Who decided how Germany would be divided after WW2?
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Date: 2022-08-13
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Comments and reviews: 13
Dav
Comrade Stalin wanted the entire German Democratic Republic to exist as an unified Germany, even after everything the Germans did, he never fell for genocidal ideas popular at that time (like from one American Jew Theodore Kaufman, who wrote an entire book advocating literal mass sterilization of Germans and end of German state and territory) and even advocated free elections. But the Westerners knew that would mean a socialist unified Germany, so thats why they created Western Germany and released thousand of Nazi war criminals from jail to help building it. Westerners are the ones to blame for the Berlin Wall.
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Comrade Stalin wanted the entire German Democratic Republic to exist as an unified Germany, even after everything the Germans did, he never fell for genocidal ideas popular at that time (like from one American Jew Theodore Kaufman, who wrote an entire book advocating literal mass sterilization of Germans and end of German state and territory) and even advocated free elections. But the Westerners knew that would mean a socialist unified Germany, so thats why they created Western Germany and released thousand of Nazi war criminals from jail to help building it. Westerners are the ones to blame for the Berlin Wall.
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James
What's the scene with the Canadian flag in the background about?
I know the British tried to get Canada to take on part of the cost and responsibility for their occupation zone (but none of the prestige/shiny parts, of course) but Canada said no.
I don't know what other discussions there were about a Canadian occupation zone, if any.
But Canada was definitely in a better position to afford to occupy part of Germany than the UK was by the end of the war.
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What's the scene with the Canadian flag in the background about?
I know the British tried to get Canada to take on part of the cost and responsibility for their occupation zone (but none of the prestige/shiny parts, of course) but Canada said no.
I don't know what other discussions there were about a Canadian occupation zone, if any.
But Canada was definitely in a better position to afford to occupy part of Germany than the UK was by the end of the war.
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Dav
Austria too was occupied by Red Army troops, but they left and it became entirely capitalist during Cold War. Why? Because Communist Party wasn't democratically elected there. And unlike what you heard of Western Cold War propaganda, the countries of Eastern Europe became Socialist because they were accepted in democratic, fair elections, or because of armed takeover by partisan guerrillas with popular support (Bulgaria, Albania, Yugoslavia.
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Austria too was occupied by Red Army troops, but they left and it became entirely capitalist during Cold War. Why? Because Communist Party wasn't democratically elected there. And unlike what you heard of Western Cold War propaganda, the countries of Eastern Europe became Socialist because they were accepted in democratic, fair elections, or because of armed takeover by partisan guerrillas with popular support (Bulgaria, Albania, Yugoslavia.
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ShEv441
Nice video, still I think lots of opportunities were missed. You have not discussed division of lands that Soviet have controlled. It was interesting game between East Germany vs Poland vs Soviets on how to establish borders within. In the end Poland got more in west, but Soviet took more from the east (also today's Kaliningrad might ended up in Poland or at least it was debated)
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Nice video, still I think lots of opportunities were missed. You have not discussed division of lands that Soviet have controlled. It was interesting game between East Germany vs Poland vs Soviets on how to establish borders within. In the end Poland got more in west, but Soviet took more from the east (also today's Kaliningrad might ended up in Poland or at least it was debated)
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Joe
The last straw that forced the split was the new currency for the three Western sectors introduced in 1948. Right up until the Euro replaced the DM, you could still find 1948 10 Pfennig pieces in circulation that said Bank of the German lands instead of Federal Republican of Germany. Most successful currency reform of all time.
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The last straw that forced the split was the new currency for the three Western sectors introduced in 1948. Right up until the Euro replaced the DM, you could still find 1948 10 Pfennig pieces in circulation that said Bank of the German lands instead of Federal Republican of Germany. Most successful currency reform of all time.
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Dirk
Well, thank you! I'd considered the question, but, after a lifetime of reading about WWII and its aftermath, never knew and always assumed that it was 'just the way it happened to roll'. So, my thanks for confirming my suspicion! Also, you're little snippet of history vids are great!
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Well, thank you! I'd considered the question, but, after a lifetime of reading about WWII and its aftermath, never knew and always assumed that it was 'just the way it happened to roll'. So, my thanks for confirming my suspicion! Also, you're little snippet of history vids are great!
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North
The Morganthau plan was aborted because it would have killed 25 million people through deindustrialization, and not only did people think that was horrifying but it was much advantageous to keep West Germany around as a bulwark against Communism.
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The Morganthau plan was aborted because it would have killed 25 million people through deindustrialization, and not only did people think that was horrifying but it was much advantageous to keep West Germany around as a bulwark against Communism.
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Bonafide
I was kind of disappointed you didnt cover why France got their zone and the UK got their zone.
Especially when the UK was against occupation.
Or even the american enclaves north of Hamburg and why they existed.
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I was kind of disappointed you didnt cover why France got their zone and the UK got their zone.
Especially when the UK was against occupation.
Or even the american enclaves north of Hamburg and why they existed.
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Arizona
They should have just restored the HRE. That mess lasted for nearly 1000 years, never caused a world war, and was the heart of great cultural achievements like the printing press, Protestant Reformation, and JS Bach.
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They should have just restored the HRE. That mess lasted for nearly 1000 years, never caused a world war, and was the heart of great cultural achievements like the printing press, Protestant Reformation, and JS Bach.
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WCGreeny
I have a follow up question that might make a good video: How did West Berlin fall to the Allies and how did they keep it? How did people and goods from West Berlin move to West Germany and vice versa?
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I have a follow up question that might make a good video: How did West Berlin fall to the Allies and how did they keep it? How did people and goods from West Berlin move to West Germany and vice versa?
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SnapplyPie
I love the detail of Mustafa Kemal saying Fight me at 0: 58 (despite being dead by then) as in February 23, 1945 Turkey declared war on Germany. right before the German surrender in May.
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I love the detail of Mustafa Kemal saying Fight me at 0: 58 (despite being dead by then) as in February 23, 1945 Turkey declared war on Germany. right before the German surrender in May.
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HoennMaster
There was also FDR's plan for basically undoing German unification. He proposed six German States plus two international zones. Nothing could have gone wrong with that one.
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There was also FDR's plan for basically undoing German unification. He proposed six German States plus two international zones. Nothing could have gone wrong with that one.
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Just
I would like to know more about how the German people reacted to this. I know there was actually a lot of info on how they reacted, specifically to the new border with Poland
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I would like to know more about how the German people reacted to this. I know there was actually a lot of info on how they reacted, specifically to the new border with Poland
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