Curated category
Aftermath of World War II in Germany
- Restatement of Policy on GermanyIn 1946, American Occupation General Lucius D. Clay observed that Germans faced a stark choice between starvation and ideology.
- Allied plans for German industry after World War IIIn July 1945, Allied leaders gathered at the Potsdam Conference to decide Germany's future. The United States sought to implement the Morgenthau Plan, a…
- Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950)In 1942, Winston Churchill proposed the expulsion of Germans from Eastern Europe to Polish and Czechoslovak governments-in-exile in London.
- German Instrument of SurrenderAdolf Hitler committed suicide inside his Führerbunker under the Reich Chancellery on the 30th of April 1945. He drew up a testament naming Admiral Karl…
- History of Germany (1945–1990)The Berlin Declaration of the 5th of June 1945 marked the official end of the German Reich and began a period of Allied occupation.
- Morgenthau PlanIn early 1944, Henry Morgenthau Jr. held a meeting with Secretary of State Cordell Hull to discuss the future of Germany after World War II.
- WirtschaftswunderThe Wirtschaftswunder, a German word meaning "economic miracle," describes one of the most dramatic reversals of fortune in modern history.
- Soviet occupation zone in GermanyOn the 2nd of August 1945, the Soviet Union established control over a specific middle portion of Germany through the Potsdam Agreement.
- Elbe DayAt 11:30am on the 25th of April 1945, a small boat cut through the muddy waters of the River Elbe. Inside sat First Lieutenant Albert Kotzebue and three men…
- Victory Day (9 May)Late in the evening on the 8th of May 1945, German officials signed an Instrument of Surrender in Reims, France. This document was witnessed by…
- World War II reparationsIn August 1945, the Allied powers gathered at Potsdam to finalize how Germany would pay for the war. The United States, United Kingdom, France, and Soviet…