[42], On the 83rd anniversary of the outbreak of World War II, on September 1, 2022, a Polish government report on Poland's war losses and damages in 1939-1945 was presented at the Royal Castle in Warsaw. Since a peace conference never took place, the areas were effectively ceded by Germany. and "the German state cannot close a case that has never (yet) been opened"[49], As a result of the Nazi German occupation, much of Greece was subjected to enormous destruction of its industry (80% of which was destroyed), infrastructure (28% destroyed), ports, roads, railways and bridges (90%), forests and other natural resources (25%)[50][51][52][Scholarly sources required.] This was the first direct action between Germany and America of World War II. After World War II both West Germany and East Germany were obliged to pay war reparations to the Allied governments, according to the Potsdam Conference. Rearmament, and later war brought these resources to life, which combined with rising investment and an intact infrastructure kept American industry buoyant, although considerable residual unemployment remained. On 1 August the USAAF attacked the Romanian Ploieti oilfields in Operation Tidal Wave as part of the Oil Plan to wear down Axis oil supplies. In response to German aggression, Great Britain and France declared war on Nazi Germany. At the most important of these conferences, at Yalta in the southern Soviet Union, the three leaders agreed to split Germany into four different occupation zones, with roughly the eastern third of the country controlled by the Soviet Union, and the western two-thirds split between American, British, and French control. Instead, East and West Germany grew in wildly different directions depending on which side of that global battle they fell on. Factories and oil wells were blown up, crops burnt and animals slaughtered so that nothing would be left for the Germans to use. Seldom before had the face of Europe been so fundamentally altered. West Germany also paid 8 million German marks as reparations for forced human experimentation on Yugoslav citizens. Following the German defeats at Stalingrad and El Alamein, the war began to swing decisively the Allies' way. By the end of September 1939, regular ocean convoys were in operation, outward from the Thames and Liverpool, and inwards from Gibraltar, Freetown and Halifax. [16] On 14 February the British War Cabinet took the decision to adopt area bombing as a means of undermining civilian morale and on 22 February Air Marshal Arthur Harris was appointed head of Bomber Command. [20] The pocket battleship Graf Spee herself was scuttled outside Montevideo, Uruguay, where she sought repairs to damage sustained during the Battle of the River Plate, after the British spread false rumours of the arrival of a vast naval force tasked to sink her, an early success for the Royal Navy. At last, using every plane available including trainee crews, the RAF raided Cologne on 30/31 May 1942 with over 1,000 bombers; although over half the city was destroyed and it was seen as a success, the city made a surprising recovery. In February 1940 Karl Ritter, who had brokered huge pre-war barter agreements with Brazil, visited Moscow and, despite finding Stalin an incredibly fierce negotiator, an increased trade deal was eventually signed between Germany and Russia. The Proclaimed List a US equivalent to the British Statutory List was compiled and, under British direction, the United States Commercial Corporation was formed to begin making preclusive purchases of strategic materials such as chromium, nickel and manganese to supply future Allied needs and to prevent them from reaching the Germans.[63]. From the start there was close co-operation between the parallel American and British agencies,[64] over economic warfare measures, intelligence gathering and the later Safehaven Program. To the Nazis' glee, the skipper of one Brazilian freighter stated that southern Britain was finished and nothing could save her,[47] but although the damage was severe, ships from all parts of the Empire, South America and the Far East continued to unload food and war goods for Britain and to load cargoes for export. [48], In an effort to force Britain into submission, the Luftwaffe concentrated its efforts on factories, ports, oil refineries and airfields. Like General Franco in Spain, Portuguese President Antonio de Oliveira Salazar was perceived as pro-Axis but walked a fine line between the two sides, who competed fiercely for Portuguese raw materials,[64] generating huge profits for her economy. Over the following decades, the West German government was largely allowed to operate as an independent state with democratic republican institutions, although the Western military presence remained and they were still not allowed to have a domestic military. In Germany, where Hitler had warned