Curated playlist
Aftermath of World War II in Germany
- Restatement of Policy on GermanyA 1946 speech named for hope alarmed Poland. US Secretary of State James F. Byrnes questioned its new borders.
- Allied plans for German industry after World War IIAfter World War II, the Allies aimed to shrink Germany to its 1932 level.
- Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950)In January 1945, a Soviet submarine sank the liner Wilhelm Gustloff, killing about 9,000 fleeing Germans.
- German Instrument of SurrenderGermany surrendered twice in World War II in Europe, a day apart. The Soviets rejected the first signing in France.
- History of Germany (1945–1990)On December 7, 1970, Chancellor Willy Brandt knelt at a Warsaw Ghetto Uprising monument.
- Morgenthau PlanRoosevelt and Churchill initialed a plan to turn Germany into farmland. Both soon distanced themselves from it.
- WirtschaftswunderLudwig Erhard abolished price controls in 1948 even though the Allied powers opposed it.
- Soviet occupation zone in GermanyIn April 1946, Soviet authorities forcibly merged two German parties into one. It became East Germany's governing party.
- Elbe DayElbe Day began when four American soldiers paddled a small boat across a river in Germany.
- Victory Day (9 May)Moscow clocks had already reached May 9 when Germany's surrender was signed.
- World War II reparationsAt Yalta, the Allies decided Germany would pay reparations in goods, not money.