Reparations
What the Soviet Union could take out of Germany, and from which zone. The dispute that came closest to breaking the conference, and the one that did most to make the zonal division permanent.
12Days it ran
42Passages
27 JulyRan hottest
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- PreludeIntroduction
As Allied armies moved closer to Berlin, Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin met for their second summit in the Crimea from February 4th until February 11th 1945. The key points on the agenda at the so-called Yalta Conference were issues related to military tactics in the Pacific Theater and postwar politics in Europe. Unlike Tehran, the meeting did not dwell on military matters, but Stalin did pledge to join the war against Japan three months after the end of the war in Europe.…
Read it in place → - 17 July 1945The Big Three
The Big Three took their turns presenting the issues that they wanted to be added to the official agenda. Stalin, who was fiercely protective of his interests, was very keen on discussing the division of the German merchant fleet and navy, war reparations, trusteeships for Russia, and dealing with the Axis satellite states. To no surprise, Churchill, on the other hand, was very keen on discussing the Polish question.
Read it in place → - 19 July 1945The Fate Of Europe
In short, Churchill not only wanted an equal distribution, but was also sympathetic to distributing a ‘fourth part’ to countries that suffered terribly during WWII – like Norway, pointing out the fact that their oil fleet was a huge part of their nation’s strength. Truman was more concerned for the time being about isolating as much of the German Navy, fleets and merchant ships as possible to the Pacific to defeat the Japanese, while Stalin just wanted as much of everything…
Read it in place → - 21 July 1945The Polish Question
Truman: The question is not who occupies the country, but how we stand on the question as to who is to occupy Germany. I want it understood that the Soviet [Union] is occupying this zone and is responsible for it. I don’t think we are far apart on our conclusions. Stalin: On paper it is formerly German territory but in fact it is Polish territory. There are no Germans left. The Soviet [Union] is responsible for the territory. Truman: Where are the nine million Germans?…
Read it in place → - 25 July 1945Churchill Departs
“We must at sometime discuss the question of the transfer of populations. There are a large number of Germans to be moved from Czechoslovakia. We must consider where they are to go.”“The Czechs have already evicted them,” Stalin replied.“The two and a half million of them?” asked Churchill. “Then there are the Germans from the new Poland. Will they go to the Russian zone? We don’t want them. There are large numbers still to come from the Sudetenland.”Stalin replied, “As far…
Read it in place → - 26 July 1945The Potsdam Declaration
We-the President of the United States, the President of the National Government of the Republic of China, and the Prime Minister of Great Britain, representing the hundreds of millions of our countrymen, have conferred and agree that Japan shall be given an opportunity to end this war.The prodigious land, sea and air forces of the United States, the British Empire and of China, many times reinforced by their armies and air fleets from the west, are poised to strike the final…
Read it in place → - 27 July 1945The Price Of Peace
“So I pointed out that we not only had accepted the proposal as a basis for discussion but that Mr. Pauley (the United States representative to the Allied Reparations Committee) had been in Moscow for thirty-five days and discussed it; then he had come to Berlin and we had continued to discuss it, and for the many reasons I had previously explained to him we had decided, after this discussion, that the figure was not practical.”
Read it in place → - 28 July 1945The New Big Three
The way in which Italy should pay war reparations dominated tonight’s plenary session. All three leaders were adamant on some form of reparations for the suffering it had caused the Allies during the war. After debating in circles about the form in which reparations payments should come, the Big Three agreed that heavy machinery and war equipment would be extracted as payment for peacetime production. At the moment, however, it was difficult to define what could be taken…
Read it in place → - 29 July 1945Stalin Takes Ill
During the Conference, Byrnes had countered this monetary demand with the idea that each occupying power would be allowed to take property as war booty from Germany from their own zones as reparations to either be exchanged between the zones or eventually have its value charged against whatever reparations program was later agreed upon. He then asked Molotov if he had had the opportunity to consider this plan.
Read it in place → - 31 July 1945Settling The Polish Question
“The United States proposes that 25 percent of the industrial capital equipment determined to be unnecessary for the peace economy should be exchanged for an equivalent of food, coal, potash, timber and other articles from the Soviet zone and an additional 15 percent of such equipment not necessary for peace economy should be removed and transferred to the Soviet Union on reparation account without further consideration. In our original proposal this equipment was to come…
Read it in place → - 1 August 1945The Long Last Day
The first item on the agenda was agreeing on the wording when it came to the drafting committee on the protocol on German reparations. Although significant progress on the matter had been made yesterday when the Big Three agreed on extracting reparations from the occupation zones and on the Soviet Union’s acquisition of industrial equipment from the Western Zones, Secretary Jimmy Byrnes raised the question on the Soviet’s claim to gold and German external assets. Both the…
Read it in place → - 2 August 1945The Conference Ends
Meanwhile, Germany would remain divided into four zones under Allied occupation – which was in effect, divided down the middle between East and West. A complete demilitarization of the German state was agreed to and Nazi war criminals were indisputably to be brought to justice in Nuremburg, the city in which they rallied for terror for so many years. And by a complicated formula for reparations, the Soviet Union got the lion’s share – mainly in capital equipment – in view of…
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reparationsreparationdismantlingdismantleddismantlewar bootyexternal assetscapital equipmentPauleyRuhrindustrial equipmentGerman assetspercentagecompensationremovalsindustry