his generals and party leaders that there would eventually be another war as early as 1934,[8] there was great concern about the potential effects of a new blockade. The Berlin Wall was built in only two weeks in 1961 to separate East and West Berlin. [2] Britain dominated the North Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and, due to its control of the Suez Canal with France, access into and out of the Indian Ocean for the allied ships, while their enemies were forced to go around Africa. On 24 August, at the height of the battle, bombers sent to attack Fighter Command installations and oil refineries on the outskirts of London killed civilians in houses in central London through a navigational error, although many believed the bombing was deliberate. Great efforts went into finishing the new battleships King George V and Prince of Wales before the Bismarck could be completed and begin attacking Allied convoys, while the French also strained to complete similarly advanced battleships, the Richelieu and the Jean Bart by the autumn of 1940 to meet the Mediterranean threat of two Italian battleships nearing completion. Britain did rely on imports for a large proportion of its foodstuffs and, even with the widespread 'Dig for Victory' campaign and the use of women farm workers, could only produce around two-thirds of its needs. He commented; At present their plight is lamentable and will become much worse. The Germans tried various ways of avoiding the loss of the ships, such as disguising themselves as neutral vessels or selling their ships to foreign flags, but international law did not allow such transactions in wartime[citation needed]. [20], On 23 August 1953, the People's Republic of Poland, under pressure from the Soviet Union,[21] announced it would waive its right to further war reparations from East Germany on 1 January 1954. #11. [16], By the beginning of 1944 it was clear that the bomber offensive had not delivered the decisive defeat that was promised, and preparations were well underway for the invasion of Europe. RAF raids on vehicle factories in Milan, Genoa, and Turin on 2 December 1942 only served to unite the Italian population behind the Mussolini dictatorship, and the plan was dropped in favour of the "disorganisation of German industry". Despite the German trade and various measures for food self-sufficiency, Switzerland eventually used up her food stockpiles and suffered severe shortages of fuel through lapses in the German coal supply, increasingly relying on her forests and hydroelectric power. Loss of the Yugoslavian and other Balkan mines took away the last supplies of chromium and reduced the supply of lead by approximately 40 per cent the position being worsened by the loss of substantial amounts of scrap which were collected in France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Now she is brittle, our armies can crack her. Reparations were to be directly paid to the four victor powers (France, Britain, United States, and the Soviet Union); for the countries in the Soviet sphere of influence, the Soviet Union would determine its distribution. The Blockade of Germany (1939-1945), also known as the Economic War, involved operations carried out during World War II by the British Empire and by France in order to restrict the supplies of minerals, fuel, metals, food and textiles needed by Nazi Germany - and later by Fascist Italy - in order to sustain their war efforts. Until 2005 about 63 billion euros (equivalent to approximately 87.9 billion euros in 2022) have been paid to individuals. The Germans, employing their scorched-earth policy, destroyed all dock facilities as they withdrew from the occupied territories in order to deprive the Allies of any logistical advantages. It came to represent the different political and ideological barriers between the two areas. Fears of revenge and anxiety about an uncertain individual and collective future constituted a foundational experience for post-war Germans in the aftermath of the "Third Reich.". [48] On 4 January 2023 the deputy minister of foreign affairs of Poland Arkadiusz Mularczyk stated that "We do not recognize this German position, we reject it in its entirety as absolutely unfounded and erroneous." The Soviets began a blockade of West Germany. The Ministry was also of the view that the strong blockade had probably prevented further large amounts from being transported. In mid-September the Ministry published a list of 278 pro-German persons and companies throughout the world with whom British merchants and shipowners were forbidden to do business, subject to heavy penalties. The embassy division worked with MEW in the development of new war trade agreements and the re- negotiation of existing overseas purchase supply contracts. We were victims of Nazi frightfulness After six months of negotiations, Switzerland