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Europe after the World War 665 IV. INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 1203. The Enforcement of the Treaty of Versailles. The onerous terms imposed upon Germany proved hard to enforce. Holland refused to surrender the kaiser for trial, as had been stipulated in the treaty, and all the German authorities were slow in bringing to trial those accused by the Allies of high crimes and misdemeanors in connection with the war. Owing to the disorders in Germany the reduction in the armed forces called for by the treaty met with many obstacles, and France persistently doubted the good faith of the Germans in this respect. 1204. Question of the Amount of the German Indemnity. The most vexatious question of all was that of the " reparations " which the Germans were to make. The total amount had been left indefinite, dependent somewhat upon the ability of Germany to pay, but it was pointed out in many quarters that there could be no real peace until the total sum was finally agreed upon and arrangements were made for payment. The Germans flatly declared that they would not set to work again seriously if all they produced for a long and indefinite period was to be taken from them by the Allies. In the course of time England began to relent, and responsible statesmen there openly agreed that the sum to be paid should be fixed as soon as possible, so that the settlement of the questions left by the war could be closed. In February, 1921, a commission of the Allies fixed the German indemnity at about fifty-six billion dollars, to be paid in installments during the fol- lowing forty years. The German government loudly protested, and the Allies then arranged to advance somewhat farther into Germany to enforce payment. The whole question of the final terms with Germany thus remained unsettled and a source of constant agitation. 1205. The First Session of the League of Nations Assembly. On November 15, 1920, nearly two hundred and fifty delegates, representing forty-one nations, met at Geneva, Switzerland, for the opening session of the first Assembly held under the League of Nations agreement.