Post-World War 2

The post-World War II era is examined on this web page. The specific post-war events occurring in Europe (mainly Germany) and the U.S. are emphasized. After World War 2 ended, the Nuremberg Trial, the Marshall Plan, The Cold War, and the War on Terror occurred and are discussed in this post-World War 2 site. Also discussed, is global warming, the energy crisis and the political struggle in the U.S. between the conservatives and the liberals. Post-World War 2 Germany After World War 2 ended in Europe (Germany in World War 2), much of Europe lay in ruins. After the death of 60 million people in the war, there was incredible bad feelings toward the Germans, the main perpetrators of the war. Additionally, the Russians seemed more interested in looting what remained of European industry under the guise of "reparations" than in participating in the rebuilding of Europe. To top off the problems, German war criminals had to hunted down, tried, and, if found guilty, sentenced. There was a lot of work to do to set things straight. In retrospect, it seemed it would take a miracle to get it done in post-World War 2 Europe. Werwolf. One threat to post-World War 2 Germany never materialized. That threat was from the Werwolf (Werewolf) organization of German guerrilla fighters that had planned to fight behind enemy lines late in the war and, when the war ended, had planned to continue their actions and had also planned revenge against all Germans that were traitors to the Nazi cause. After succeeding Hitler, Admiral Doenitz ordered the organization to cease hostile actions and they promptly obeyed the order. In actuality, the Werwolf was never much of a threat after the war ended although they managed to get quite a bit of publicity. Numerous inquiries are still received at this web site as to how the Werwolf compared to the present Iraq insurgency. The answer is that the Iraq insurgency is a serious problem while the Werwolf "insurgency" in post-World War 2 Germany was a non-event. Germany After World War 2 (1945). In accord with the accord reached in the Yalta Conference of 1945 and the Potsdam Conference of 1945, post-war Germany was divided into four zones of occupation with Russia, the United States, Britain, and France each occupying one zone. At Potsdam, it was agreed that Germany would be reunited as soon as it was strong enough. Berlin, although it lay entirely in the

Russian zone of occupation, was also divided into four zones in post-World War 2 Germany. German War Scientists in Post-World War 2. Shortly after the war ended, the U.S. enlisted a number of scientists to emigrate to the United States. Foremost among them was rocket scientist, Wernher Von Braun. Von Braun had been technical director of the German rocket weapon project at Peenemunde where the V-2 rocket, used with great effect against England, was developed. After World War 2, Von Braun played a key role in the development of the US satellite program, the Jupiter-C rocket, and the Saturn rocket which played a key role in the American moon flight program (Apollo Program). Other German scientists ended up working in various capacities for the US and other countries including Russia. Post-World War 2 Nuremberg Trials of Germany's War Criminals . The resentment against the major German leaders made it mandatory in post-World War 2 Germany that some attempt be made to redress the dreadful crimes of those German leaders that were guilty. Hence, the importance of the Nuremberg trial. The Nuremberg trial itself appears well handled with all those accused receiving a lengthy and seemingly fair trial. Most of the defendants tried to save their skins with a few owning up to their share of guilt for war crimes. Most were found guilty but some were found innocent. Many of the German war criminals found guilty at the Nuremberg Trials appropriately received death sentences while others were only lightly punished. Ironically, Hermann Goering, the highest ranking German leader at the Nuremberg Trials, beat the hangman's noose by committing suicide two hours before he was to be led to the scaffold. This was much to the delight of the German masses who were fond of Goering and felt that he had "beat the system." Hess received a life sentence which I feel, because of his absence from the war scene during most of World War 2 and his obvious poor mental condition, was excessive. Albert Speer, the "good Nazi" received 20 years. This gave him plenty of time to write one of the best books on World War 2, Inside the Third Reich, a major reference book for this Germany in World War 2 web site. Generally speaking, the Allies showed some compassion toward the Nazi war criminals while the Russians were generally pretty rough on them. The executions of those sentenced to death at Nuremberg appeared to have been somewhat sloppily carried out. Not too many of their war victims felt sorry for them, though.

