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Research Coins: Electronic Auction

 

German Reaction to WWI Terms of Surrender

290, Lot: 482. Estimate $150.
Sold for $180. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

GERMANY, Kaiserreich. 1871-1918. FE Medal (58mm, 68.05 g, 12h). America’s Peace Terms. By Karl Goetz. Dated 12 February 1918. WILSON’S BOTSCHAFT, half-length figure of Woodrow Wilson reaching over globe, pointing to tablet inscribed with fourteen points / WELTFRIEDENS PROGRAMM, eagle with wings spread, grasping in claws tablet inscribed with four additional points; scales behind, five orbs of fire raining from above. Kienast 203. Good VF.


On 8 January 1918, Woodrow Wilson delivered a speech to Congress in which he outlined his Fourteen Points, a post-war plan for peace in Europe. Allies widely distributed copies of the speech behind German lines in an effort to encourage Germany to surrender with the expectation that fair terms would be reached. The terms of surrender ultimately reached, however, called for crushing penalties that shocked Germans and inspired Goetz to create this satirical medal.