Germany lost World War I. It was supposed to pay large reparations to the allied powers.
The United States had loaned large amounts of money to France, Britain, and other allied countries during the war. It wanted the loans repaid.
Germany was dragging its feet on repaying the reparations. The allied countries told the United States that they would repay the loans but could only do so after they were paid the reparations.
Some international conferences were held and an agreement was reached. The United States would loan Germany money, Germany would use this money to pay reparations to the allies, and the allies would use the reparations to repay American loans.
How did the United States figure it was coming out ahead on these plans? It was already unhappy about its allies not repaying loans so why was it willing to make new loans to a country it had been at war with? And why did they think Germany was a good prospect for repaying those loans when it was already doing all it could to get out of its existing debt? Didn’t anyone think it was likely that Germany would just delay and default on the American loans as they came due?