x l v i i i I N T R O D U C T I O N T O V O L U M E 1 6 Einstein was also asked for his opinion on issues related to German foreign policy. In regard to the country’s war debt, he maintained that the Germans did not have “a moral responsibility” to pay reparations. He predicted the nation would honor its debt payments if possible and that this hinged on funds the state would receive from the United States (Doc. 378). Although Germany lost its colonies in 1919, Einstein was nevertheless requested to comment on whether it should pursue renewed colonial efforts. He expressed his opposition to overseas colonization and rather advocated for internal migration—the reclamation of uncultivated land, the parceling out of land estates, and an increase in the number of inhabitants engaging in agriculture (Doc. 41). International rapprochement, particularly in Europe, continued to be of utmost concern to Einstein. He criticized the existence of two rival organizations focused on European unification efforts and, in June 1927, urged them to collaborate (Doc. 12). Einstein’s skepticism toward the efficacy of the League of Nations’ In- ternational Committee on Intellectual Cooperation (ICIC), of which he was a founding member, persisted during these years. In advance of the committee’s ninth session at Geneva in July 1927, he referred to the deliberations as an “inter- national hot air meeting” (Doc. 20), yet eventually found the discussions more in- teresting than he had expected (Doc. 28). Nevertheless, he was very dissatisfied with the ICIC’s policy on the protection of minority rights in Europe, an issue that he considered to be one of the most pressing in contemporary European life. He conveyed his opposition to its recent decision to recognize only one national com- mittee from each member country, believing this detrimental to the rights of other national minority groups, especially in the Balkans (Doc. 50). The persecution of minorities by reactionary governments in southeastern Europe increasingly con- cerned Einstein. In a statement for the Balkan Federation, he criticized the current conditions of “terror” in the region and advocated for the rights of all national mi- norities (Doc. 30). In spring 1928, he expressed his dismay about the League of Na- tions’ failure to intervene in the oppression of minority groups. In his opinion, this issue was one of the main reasons the League failed to gain mass support among the public (Doc. 178). Due to ill health, Einstein was absent from the tenth session of the ICIC in July 1928. He requested that senior Prussian civil servant Hugo A. Krüss represent him on the committee and at the International Institute of Interna- tional Cooperation (Abs. 516). Einstein lent his support to two educational enterprises during this period, one of which was international in nature. He delivered the inaugural lecture at the fes- tive opening of the Davoser Hochschulkurse in March 1928 and attended many of