2-WWII+Germany+OT

Occupied territory by Germany
 * What were the circumstances in the Occupied Territory that compelled the policies implemented by the occupying power there? How was policy shaped to address these circumstances? **

Picture of the occupied areas of Germany:

American: A policy implemented by Eisenhower was a very strict non-fraternization policy, which restricts American interaction with German people. This was implemented because the Germans were considered prisoners of war to the US. Many Germans were also placed into camps due to this. There was also an American food policy in Germany that made it so that the US prohibited food importing in Germany to starve many Germans in the US populations. This was also a part of the US policy where they got shipped into camps to work for labor with little food.

British: The British policy was to force Germans in their occupied area to go to camps for two reasons: political re-education, and if they weren’t educated enough, they were to work in the camps for agricultural purposes.

French: French policy in their occupied area consisted of France demanding workers from Germany to work in France. In 1945, over 740,000 Germans moved to France to work. The work they had to do was intense labor. Examples include clearing minefields in French territory, which was almost considered a death sentence if they stepped on a mine.

Soviet: Soviet policy included the demanding of German labor workers in Soviet territory in the eastern part of Germany. For example, Stalin demanded over 4 million German workers to work in uranium mines in the eastern part of Germany.

American: As per the effect of the US food policy towards Germany, US soldiers exploited the policy by selling the food and even cigarettes for high prices, and even sometimes towards prostitution for women.
 * What were the effects of the occupation of your territory on the occupying power's war effort? This should include basic data such as numbers of troops diverted to the occupation and so forth, but should also take into account less logistical factors such as the psychological effect of occupation on the occupying power, issues of morale, attitudes of occupation forces toward the local population (and vice versa) and the degree to which that sharpened or dulled the occupiers' resolve, etc. **

British: Due to the harsh treatment of the Germans, they were eventually offered citizenship in Britain so they can stay. In 1947, over 250,000 prisoners were able to attain this offer, to which they stayed in Britain.

French: On March 13 1947, France decided to release the majority of their prisoners. They were to release 450,000 prisoners in total, within increments of 20,000 prisoners per month. They also made an agreement with the US that they were to send some Germans as prisoners of war to the US.

Soviet: The effects of the occupation by the Soviets was harsh on the Germans because the Soviets mainly made them work in mines as well as clearing minefields. Most Germans would require to work for the Soviets, which demanded intense amounts of physical strength, which none of them had as most workers were malnourished and starving.

For collaboration between the countries, the US, Britain, and Soviet Union (France wasn’t in this, however, they still were a part of it) came together for the Potsdam Conference, which was held in 1945 from July 17 to August 2. This conference was over on deciding the fate of the Germans within their respective occupied territories, as well as how to expulsify most of the Germans from Germany to different neighboring countries such as Poland. They also negotiated the disassembling of the German army, government, leadership, and laws. They finally agreed on the costs that Germany will have to pay to everyone in war damages. All of the countries in the conference also demanded labor workers in large quantities. For the case of French soldiers, if they saw retaliating while they were working, they sent Germans to the mine fields to help clear them.
 * What were the motivations/methods/outcomes of resistance and collaboration? How did this affect the Occupied Territory after the war? Use case studies to illustrate. **

Women were not able to get no child support in any of the occupied territories of Germany. In the earliest stages of the occupation in 1945, it was considered illegal to have soldiers pay maintenance for the child, as that was considered aiding the enemy. The US established a policy in the early 1950s that prohibits any form of determining ownership of children in the occupied areas of Germany.
 * What were the effects of occupation on women & youth in the Occupied Territory? Use case studies to illustrate. **


 * Works Cited: **

Herb, Guntram H. "Double Vision: Territorial Strategies in the Construction of National Identities in Germany, 1949-1979." JSTOR. Taylor & Francis, Ltd., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. <__http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/3694072?searchUri=/action/doBasicSearch?Query=occupied territory germany&acc=on&wc=on&fc=off__>.

"View Movie." A DEFEATED PEOPLE : National Archives and Records Administration : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive. National Archives and Records Administration, n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. < [|__https://archive.org/details/gov.archives.arc.36087__] >.

"View Movie." CIVIL AFFAIRS IN GERMANY [ETC.] : National Archives and Records Administration : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive. National Archives and Records Administration, n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. < [|__https://archive.org/details/gov.archives.arc.39159__] >.

Truman, Harry S. "Truman Library:." Truman Library:. Harry S Truman Library, n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. < [|__http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/marshall/large/documents/index.php?pagenumber=4__] >.

Wiltenburg, Mary, and Marc Widdman. "WWII G.I. Babies: Children of the Enemy."SPIEGEL ONLINE. SPIEGEL Magazine, 2 Jan. 2007. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. < [|__http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/wwii-g-i-babies-children-of-the-enemy-a-456835.html__] >.