What did Allies do after Germany surrendered?

Answer 1

At high level conferences earlier in the war it had already been decided that Germany would be divided into "Zones of Occupation", with Great Britain, France, the US and the Soviet Union each having a Zone. Berlin was ninety miles deep in the Russian Zone but was also divided into four zones for each of the allied powers. Thousands of German civilians and soldiers tried to head west in the final days of the war, to surrender to the western allies and stay out of the hands of the Russians. Germany was also swarming with millions of "DP"s - "displaced persons". Most of these were former slave laborers taken by the Nazis from their home countries and forced to work in German mines, industry, and agriculture, refugees from the east fleeing before the advancing Red Army, freed prisoners of war, and concentration camp survivors. The western allies had lists of wanted war criminals, including most high ranking Nazis. Any SS personnel that could be found were detained to investigate possible war crimes charges against them. SS personnel knew they were wanted and tried to pass as civilians or regular Wehrmacht soldiers, but many were given away by the SS practice of tattooing SS men with their blood type on the inner left arm. Millions of German troops were herded into POW stockades. In the Russian Zone the commanders gave their troops free rein to rape, kill and rob. Several hundred thousand German females were raped by the Russians, including extremely young little girls and very old women. The Russians deliberately allowed the Asian troops, Mongolians, to be the first into Berlin for this orgy of violence, and revenge for the savage cruelty and brutality the Germans had exhibited when they were advancing into Russia.

The western allies began an immediate "denazification" process. Only about ten per cent of Germans had been Nazi Party members, but they often included low level politicians who were hoping party memberships would advance their careers. The Germans are meticulous record-keepers so there were membership lists. All these local officials with Nazi Party affiliations had to be removed and suitable, competent substitutes found. Allied Military Government (AMG) under the leadership of US General Lucius Clay had to see to all governmental functions, and also try to get basic services like water, electricity and telephones functioning. It was a monumental task.

Germany was devastated. Many of its major cities were complete ruins. Berlin was over 90% destroyed. Dams were broken, power plants were rubble, every bridge was destroyed, railroad tracks, train yards, engines and train cars had been bombed to splinters. The devastation was near complete.

Because German agriculture had been run on slave labor during the war, and the slaves were freed as the allies advanced into Germany in the first months of 1945, no one planted a crop in Germany in 1945. Hunger was widespread, real hunger, actual starvation. Civilians were reduced to living on what they could beg from the occupiers. Many women were forced to become prostitutes for the necessities of life.

There was a still a war going on in the Pacific, and many of the troops in Germany were needed to bring it to a close, since almost no one yet knew anything of the atomic bombs, and those who did know did not know if it would work, or what would happen when they were ready and dropped on Japan. Germany's submarines had sunk thousands of British and American ships during the war, and there was only so much scarce shipping available to bring food to Europe to feed the destitute people who yesterday were trying to kill us, and also to redeploy millions of men to the Pacific, to bring the Japanese slaughter of Asians and Americans to an end. What food did get to Europe went to feed civilians and DPs, and the former German soldiers were at the end of the line. Somewhere around 53,000 German POWs died in American POW camps in late 1945 and early 1946, many from starvation.

The Russians even before the end of the war had become confrontational and immediately began trying to bully the Americans, British and French out of Berlin and Germany all together. The Russians had agreed to allow road and rail access to Berlin but closed these off, without explanation. Truman made the decision to feed Berlin by air, in the "Berlin Airlift". Not only food but coal for heating and electricity generation had to flown in to the two airfields the allies had access to inside West Berlin, enough to support five million people in Berlin. For almost a year a plane landed about every minute, around the clock. The people of West Berlin and Germany deeply appreciated this tremendously costly American effort to save them from the grasping Russians, and any who still needed convincing became fast friends of America and have remained so since.