The Original Plan For Germany After World War II
Destroy all industry and turn the nation into a land of starving subsistence-level serfs
“There is the illusion that the New Germany left after the annexations can be reduced to a ‘pastoral state.’ It cannot be done unless we exterminate or move 25,000,000 people out of it.”
— Herbert Hoover after mission to Germany as quoted by Erik Reinert and Jomo K. S. in the Marshall Plan at 60:The General’s Successful War On Poverty
Most in the Western world have a certain view of World War II. I’d feel it’s safe to say the traditional vision is that it was a struggle for humanity in many ways. It’s hard not to see it that way. One only has to look at the pictures of the liberated concentration camps, or read the words of Viktor Frankl to see it as such. The figure of Hitler only adds to it. But there’s another picture which comes with World War II: the aftermath.
It was one of the odd circumstances involving a catastrophic war where the conquerors rebuilt the conquered, lifting them out of poverty and despair. As terrible as the conflict was, the rebirth afterwards gives you a warm fuzzy feeling.
We rightly call the war generation of the time “The Greatest Generation” for their incredible sacrifices. However…
