Germany Aftermath of World War II

post-wwii occupation zones of germany, in 1937 borders, territories east of oder-neisse line shown annexed poland , soviet union, plus saar protectorate , divided berlin. east germany formed soviet zone, while west germany formed american, british, , french zones in 1949 , saar in 1957.

in west, alsace-lorraine returned france. sudetenland reverted czechoslovakia following european advisory commission s decision delimit german territory territory held on 31 december 1937. close 1 quarter of pre-war (1937) germany de facto annexed allies; 10 million germans either expelled territory or not permitted return if had fled during war. remainder of germany partitioned 4 zones of occupation, coordinated allied control council. saar detached , put in economic union france in 1947. in 1949, federal republic of germany created out of western zones. soviet zone became german democratic republic.

germany paid reparations united kingdom, france, , soviet union, in form of dismantled factories, forced labour, , coal. german standard of living reduced 1932 level. beginning after german surrender , continuing next 2 years, , britain pursued intellectual reparations programme harvest technological , scientific know-how patents in germany. value of these amounted around us$10 billion (us$123 billion in 2016 dollars). in accordance paris peace treaties, 1947, reparations assessed countries of italy, romania, hungary, bulgaria, , finland.

the hunger-winter of 1947, thousands protest against disastrous food situation (31 march 1947).

us policy in post-war germany april 1945 until july 1947 had been no should given germans in rebuilding nation, save minimum required mitigate starvation. allies immediate post-war industrial disarmament plan germany had been destroy germany s capability wage war complete or partial de-industrialization. first industrial plan germany, signed in 1946, required destruction of 1,500 manufacturing plants lower german heavy industry output 50% of 1938 level. dismantling of west german industry ended in 1951. 1950, equipment had been removed 706 manufacturing plants, , steel production capacity had been reduced 6.7 million tons. after lobbying joint chiefs of staff , generals lucius d. clay , george marshall, truman administration accepted economic recovery in europe not go forward without reconstruction of german industrial base on had been dependent. in july 1947, president truman rescinded on national security grounds directive had ordered occupation forces take no steps looking toward economic rehabilitation of germany. new directive recognised [a]n orderly, prosperous europe requires economic contributions of stable , productive germany. mid-1946 onwards germany received government aid through garioa programme. 1948 onwards west germany became minor beneficiary of marshall plan. volunteer organisations had been forbidden send food, in 1946 council of relief agencies licensed operate in germany founded. prohibition against sending care packages individuals in germany rescinded on 5 june 1946,

after german surrender, international red cross prohibited providing aid such food or visiting pow camps germans inside germany. however, after making approaches allies in autumn of 1945 allowed investigate camps in uk , french occupation zones of germany, provide relief prisoners held there. on 4 february 1946, red cross permitted visit , assist prisoners in u.s. occupation zone of germany, although small quantities of food. red cross petitioned improvements made in living conditions of german pows.