<p>The Bretton Woods system was a fixed exchange rate regime, but local currencies existed. Debt was unaffected (other than any debt repudiations that may have happened after the end of World War II).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-18T11:08:29.187Z
2020-04-18T11:08:29.187Z
Brian Romanchuk
<p>When Bretton Woods was created and the world went on to the US Dollar standard, what happened to all the national debt's of all the countries like Japan, Britain, etc?</p>

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2020-04-17T21:55:20.373Z
What do you mean by “what happened”? The Bretton Woods system fixed exchange rates versus the US dollar, but the foreign currencies and government debt still existed.
Brian Romanchuk
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-17T22:14:02.603Z
Oh ok, so no national debts got wiped.
Source
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2020-04-17T22:59:47.687Z
The Bretton Woods system coincided with the end of WWII. Axis countries wiped the debts run up by the wartime regimes, I believe, but that was not related to Bretton Woods, rather the principle of “odious debt.” . US, UK, and others kept their debts.
Brian Romanchuk
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-18T10:26:16.180Z
@BrianRomanchuk I find the concept of odious debt fascinating, but on Wikipedia (not an authoritative source) they write that it has never been used in practice. Also it seems that the German debt was not fully cancelled and was not incurred by the Nazi regime. https://www.cadtm.org/How-Europe-cancelled-Germany-s
Giskard
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2020-04-18T10:27:11.090Z
P.s. you should post your first comment as an answer, that is what it is.
Giskard
<government-debt>
What happened to the national debts after Bretton Woods
Source
# What happened to the national debts after Bretton Woods

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-04-17)

When Bretton Woods was created and the world went on to the US Dollar standard, what happened to all the national debt's of all the countries like Japan, Britain, etc?

**Tags:** government-debt

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: What do you mean by “what happened”? The Bretton Woods system fixed exchange rates versus the US dollar, but the foreign currencies and government debt still existed.  
> **username_0**: Oh ok, so no national debts got wiped.  
> **username_1**: The Bretton Woods system coincided with the end of WWII. Axis countries wiped the debts run up by the wartime regimes, I believe, but that was not related to Bretton Woods, rather the principle of “odious debt.” . US, UK, and others kept their debts.  
> **username_2**: @username_1 I find the concept of odious debt fascinating, but on Wikipedia (not an authoritative username_0) they write that it has never been used in practice. Also it seems that the German debt was not fully cancelled and was not incurred by the Nazi regime. https://www.cadtm.org/How-Europe-cancelled-Germany-s  
> **username_2**: P.s. you should post your first comment as an answer, that is what it is.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-04-18. Score: 1

The Bretton Woods system was a fixed exchange rate regime, but local currencies existed. Debt was unaffected (other than any debt repudiations that may have happened after the end of World War II).


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