I've seen a lot of arguments between people (often ranging from Nazi sympathizers to American nationalists) whether the treatment that post-war Germany received was "too generous", "good", "acceptable", "bad" or even flat-out genocidal.
So, with all of these different values, numbers and other sources that were held in front of my nose, I truly found myself more than confused. Thus, I must ask;
How was Germany treated by the Western Allies after WW2?
Further key points of the question:
— Was food available in quantity, and average calorie intake good?
— Did the German industry suffer?
— Was the re-building of Germany made possible only with Allied help?
— What influence did the Morgenthau Plan have on Allied actions? Was the plan really as bad as often portrayed, and did Allied planners really sympathize themselves with the plan?
Any answer is, obviously, greatly appreciated.
While the Western Allies might have been “forgiving” to the Western Germans, this was in their eyes a necessity to help shore up the line before an imminent Russian attack. To sum up how the surviving Officers of the Wehrmacht were treated it would be: punished, but forgiven. German generals like Guderian, Halder, and Manstein were punished lightly or not at all and were allowed to rebuild the West German military. And the rest were either pardoned by 1953 by the West, ran away and in hiding or already captured by the Soviets. But these release of German generals was not out of mercy or the generals reforming their ways, it was out of necessity to rearm West Germany.
Konrad Adenauer, the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany pushed hard for De-Nazification to end. He believed that if it continued, more extreme nationalism would rise up and another Third Reich event could happen. This coupled with the Korean War and the East German leader promising a “reunification” soon, it looked like the Soviets could invade at any time. West Germany looked vulnerable right now and the Western Allied knew this, so they tried everything they could to get West Germany rearmed and ready to fight as Britain and France did not want to be alone in the fight. Konrad would later receive the Himmerod memorandum by Wehrmacht Generals, this laid out that if the West German government wanted to rearm faster and receive their help as well they had to agree to some terms. The terms would be: the Allies/West Germany have to commute or forgive many German war criminals and have the Allies say the Wehrmacht committed no war crimes. The Allies were willing to do anything they could to rearm West Germany as fast they could and agreed to this. Many Generals were released, and some offenders who were about to be executed were instead got commuted or released. It should be noted that even after De-Nazification ended, Group 1 and 2 offenders were still not allowed to hold public offices. And any of those rehabilitated ex Nazis, if they caused any trouble were threatened with being prosecuted.
Dwight D Eisenhower and the rest of the West would later forgive the Wehrmacht of their war crimes and say “their honor was still intact”. The results of this forgiveness and compromise would lay the ground work of the Clean Wehrmacht Myth, and some surviving generals would write memoirs to support this myth.
Konrad and the West had a larger priority with an impending Russian Invasion at any time, the De-Nazification looked like a hindrance for the rebuilding of West Germany. With Konrad’s go ahead to forgive and give leniency to much of the Wehrmacht, this would create they Clean Wehrmacht myth we know today. Alongside many German Generals who denounced Hitler and his actions, even though they were fine and even agreed with Hitler’s plans of murdering all those in the East.
While it may seem like the West forgave Germany too soon or were very light on them, it was out of fear of the Russians invading the West and with only France and Britain in their way. Another power would help keep the Soviets in check just in case they got any ideas. West Germany would later become a integral part of NATO and Western European commerce. But because of the rushing to rearm and rebuild of Germany, we have a legacy of a false narrative of the Wehrmacht being a clean and honorable force which was far from the case.