Germany Part 1
Okay here is the first part of the section on post war Germany which will be a long section. I hope you guys enjoy it. Trekchu-don't worry things get better for Germany later I promise!
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Germany:
Postwar: (1945-1952)
Unlike Japan, Germany never officially surrendered to the Allies. There was no one left in authority to surrender. Hitler had disappeared, Goering had disappeared, Himmler was dead, and Bormann was also missing. Too many of the Nazi hierarchy were unaccounted for which made the Allies from both in the West and East less then comfortable with their victory.
After the last surrender in June of 1945 the Allies immediately began to divide Germany into occupation zones. Russia would get eastern Germany while the British would occupy northern Germany, France would get the Saar industrial basin and the Americans would occupy the rest.
Several of the formerly occupied powers pressed territorial claims against the now humbled Germany. In response the Allied powers decided in 1947 that given Germany’s proclivity in the past for waging wars of aggression that they would implement a series of sanctions against the nation known as The Partition Sanctions. The sanctions would include the following.
The Netherlands would be allowed to annex the north eastern tip of Germany including the German port and naval base of Wilhelmshaven. Denmark would be awarded the territory in the north of Germany; Schleswig-Holstein, France would claim the entire Saarland and make it a department of France. These actions, to say the least infuriated a German people already humbled by the defeat of war. But it was the final action of the Partition Sanctions that truly created great animosity between Germans and their occupiers. Eight separate German republics were created by the Partition Sanctions. All of the new German republics were limited to security forces that could maintain internal peace and were also forced to put clauses in their constitutions which forbade any reunification with a greater Germany. This did not include East Germany which was placed under Soviet control. Most Germans had not committed any atrocities during the war, many had not voted for Hitler when he came to power, but now the Allies were punishing all of Germany for the sins of a few men. This bred great bitterness which was perfect breeding ground for Hitler’s Operation Phoenix.
Operation Phoenix:
Operation Phoenix began practically the moment the shooting ended. In key areas “Phoenix cells” were formed made up of a senior SS officer and loyal Hitler youth. Before he vanished, Hitler had given orders that the cell leaders’ records were to be completely destroyed so there would be no record of any Nazi affiliation. Not all the records were destroyed and this would give the Allies the opportunity to go after many of these cells later. Some of the cells would be “active,” and would engage in guerilla warfare against the occupying powers in both the West and the East. Other cells would be “passive,” they would blend back into the population, raise families and educate their young secretly on the theories of National Socialism and plant in the young the desire to see it rise again.
For both the “active” and “passive” cells the missing Fuehrer would become a near mythic symbol. Both were taught that Hitler had gone to a place where he would await his loyal followers and would from there lead them to rebuild a glorious Fourth Reich. Hitler would take on the aspects of a Germanic King Arthur.
The active cells began to operate within the first few weeks following the last surrender in Germany. Guerilla cells began to attack Allied supply areas, bivouacs, and generally ambush any allied soldier who they could catch alone. In addition any German who showed any inclinations to help the Allies was targeted for assassination. The purpose of this phase of Operation Phoenix was to make the Allied occupation of Germany a living hell and by the end of the year it seemed the Phoenix cells were succeeding admirably.
Response to the Phoenix cells’ activity varied. In the East the response was particularly brutal with whole villages and communities being arrested and deported to the gulags in Russia. The result was an acute manpower shortage in East Germany for many years which contributed to that nation being one of the poorest in the Warsaw Pact. In the West the British and Americans formed counter-guerilla groups to go after the Phoenix cells. These groups aided by informers and by counterintelligence groups slowly and painfully ferreted out the various Phoenix cells one by one. However, it seemed that for each cell that was eliminated another cell sprang into being. It soon became clear that there was some form of loose organization behind the Phoenix cells. But what this organization was Allied counterintelligence had yet to discover. Meantime by the end of 1946 the number of Western Allied soldiers killed in occupied Germany was 3,124 while in East Germany the number was over double that at 6,250.