also agreed to trim by one third her $60m yearly sales of machine goods and precision instruments to Germany and to cut sales of ball bearings to 10% and ammunition to 5% of the 1942 total. By contrast, Britain and France spent 67m and 60m in the same periods respectively, and according to a writer in the New York World Telegram, exports to the 8 countries bordering Germany exceeded the loss of US exports previously sent directly to Germany. After Italy's disastrous invasion of Greece on 28 October the British intervened in accordance with the Anglo-Greek Mutual Aid Agreement, occupying Crete and establishing airfields within bombing distance of the Romanian oilfields. [15] Despite the success in evacuating a third of a million men at Dunkirk and the later evacuations from St Malo and St Nazaire, the British army left behind 2,500 heavy guns, 64,000 vehicles, 20,000 motor cycles and well over half a million tons of stores and ammunition. In particular the Swiss were, and continue to be, criticised for the way they aided the shipment of Nazi funds abroad and provided banking facilities for the concealment of looted art treasures and gold, much of it stolen from Jews. Diplomats from the Scandinavian nations, as well as Italy and the Balkan countries, who were also major suppliers to Germany, were given quota lists of various commodities and told they could import these amounts and no more, or action would be taken against them. At the Potsdam Conference, the leaders of the United States, Great Britain and the Soviet Unionthe "Big Three" powers who had defeated Nazi Germanymet in the city of Potsdam . The British blockade of the Mediterranean immediately cut Italy off from 80% of its imports. Battle of Berlin in WWII History & Casualties | What was the Fall of Berlin? Using its virtually worthless "invasion marks", more than half of Greece's already inadequate wheat production was "sold" to Germany along with livestock, clothes, dried vegetables and fruit. Then some people thought and some people said that the war could be won by blockade alone without fighting, that Germany would suddenly collapse for lack of fuel, lack of special steels, even lack of food. [4] News of the successes achieved by the men of Contraband Control were rarely out of the newspapers, and provided useful propaganda to shore up civilian morale. Until late 1940 Hitler hoped to establish peaceful German hegemony over the Balkans as part of his supply hinterland, but after the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina from Romania in late June, his hand was forced. 6.9 to 7.5 million Germans had been killed, roughly 8.26 to 8.86% of the population (see also World War II casualties). [56] Vichy Vice-Premier Admiral Darlan declared that the Vichy merchant marine had so far brought through the blockade 7m bushels of grain, 363,000 tons of wine, 180,000 tons of peanut oil together with large amounts of fruit, sugar, cocoa, meat, fish and rum. 1941, the United States declared war against Japan and entered World War II. The Board of Economic Warfare, (BEW) which evolved from the earlier Economic Defense Board, was created by President Roosevelt on 17 December 1941. The MEW believed that any substantial or widespread relaxation of the blockade would inevitably be exploited by the enemy to his own advantage, and declared that they would "not give him that comfort". Neutral captains often expressed utter astonishment and bemusement at the level of British advance knowledge of their activities, and soon realised it was hard to hide anything. She holds a Master's degree in Secondary Education from Marshall University. The mining and manufacturing region of the Ruhr, often likened to the Black Country in the Midlands of England, was one of the world's greatest concentrations of metal production and processing facilities as well as chemical and textile factories; the Ruhr was also home to several synthetic oil production plants. An error occurred trying to load this video. Perhaps you think of sausage, their excellent soccer teams, or their delicious beer. The first V1 flying bomb was launched against England on 13 June 1944, and soon 120 V1s per day were being fired at London, killing large numbers of civilians. