Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of maps
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- Glossary
- 1 Wilhelmine Germany, 1900–1914
- 2 War and civil war, 1914–1923
- 3 The Weimar Republic between stabilisation and collapse, 1924–1933
- 4 The Third Reich, 1933–1945
- 5 Occupation and division, 1945–1960
- 6 The two Germanies since the 1960s
- Statistical tables
- Chronological table
- Select bibliography
- Index
5 - Occupation and division, 1945–1960
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of maps
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- Glossary
- 1 Wilhelmine Germany, 1900–1914
- 2 War and civil war, 1914–1923
- 3 The Weimar Republic between stabilisation and collapse, 1924–1933
- 4 The Third Reich, 1933–1945
- 5 Occupation and division, 1945–1960
- 6 The two Germanies since the 1960s
- Statistical tables
- Chronological table
- Select bibliography
- Index
Summary
Economic and political life in the Western Zones of Occupation
When the Second World War finally ended at the beginning of May 1945, the nations of Europe began to take stock of five years of unprecedented bloodshed and destruction. As far as the Germans were concerned, the balance-sheet, though not as catastrophic as that of some of their neighbours, above all Poland and Russia, was depressing enough. An estimated seven million of them had been killed, or were presumed dead, of whom 3.2 millions were civilians. Some of the soldiers who had been reported missing later re-emerged from POW camps, many of them after ten years. But as late as 1962, the Red Cross and other agencies were still trying to clear up the fate of some 1.3 million former soldiers. At least one million ex-servicemen had suffered severe injuries and were disabled. Civilian health was also badly shaken.
Large parts of the country's major cities had been reduced to piles of rubble. Overall, some 3.4 million flats and houses out of a total of 17.1 million had been completely destroyed. A further 30 per cent had been severely damaged. Where possible those who had been bombed-out had built make-shift shelters in which they lived like cavemen. Others had been rehoused in undamaged accommodation, often five or six people to a room. The desperate shortage of housing was worsened by the influx of some 10 million refugees and expellees from the eastern parts of the former Reich and the German-occupied territories.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Modern GermanySociety, Economy and Politics in the Twentieth Century, pp. 177 - 225Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1987