The end of World War II brought about not just the end of the Third Reich, the destruction of a nation, and families torn apart, but a nation torn apart as well. In 1945 the war ended and for many nations the healing could start but in Germany it was a different story. Not only was the nation split into four but their capital was as well. Cities laid in ruin, people were jobless, soldiers had not come home, and new politics/governing figures were being forced onto the people. At this point in their history, “whether Germany even still existed as a nation was an open question, but one to which Germans were heartily indifferent. Surviving to the next day was what counted” (Schulze 287). The four victorious powers, America, France, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union, assumed control over Germany and as a result things would never be the same.
People would be alienated in their own country, families would be split apart, and new values would be instilled in the people of Germany. The German government was taken over and replaced with an “Allied Control Council consisting of the commanders-in-chief of the four powers, with headquarters in Berlin, the capital of the former Reich” (287). This council discussed matters that pertained to the whole of Germany but each administrator of the sections was free to rule its own zone. One thing the “big three” (United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union) had agreed on was that “as far as the treatment of Germany itself was concerned, they agreed that “German militarism and Nazism” must be eliminated, so that Germany could never again threaten its neighbors or world peace” so Germany was virtually dismantled (288). At this point in their history, it would appear that Germany as a nation no longer existed. It was a fragmented community of Germany speaking cities. Political leaders were discharged from their positions along with public officers, and any industry that related to creating arms or weapons was dismantled and abandoned.
Along with the disembodiment of Germany’s political system and some of their industries their economic system was dismembered. Initially, “the Potsdam Agreement specifically stated that Germany was to be ‘treated as a single economic unit.’ But as each power was directed to fulfill its own reparations claims from its zone of occupation, this principle was undermined from the start,” meaning that not only did Germany suffer being torn apart physically and politically but economically as well (289). How can a country function when it has been torn apart? I think the ultimate goal was for it to not function “so that Germany could never again threaten its neighbors or world peace” but that was also destroying a unique culture and altering it so it could never be the same again (288).
Beyond this every German citizen was required, under the Potsdam agreement, to undergo a “de-Nazification” process (289). The way this would be done was left to each zone to determine itself. Naturally this led to flaws, errors, and “mistaken conclusions” (290). Many cases dealing with fascism were taken to the docket due to this and so they chose to deal with the minor cases first; as the minor cases were getting worked through “the Cold War intensified” so “interest in pursuing war criminals declined, so that it was often those with the most incriminating past who got off scot free” (290). Many people are aware of the crimes and terrible things that happened during the war, but who knows about what happened directly after? Especially in Germany and how the people were treated? I think it is important to point out different punishments, conflicts, and degrees of destruction that were inflicted upon the citizens of Germany at the end of the war.
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| The four occupations zones of Germany after the war |
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| A sign informing people that they were leaving a specific zone (American) - notice that German, the language of the citizens, is last on the list. |
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