NEWS FLASH: Archduke Franz Ferdinand Found Alive! -- WWI a Mistake!!

Well, the headline this morning was not quite so dramatic. But still rather interesting; see here: Germany Closes Book on WWI with Final Reparations Payment. I had no idea. (Btw, I heard on NPR that this debt is largely in private hands, so no payments are actually being made to governments).

Now, if only Russia will do the same; see here: French Holders to Sue over Czar's Bonds.

"The Russian state owes French people a lot of money, and there is no date limit for that, even if some of this debt is more than 100 years old..."  

The French--they never forget these things.

I wonder what is presently the oldest official piece of outstanding debt out there, where bondholders actually hold some hope (possibly irrational) of eventual redemption?  Confederate bonds? Help me out, you historians...