What Happened to the Debts of Conquered Countries?

Conquering land sounds like a pretty good deal ... which is why it was a very popular activity for most of human history! But, as with all good things, someone eventually comes around and spoils the fun for everybody: in this case, that someone was German philosophers, who decided that conquered land should carry its debts to its new owner.

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Further Reading:

[ahscott]

“Extracting payments from someone with this many swords and canons was never a simple affair” brilliant line.

[BrandonF]

I absolutely adored everything about this video. Financial history is so underrated.

[michaelkawchuk]

The most underrated youtube channel. Thanks for the quality content!

[Monsuco]

There's an old saying in finance: "If you owe the bank a little money the bank owns you, if you owe the bank a lot of money then you own the bank." If a conqueror were to not pay back the debts of the nation it conquers then the nations that are owed money might be getting inclined to go to war with the potential conqueror. An example of this is world war I where the United States bought up enormous amounts of French and British bonds but then ultimately entered the war on behalf of the French and British because America needed them to survive so they would pay America back.

[chrisdodds]

Basically, taking on the conquered debts grants legitimacy with the creditors (Typically very powerful people). Legitimacy with powerful people is what allows you to get away with conquest. Damn, got the urge to play EU4 now.

[ThisisBarris]

As a Finance dude, I love economic history. Great that you tackle these ore obscure subjects and awesome video!

[Will-bokg]

It also sort of help that in the case of the British, Conqueror and creditor were often one in the same. In fact conquest being the result of not paying said debts, such as in the case of Egypt 😂

[randomlyentertaining]

France - "Let me have those debts."
*reads debt list, which mysteriously references something about future events and something called "the German Empire"*
France - "Oh dear, what have I done?"

[KenR]

There's also the story of what happens when a country radically changes its government. I recently read a story about how the Soviet Union didn't honor debts from the Czar. It wasn't until the Soviet Union fell and the Russian Federation came into being (and wanted access to foreign debt markets) that they agreed to pay off these old, 100 year old bonds from the days of the Czar.

[Zaluuk]

4:53 Me who just looked up Italy's debt few minutes ago: "That is not a good idea"

[josedenueces]

The thing about Texas is the US never assumed its debt, the State of Texas was fully liable for that debt, and settled it in 1850 by selling eastern New Mexico and southern Colorado to the Federal Government which paid off a majority of the debt.

[resavaccc]

Discovered this channel recently and it really is a gold mine, rather unfortunate it doesn't have more subscribers

[Praseodymium]

your videos are so interesting and well put together, with original style and historical focus. I assume you're a team of people -- I hope you get the following you deserve in order to sustain this quality.

[KaterinaDeAnnika]

These videos always feel way longer than they are. And I mean that as a compliment! You pack so much into these videos that I feel like I’ve sat through a whole long video essay. Bravo on your fact-filled succinctness!

[banananotebook]

As one historian said, English Kings had a long habit of borrowing large sums of money from both its own subjects and foreign creditors. What Cromwell introduced was the innovation of paying them back.

[shanemize]

That impression of Queen Victoria was the best part of the video! Lol. I love the way that you mix so much good information with great sense of humor and fun narration. Just such a great video and channel. Please keep the outstanding videos coming and God bless you, my friend!

[zachdewgaming]

I stumbled on this video and i didn't expect much but this is one of the best animated history vids ive seen. What was even more surprising was it having less then 100k views. I feel like i found some holy grail few are privileged to see!

[l.u.i.s._.]

Queen Victoria: oh dear of course I’ll pay
Also queen Victoria: pretty bold demand for someone in canon blast distance

[OneGoldenCat]

You made both history and economics entertaining.

Kudos.

[Nagytika]

1:37 *Credit card declines*: Private army invades just to destroy the buildings