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. With the repudiation of the U.S. occupation directive JCS 1067 in July 1947, the Western Allies were able to start planning for the introduction of a currency reform to halt the rampant inflation. BEW personnel sat on the Blockade Committee on equal terms with their British counterparts, undertaking the routine work of handling Navicerts, ships permits and defining contraband. There were turf wars from time to time with SIS who did not want to risk sources being compromised by SOE sabotage of enemy targets. Its submarines were more suited to the Mediterranean, but they successfully ran the British gauntlet through the Straits of Gibraltar and joined the Atlantic blockade. [citation needed] Despite their declared neutrality, the politically unstable Balkan nations found themselves in an uncomfortable position, surrounded by Germany to the North, Italy to the West and Soviet Union to the East, with little room to refuse German veiled threats that, unless they continued to supply what was requested, they would suffer the same fate as Poland. France, normally able to feed itself, now had an extra 5 million refugees from other countries to care for. UK National Archives. The Germans sank 117 ships in the Atlantic during the first two months of the year, and in Russia Hitler was about to launch a huge offensive to take the Caucasus oilfields. Nikita Khrushchev Career & Destalinization | Who was Nikita Khrushchev? [citation needed]. ", "Uchwaa Sejmu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 10 wrzenia 2004 r. w sprawie praw Polski do niemieckich reparacji wojennych oraz w sprawie bezprawnych roszcze wobec Polski i obywateli polskich wysuwanych w Niemczech", "Deutsche Kriegsreparationen an Polen? In February 1945 food supplies were reported as being collected in the Austrian and Bavarian Alps for Nazi fortresses and underground factories, and plans were apparently under way for the structural reorganization of the Nazi Party abroad by transferring money into agents' accounts in neutral countries. 194243 was another lean year for agriculture in France. 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[64] In particular, the U.S. abhorred the use of Swedish ships to transport the ore to Germany and of her allowing Germany to transport soldiers and war materials across Sweden and through the Baltic under Swedish naval protection. During the early months of the warthe Phoney Warthe only place where there was substantial fighting was at sea. On 24 July 1943 Hamburg, a major manufacturing centre for Tiger tanks and 88mm guns was virtually destroyed in Operation Gomorrah. She has a Master's degree in History. [64], On 20 February 1944 the USAAF began Operation 'Big Week', a plan to wear down the Luftwaffe arms base to secure Allied air superiority during the invasion. However it would take a while for production levels to recovers as this operation took a great deal of time as the Soviets were often forced to reassemble whole factories in remote areas. The Turkish chromite ore, which like tungsten was an irreplaceable and essential war material, was the only supply available to Germany, who paid using iron and steel products and manufactured goods in order to draw Turkey into her sphere of influence. Albert Speer took over aircraft production and managed to perform miracles: the installations were soon back to something like normal capacity, and overall production including synthetic oil production was at an all-time high and still rising. [16], While the armed forces were being built up, imports were reduced to the barest minimum required, severe price and wage controls were introduced, unions outlawed and, aware that certain commodities would be difficult to obtain once the blockade began, deals were made with Sweden, Romania, Turkey, Spain, Finland and Yugoslavia to facilitate the stockpiling of vital materials such as tungsten, oil, nickel, wool and cotton that would be needed to supply the armed forces in wartime. In the years 19491952, West Germany received loans which totaled $1.45 billion, equivalent to around $14.5 billion in 2006. Reparations imposed on Germany following WWI left the country . All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. The Battle of Britain raged throughout August and September 1940, but the Luftwaffe was unable to destroy the RAF to gain the air supremacy which was a prerequisite for the invasion. But by far the biggest hole in the blockade was in the Balkans. In April 1955 the Dutch claim was finally proved conclusive, and Sweden returned about $6.8 million in gold. In addition, excessive secrecy and a lack of communication between Whitehall departments meant that at exactly the same time that Operation Frankton was under way, and without their knowledge, the SOE were in the final stages of their own attempt to destroy the blockade runners by deploying a team of French agents led by Claude de Baissac, posing as painting contractors who planned to carry explosives onto the ships in their baggage. Although most South American republics were sympathetic to the Allied cause, the US State Department was frustrated by the attitude of Argentina from the very beginning. Bacon, butter and sugar followed on 8 January 1940, meat on 11 March, with tea and margarine in July. On the eastern front, the Red Army had taken back its manganese mines at Balki, from which the Germans had been getting 200,000 of the 375,000 tons their war industry required each year.