A Divided Germany About 15 million ethnic Germans living in this territory were forced to leave, suffering terrible conditions during their expulsion. Many froze or starved to death on over-crowded trains, while others were subject to forced labor camps under Polish and Czechoslovakian governments.
The situation in Germany after World War II was dire. Millions of Germans were homeless from Allied bombing campaigns that razed entire cities. And millions more Germans living in Poland and East Prussia became refugees when the Soviet Union expelled them.
Over the next 3 years: 61 German cities, with a combined population of 25 million, were attacked; 3.6 million homes were destroyed; 7.5 million people were made homeless; 300,000 – 400,000 Germans were killed in the raids; and 800,000 people were wounded.
Even though modern day Germany shows no resemblance to the "Third Reich,” Hitler's Nazi Germany, and has developed into a firm, liberal democracy, the historic burden still effects the lives of young and old.
In the years following World War II, large numbers of German civilians and captured soldiers were forced into labor by the Allied forces. The topic of using Germans as forced labor for reparations was first broached at the Tehran conference in 1943, where Soviet premier Joseph Stalin demanded 4,000,000 German workers.
Russians also point to the fact that Soviet forces killed more German soldiers than their Western counterparts, accounting for 76 percent of Germany's military dead.
The treaty gave some German territories to neighbouring countries and placed other German territories under international supervision. In addition, Germany was stripped of its overseas colonies, its military capabilities were severely restricted, and it was required to pay war reparations to the Allied countries.
After World War II both West Germany and East Germany were obliged to pay war reparations to the Allied governments, according to the Potsdam Conference. Other Axis nations were obliged to pay war reparations according to the Paris Peace Treaties, 1947.
Hitler was not angry, or vindictive – far from it. He seemed relieved. Goebbels thought the German leader looked as if a great burden had fallen from his shoulders. He had earlier said Normandy was a possible landing site, for one thing.
The country subsequently began a slow but continuous improvement of its standard of living, with the export of local products, a reduction in unemployment, increased food production, and a reduced black market.
According to postwar German estimates, more than 35,000 soldiers were convicted by military courts of leaving their units during the course of the war. Some 23,000 were sentenced to death, and at least 15,000 of these were actually executed.
Although a defeated West Germany was forbidden from having a standing army immediately after the end of World War II, the Allies quickly changed that stance as the Cold War began and by 1955 Germany's Bundeswehr came into existence as a NATO member with the chief mission to hold off the threat of a Soviet invasion.
The German Red Cross reported in 2005 that the records of the military search service WAS list total Wehrmacht losses at 4.3 million men (3.1 million dead and 1.2 million missing) in World War II. Their figures include Austria and conscripted ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe.
Germany After the War
The numbers tell the story of a nation in disarray. Industrial output was down by a third. The country's housing stock was reduced by 20%. Food production was half the level it was before the start of the war.
I made a analysis about WW2, and I found that there are four part of disadvantage of German. 1 German did not consciousness advantages of paratroopers. 2 German did not enhance their navy when their submarine got successful in Atlantic. 3 German did not attach importance to the battle of Africa.
And there was 400 million cubic meters (14 billion cubic feet) of rubble to clear. The degree of destruction varied regionally. In East Germany, 9.4 percent of pre-war housing was destroyed. In West Germany, the figure was 18.5 percent.
Hitler's Miscalculations
His subordinates had been given strict orders not to wake the Führer for any reason. And even when Hitler finally roused himself at 11 or noon, he refused to immediately send reinforcements to Normandy, still blindly confident that the entire D-Day invasion was a diversionary tactic.
But German troops fought well on D-Day and then kept Allied forces bottled up in their lodgement area for seven weeks. They suffered from shortages of everything, received minimal reinforcements and were utterly exposed to the depredations of Allied air power.
Australia's main contribution was in the air. Up to 2,500 Australian airmen served in about 200 Royal Air Force squadrons supporting the impending invasion of north-west Europe, including ten RAAF squadrons of all kinds.
Germany was also responsible for paying reparations after World War II. Although the total debt was estimated at over $300 billion, Germany was responsible for paying about $3 billion, according to the London Agreement on German External Debts in 1952.
The case of debts arising from World War II is somewhat less complicated. At this time only four countries, discussed below, owe the U.S. government debts of any size arising from World War II programs to aid our allies. Other countries have paid their debts in full.
Germany owes Poland over $850 billion in WW2 reparations: senior lawmaker. WARSAW (Reuters) - Germany could owe Poland more than $850 billion in reparations for damages it incurred during World War Two and the brutal Nazi occupation, a senior ruling party lawmaker said.
After Germany's surrender in May 1945, millions of German soldiers remained prisoners of war. In France, their internment lasted a particularly long time. But, for some former soldiers, it was a path to rehabilitation.
The Treaty of Versailles caused furious reactions in Germany. Germany had to pay huge sums of money to the countries it had fought in compensation for the damage. In addition, France, England, and the United States wanted to prevent Germany from becoming strong enough to start a new war.
Historians who believe Germany was primarily responsible for the war base their conclusion on the aggressive attitude of Germany's leaders, their desire to extend Germany's influence throughout Europe, and on the militaristic nature of the German people.