In order to punish the defeated Germany, the leaders of the three major powers, the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union, advocated the partition of Germany before the end of World War II.

With the victory of the Anti-Fascist War, they all gave up their plan to divide Germany and unanimously agreed that Germany would be occupied by the armies of the four major powers, the United States, Britain, France and the Soviet Union.

As the cooperation between major powers gradually split after the war and during the war, leading to the outbreak of the "Cold War" between the United States and the Soviet Union, the German issue became the focus of the "Cold War".

The "Cold War" transformed Germany's partitioned occupation pattern into a situation of division of Germany.

In order to control the western occupied area and the eastern occupied area respectively, the United States, Britain, France and the Soviet Union each implemented policies that were beneficial to their own national interests in the occupied areas, and gradually developed the two occupied areas into two different economic and political entities, and finally established

two countries.

The division of Germany was the result of the will of the great powers imposed on the German people. It was entirely a product of the "Cold War" between the United States and the Soviet Union.

＊ ＊ ＊ As for why Germany was split into two countries after World War II, in terms of internal factors, the main reason was because German fascists launched World War II, which was the result of fascism.

In terms of external factors, it was the product of the wartime cooperation policies of major powers led by the United States and the Soviet Union that gradually turned toward confrontation after the war and led to the "Cold War". It was the result of external forces imposed on Germany.

This article mainly discusses the transition from cooperation to confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union, which ultimately led to the outbreak of the "Cold War" and the split of Germany, and explores the historical destiny that the political struggle between major powers brought to a nation.

1. It is completely reasonable for the victorious country to punish the defeated country that provoked the war to prevent it from becoming the source of war again.

Germany provoked and launched two world wars in this century, twice dragging mankind into the vortex of world wars, causing huge disasters and immeasurable losses to mankind, especially the Second World War, which almost destroyed mankind

of thousands of years of civilization.

How to punish defeated Germany? The victorious countries in both world wars took severe measures against Germany.

These measures all involved calls for the dismemberment and partition of Germany.

After the end of World War I, the Allied Powers held a peace conference in Paris on January 18, 1919, in order to punish the defeated countries.

In order to weaken Germany to the maximum extent economically and militarily and establish its European hegemony, France proposed a plan to dismember Germany and insisted on taking back the left bank of the Rhine River from German territory and establishing a new territory with the Rhine River as the boundary.

The Republic of the Rhine under French protection, and an independent Republic of Bavaria in the south.

In order to maintain its hegemonic position in Europe, Britain was afraid of France's strength, hoped that Germany would maintain a certain strength to compete with France, and resolutely opposed France's plan.

France's plan to dismember Germany did not materialize.

After bargaining, 27 countries including Britain, France, the United States, Italy, and Japan formulated the terms of a peace treaty with Germany, the Treaty of Versailles.

When the chairman of the peace conference, French Prime Minister Clemenceau handed the peace treaty text to German Foreign Minister Brokdorf-Rancao, he said: "The time of reckoning has come. You asked us for peace, and we are happy to give you peace." [

①〕However, what kind of picture of peace is this?

The peace treaty did not touch the original political structure of Germany. The officer corps that launched the war was retained intact. War criminals were not punished. Wilhelm II fled to the Netherlands. Hindenburg became a national hero and later became a

German President.

The peace treaty was only a criminal plunder of Germany economically, requiring Germany to bear all war responsibilities and stipulating Germany's status of being enslaved and plundered.

A large amount of land was ceded, huge war reparations, and strict military restrictions weighed on the heads of the German people like a heavy cross.

The implementation of the Treaty of Versailles not only greatly hurt the national sentiments of the German people, but also brought economic and political instability to the newly born Weimar Republic.

The Treaty of Versailles not only failed to sanction Germany for becoming the source of war again, but instead caused Germany to become hostile to the victorious countries and to democracy, providing the soil for the rise of fascism.

In this sense, the sanctions imposed on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles actually planted a seed of revenge in Germany, leading to the formation of the birthplace of World War II.

It should be said that the sanctions imposed by the victorious countries on Germany after World War I failed.

After the end of World War II, how to punish the defeated Germany? In view of the lessons learned from the failure of sanctions against Germany after World War I, the leaders of the three major powers, the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union, were actively considering this issue before the war was over.

The principles of punishing and dealing with Germany were gradually established at the three wartime trilateral summits.