The problem was made much worse by one of the unintended consequences of the Young Plan. Under the Dawes Plan before it, private commercial lenders had priority over reparations at a time of crisis. In effect, Germany’s public creditors, principally the governments of France, Belgium, and Britain, had to stand last in line. The Young Plan’s elimination of this “transfer protection,” which incidentally Schacht had tried to resist, put an end to the guarantee. In the event of a payments crisis, private lenders did not automatically move to the front of the line but had to wait their turn with
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