THE BOOK OF DAMN
YANKEES
OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE BOOK OF MANIFEST DESTINY
The Yanks lose interest in Europe
Chapter 82
And so Wilson talked,
2And the Brits and the Italians and the Russkies listened,
3bAnd the Frogs pouted,
4And eventually they all agreed to a ccompromise.
5Wilson had wanted peace terms that wouldn’t destroy the Krauts,
6Or even make them bitter,
7dBecause if you were nice to the Krauts, they would be nice back.
8The Frogs had wanted peace terms that would basically transfer the entire gross national product of Germany to the Allies,
9eForever,
10And so much the better if the Krauts were bitter,
11Because with terms like that, bitter looks would be about all the hostility they’d be able to afford,
12fForever.
13The way things turned out, the terms of the treaty that everybody signed were somewhere between what Wilson wanted and what the Frogs wanted.
14For example, the Krauts had to pay war reparations,
15gNot quite enough to destroy their country forever,
16hBut definitely enough to make them bitter,
17iWhich satisfied nobody on either side,
18jAnd was about par for European diplomacy.
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Chapter 82 / 154