The Allies implement the Morgenthau Plan

Between January and early September 1944, Henry Morgenthau, US Secretary of the Treasury, wrote a memorandum describing his plans for post-war Germany. To give you an idea of the scale of the proposal, let me just say this: It makes the 'humiliation' by the Treaty of Versailles look like child's play by comparison.

In short, Morgenthau proposed disarming Germany by destroying it's key military industries, cutting Germany up into two independent states, dismantling industrial areas in the Ruhr and banning any industrial activity in said area.

The plan received no considerable support and instead, the Allies initiated the Marshall Plan, a plan to 'restore a stable and productive Germany'.

But what if the Allies implemented the Morgenthau Plan?

By the way, the PDF of the memorandum is below, just in case you want a more in depth explanation of it by Morgenthau himself.

http://smsjm.vse.cz/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/sp27.pdf
 
I don't see the British going for it for one thing and even if it got the go ahead (i.e. the British got bullied into agreeing somehow) there would be a great deal of resistance in the British managed areas which included much of the Nations industry.

OTL the understanding was that any factory that had been used by the war industry should be destroyed - but the British tended to look for any evidence of Civilian use and then re task the factory accordingly.

The VW Beatle production for example was saved in this way despite being used for war industry.

And even if it was implemented the actual humanitarian crisis that the Allies were presented with in Germany over the Winter of 45/46 would find the Morgenthau plan effectively still born.
 
It probably would have led to stronger anti allied sentiment perhaps resulting in either insurgency or a stronger nationalist political faction. The plan would end up being abandoned anyway because of Cold War considerations and the necessity of a strong Germany to resist a Soviet invasion.
 
Likely either red takeover or a nasty brush war. Neither is good, and both will lead to the US position as "leader of the free world" being greatly damaged. In the worst case, it will be a reversal of the WWI situation - the US wants to step up, but the rest won't help.
 
I don't see the British going for it for one thing and even if it got the go ahead (i.e. the British got bullied into agreeing somehow) there would be a great deal of resistance in the British managed areas which included much of the Nations industry.

Churchill did support the plan, but had to be dragged kicking and screaming into it by FDR by putting economic aid to Britian necessary for the war on the line.

Churchill was not inclined to support the proposal, saying "England would be chained to a dead body." Roosevelt reminded Churchill of Stalin's comments at the Tehran Conference, and asked "Are you going to let Germany produce modern metal furniture? The manufacture of metal furniture can be quickly turned in the manufacture of armament."[13] The meeting broke up on Churchill's disagreement but Roosevelt suggested that Morgenthau and White continue to discuss with Lord Cherwell, Churchill's personal assistant.

Lord Cherwell has been described as having "an almost pathological hatred for Nazi Germany, and an almost medieval desire for revenge was a part of his character".[14]Morgenthau is quoted as saying to his staff that "I can't overemphasize how helpful Lord Cherwell was because he could advise how to handle Churchill".[15] In any case, Cherwell was able to persuade Churchill to change his mind. Churchill later said that "At first I was violently opposed to the idea. But the President and Mr. Morgenthau — from whom we had much to ask — were so insistent that in the end we agreed to consider it".[16]

Some have read into the clause "from whom we had much to ask" that Churchill was bought off, and note a September 15 memo from Roosevelt to Hull stating that "Morgenthau has presented at Quebec, in conjunction with his plan for Germany, a proposal of credits to Britain totalling six and half billion dollars." Hull's comment on this was that "this might suggest to some the quid pro quo with which the Secretary of the Treasury was able to get Mr. Churchill's adherence to his cataclysmic plan for Germany".

At Quebec White made sure that Lord Cherwell understood that economic aid to Britain was dependent on British approval of the plan. During the signing of the plan, which coincided with the signing of a loan agreement, President Roosevelt proposed that they sign the plan first. This prompted Churchill to exclaim: "What do you want me to do? Get on my hind legs and beg like Fala?"

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgenthau_Plan
 
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