national army to effect superpower disengagement from Central Europe . Adenauer and his cabinet were unanimous in their rejection of

8918-416: Was committed to bourgeois decency, diligence, order, Christian morals and values, and was dedicated to rooting out disorder, inefficiency, irrationality and political immorality. In 1917, he was unanimously elected as Mayor of Cologne for a 12-year period, and re-elected in 1929. During World War I , he worked closely with the army to maximize the city's role as a rear base of supply and transportation for

9016-549: Was consolidated with the establishment of two separate German states, the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). In the controversial selection for a "provisional capital" of the Federal Republic of Germany , Adenauer championed Bonn over Frankfurt am Main . The British had agreed to detach Bonn from their zone of occupation and convert

9114-516: Was harshly suppressed by the Red Army in June 1953, Adenauer took political advantage of the situation and was handily re-elected to a second term as Chancellor. The CDU/CSU came up one seat short of an outright majority. Adenauer could thus have governed in a coalition with only one other party, but retained/gained the support of nearly all of the parties in the Bundestag that were to the right of

9212-528: Was imprisoned for two days after the Night of the Long Knives on 30 June 1934; however, on 10 August 1934, maneuvering for his pension, he wrote a ten-page letter to Hermann Göring , the Prussian interior minister. He stated that as Mayor he had violated Prussian laws in order to allow Nazi events in public buildings and Nazi flags to be flown from city flagpoles, and that in 1932 he had declared publicly that

9310-418: Was re-introduced and expanded in 1867. At the time, this was a comparatively radical approach to debt relief in the world, making the United States one of the most debtor-friendly countries. In the United States of America for the years preceding the financial crisis of 2007–2008 , non-housing personal debt (auto loans, credit cards, student loans, etc.) rose significantly from approximately $ 2.05 trillion at

9408-617: Was the subject in the 1990s of a campaign by a broad coalition of development NGOs , Christian organizations and others, under the banner of Jubilee 2000 . This campaign, involving, for example, demonstrations at the 1998 G8 meeting in Birmingham , was successful in pushing debt relief onto the agenda of Western governments and international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank . The Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative

9506-557: Was ultimately launched to provide systematic debt relief for the poorest countries, whilst trying to ensure the money would be spent on poverty reduction . The HIPC programme has been subject to conditionalities similar to those often attached to International Monetary Fund ( IMF ) and World Bank loans, requiring structural adjustment reforms, sometimes including the privatisation of public utilities , including water and electricity. To qualify for irrevocable debt relief, countries must also maintain macroeconomic stability and implement

9604-452: Was unfair that they paid and others didn't. But local sheriffs began to complain that the law was causing the jails to fill up with people driving on suspended license, and the judiciary insisted the law was unfair and counterproductive to public safety. Finally, in 2019, the Legislature found different sources to fund hospitals and eliminated the surcharge, along with around $ 2.5 billion in debt owed by around 1.4 million people. The same year,

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