I'd say it's a modus operandi. One even might assume that making world wars is a modus operandi given the fact that it happened twice the last century.
> 3. Tax cheaters always find moral explainations for their behaviour.
So does anyone else[1] [2] [3] (there are least another 4 well known cases).
[1] https://anestis.quora.com/Links-to-credible-sources-about-Gr...
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siemens_Greek_bribery_scandal
[3] http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/19/greece-military...
http://uk.businessinsider.com/greece-spends-90-years-in-defa...
1. From the payment date of 1947 it looks more like it went into the Greek civil war - fought by Greeks against Greeks (1946-1949). Tough decision to have another war after devastating WWII. 2. Germany bought weapons for the newly built "Bundeswehr" - most of them from the US.
You share this trait with Syriza and many Greeks today it seems, who are also quick to call people Nazis.
(And I assume you meant Balkan instead of Baltic.)
Anyway, I've had enough feeding trolls. Won't comment on the topic anymore, it's hot enough as it is.
2. Yes Germany defaulted, but did not make it it's modus operandi.
Excellent that you've brought up the Marshall plan:
The Marshall plan was essentially the same as what the EU imposes on Greece: "The Marshall Plan required a lessening of interstate barriers, a dropping of many petty regulations constraining business, and encouraged increase productivity, labour union membership, and the adoption of modern business procedures." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Plan
Where it differed: Beside that the Marshall Plan required European countries (beside Germany e.g. France, Britain, essentially everyone else) to buy from US companies: "Much of the Marshall Plan aid would be used by the Europeans to buy manufactured goods and raw materials from the United States and Canada. [...] The Marshall Plan aid was mostly used for the purchase of goods from the United States" (Same source)
Last interesting tidbit from the Marshall plan "The first substantial aid went to Greece and Turkey in January 1947". (Same source)
Indeed Greece got nearly twice the money from the Marhsall plan per person compared to Germany.
(For comparision Germany got 1.5B, Greece 0.4B, UK 3.3B, France 2.3B)
2. On war damages: I agree they were not paid and I agree with you on moral grounds, but I'm not sure it is economically relevant. The billions from the EU and the (2015 Euro) Marshall plan did not help, so I would not assume paying war damages would put Greece in a different situation. Except perhaps this makes Germany (see 1) a nice enemy.
While we're at war damages, I don't think Greece has paid war damages for any of the wars it started over the last 2500 years. The invasion of Turkey, the baltic war or going back to the support of Alexander the Great - I wonder if Greece paid war damages to Iran for that. Or to Italy for the occupation and exploitation of Sicily (or the other colonies when Greece was an imperialistic colonial power house). So while I agree that Germany should have paid damages on moral grounds, this is a very slippery slope.
3. Tax cheaters always find moral explainations for their behaviour.