Of course, four of the most fanatical Nazis criminals - Hitler, Goebbels, Himmler, and Bormann - either committed suicide to escape capture or were killed by the Russians while fleeing Berlin. Rumors of Bormann escaping to Argentina persisted for decades but it is virtually certain he died from a Russian bullet after leaving the Bunker in a dash for freedom. It should also be noted that plans to punish German industrial leaders who had collaborated with Hitler and the Nazis had to be put on hold, indefinitely, in postWorld War 2 Germany. Germany was in such bad economic condition and in such need of recovery that the industrial leaders of the war were more needed to lead the recovery than they were needed for punishment. Germans on Trials - Summation of Nuremberg Verdicts and Sentences. Those acquitted of World War 2 crimes at Nuremberg included Hjaimar Schacht, Franz von Papen, and Hans Fritzsche. Those found guilty of war crimes and receiving the death sentence were Hermann Goering (committed suicide before sentence could be carried out), Joachim von Ribbentrop, Wilhelm Keitel, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Alfred Rosenberg, Hans Frank, Wilhelm Frick, Julius Streicher, Fritz Sauckel, Alfred Jodl, Artur Seyss-Inquart, and Martin Bormann (in absenta). Those found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment at Spandau Prison were Rudolf Hess (committed suicide at Spandau prison), Walther Funk, and Erich Raeder. Two were found guilty and received 20 years: Albert Speer and Baldur von Schirach. Constantin von Neurath received 15 years (he was released due to poor health after 8 years) and Karl Doenitz received 10 years. In his book, Spandau, Albert Speer chronicles the experiences of those imprisoned at Spandau. More Germans on Trial After World War 2: The Doctor's Trial and the Frankfurt Trial. In addition to the Nuremberg trials for major German war criminals, other trials of German war criminals were held after World War 2 ended. Beginning in 1946, the Doctor's trial was held, also in Nuremberg, for 23 doctors and scientists charged with performing cruel experiments on concentration camp inmates and other war crimes. Sixteen were convicted. Those receiving death sentences were Karl Brandt (Hitler's personal physician), Victor Brack, Rudolf Brandt, Karl Gebhardt, Waldemar Hoven, Joachim Mrugowsky, and Wolfram Sievers.

A trial was also held at Frankfurt 1962 - 1965 for 20 SS officers who worked at the Auschwitz concentration camp during the war. Seventeen were convicted but none received the death sentences. In other post-World War 2 trials, Rudolf Hoess, Commandant of Auschwitz, received a death sentence. A number of German military leaders, including Friedrich Manstein, Erhard Milch, Albert Kesselring, and Sepp Dietrich, received sentences in various trials. Most served relatively short sentences and then resumed an active life style. Leni Riefenstahl, the film director, also was tried and received 4 years in prison. Ms. Riefenstahl's major punishment was that she was not permitted to make films in Germany again and was unofficially banished from polite society for the rest of her life. She recently died at age 101 but was extremely active in her work to the end. (See German Women of World War 2).

The reconstruction of Germany was a long process. After World War II, Germany suffered heavy losses: the country's cities were severely damaged from the heavy bombings in the closing chapters of World War II, agricultural production was only 35% of what it was before the war. During the war, 7.5 million Germans had been killed, roughly 11 percent of the population (see also World War II casualties). At the Potsdam conference the victorious allies ceded roughly 25% of Germany's pre-Anschluss territory to Poland and the Soviet Union. The German population in this area was expelled by force, together with the Germans of the Sudetenland and the German populations scattered throughout the rest of Eastern Europe. Between 0.5 and 2 million died in the process, depending on source. (See also Expulsion of Germans after World War II). As a result the population density grew in the "new" Germany that remained after the dismemberment. As agreed at Potsdam, an attempt was made to convert Germany into a pastoral and agricultural nation, which would only be allowed light industry. Huge amounts of factories were dismantled as reparations or simply destroyed (see also the Morgenthau Plan). Due to these policies large numbers of German civilians died in the years following the unconditional surrender in what would eventually become West Germany. Millions of German prisoners of war were for several years used as forced labor, both by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union. Beginning immediately after the German surrender and continuing for the next two years the U.S. pursued a vigorous program to harvest all technological and scientific know-how as well as all patents in Germany.