Reconstruction of Germany

At the Potsdam Conference, the victorious Allies ceded roughly 25 percent of Germany's pre-Anschluss territory to Poland and the Soviet Union.

As agreed at Potsdam, an attempt was made to convert Germany into a pastoral and agricultural nation, allowing only light industry.

Millions of German prisoners of war were for several years used as forced labor, by both the Western Allies and the Soviet Union.

Beginning immediately after the German surrender and continuing for the next two years, the United States pursued a vigorous program to harvest all technological and scientific know-how, as well as all patents in Germany.

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.