The Greek government is running out of money. The country has only enough cash to last another couple of weeks.

So when Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin today, it’s not surprising he wanted her support for financial concessions.

Germany is the largest contributor to Greece’s various bailouts, so it has a powerful voice in European negotiations. However, the relationship between the two countries isn’t going so well.

Just as the saying goes: “history repeats itself” — the two countries’ disagreement goes back to World War II.

“The Greeks have dusted down an old claim for reparations for Nazi atrocities against Greece during World War II,” says Marketplace’s Stephen Beard. “That has played very badly in Germany.”