Dissidents
From the summer of 1940 to May of 194 1, Germany and Italy invaded the Balkans while competing with Britain for Europe. When Hitler invaded Yugoslavia, he launched an attack on Greece. German troops entered Greek territory along the south of Vardal River in Yugoslavia. 1941On April 27th, Athens fell. On May 20th, German airborne troops occupied Crete after ten days of fierce fighting.
After that, it was not until the end of 1944 that Athens ushered in the dawn of liberation. The Greek people paid a great sacrifice for this, with 405,000 people killed and 300,000 invading troops pinned down in Greece.
At the end of World War II, major allies began to build a post-war world system. 1at the Yalta conference held in February, 945, the leaders of the allied countries discussed such major issues as the settlement of post-war Germany, Poland, the Far East and the establishment of the United Nations.
When considering Germany's compensation, the politicians of the Allies did not forget the great changes that took place in Germany in the 20 years after World War I. Therefore, how to deal with Germany's compensation is faced with a dilemma: on the one hand, it is necessary to weaken the production level of German industry as much as possible to ensure that Germany will not rise again and threaten world peace.
On the other hand, if the degree of punishment and compensation is so heavy that the industrial level of Germany is simply not enough to meet the needs of the German people, it will probably lead to social unrest, push Germany back to the dangerous situation after World War I, and once again become a huge hidden danger of world security.
On the balance of this issue, the attitudes of the United States and Britain towards compensation tend to be tolerant. At the Yalta conference, Churchill made it clear: "The ghost of starving Germany comes to my mind ... shall we sit there and say' You deserve to starve' or try to keep them alive? If they live, who will pay the bill? If you have a horse and want it to pull, you have to feed it some food and grass. "
The Soviet Union tends to pay severe compensation. The reason is that the Soviet Union lost more in the war. According to official statistics, 7 million people died in the war in the Soviet Union, and millions more were disabled. Most towns are in ruins, and a large part of villages in the Soviet Union and Europe are in ruins. For example, the coal mines in Donetsk were completely flooded, and 25 million people were completely homeless, living in caves, trenches and mud houses.
Therefore, as early as 1942, Stalin put forward a scheme of compensation in kind, especially with machine tools. At the Yalta meeting, the Soviet delegation formally raised the issue of compensation for the first time. They demanded that Germany pay a total of $20 billion, of which 50% was paid by the Soviet Union, half by the dismantled factory and the other half by the products of the same year within ten years. In response to Churchill's metaphor of horses and hay, Stalin retorted, "Don't let horses kick you."
The attitude of the United States towards German compensation has been wavering. The United States is powerful and has not been destroyed by the war. It doesn't expect to get much compensation from Germany. It only agreed in principle to a compensation of $20 billion in exchange for Soviet support on the Polish issue.
When the British were firmly opposed to setting any specific compensation figures, Hopkins, the special assistant to the President of the United States, handed Roosevelt a note that read: "Since the Soviet side made such a big concession at this meeting, I don't think we should let them down. If the British don't agree, let them go. "
After the Yalta Conference, the Allies set up a compensation committee in Moscow, which was composed of Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union, and was responsible for formulating specific plans, taking the figures put forward by the Soviet Union as the discussion basis for preliminary research.
Regional compensation
The outstanding issue of German compensation in Yalta Conference was solved five months later. 1In July, 945, the leaders of Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union held the Potsdam meeting and established the principle of "regional compensation".
The so-called "regional compensation" principle means that the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union obtained war compensation from the German regions they occupied respectively. The Soviet occupation area is small, with agriculture and light industry as the main areas. The western occupation area has a relatively developed economy and a heavy industry base in Ruhr.
In fact, before and after the Potsdam Conference, the four major occupying powers, especially the Soviet Union, began to demand compensation in different forms, such as demanding that Germany pay the occupation fee, dismantle factory equipment, confiscate German property abroad, and use German labor.
Although post-war Germany was a mess, many important machinery and equipment were still intact under a pile of rubble. From 65438 to 0945, the daily output of coal industry in Ruhr District was only 25,000 tons, while the average daily output before the war was 400,000 tons.
Furthermore, before 1944, Germany made a windfall by plundering European countries, and other countries lost more than Germany. During the war, 200,000 machine tools were transferred to Germany. The industrial production capacity of Germany was greatly improved during the war. In Europe, including Britain and the Soviet Union, only Germany's total industrial output value 1944 is higher than 1938.
As countries begin to compensate without authorization, American leaders believe that it is impossible to distribute it fairly among allies. In this case, the only satisfactory solution is to let the four countries each recover compensation from the areas they occupy. Because about 40% of the available factories are located in Soviet-occupied areas, this makes the problem easier to solve. If 10% of 60% factories in the occupied western region were given to the Soviet Union, then half of the Soviet Union's compensation share would be satisfied.
The Soviet Union disagreed with this principle at first, but the United States tied the issue of compensation to Germany with the issue of Poland's western border. Only when the Soviet Union agrees to "split compensation" will the United States make concessions on the border issue of the Soviet Union. As a result, the Soviet Union had to accept "divide and conquer compensation".
It is estimated that by 1950, the Soviet army had taken away fixed equipment worth 4 1 100 million marks, existing products worth 6.4 billion marks, food worth 970 million marks, and * * accounted for110.40 billion marks. According to the exchange rate of 4 marks equal to 1 US dollar stipulated by the Allied War Compensation Bureau, the Soviet army received more than 2.8 billion US dollars in compensation.
1945 65438+In February, at the Paris Compensation Conference, 18 Western allies stipulated the method of obtaining compensation from the western occupied areas and the share distribution according to the losses in the war. They got a total of 502.3 million dollars worth of goods from the western occupied areas, of which the United States, Britain and France got 654.38 dollars+240 million dollars, 654.38 dollars+600 million dollars and 87 million dollars respectively.
Relieve debts
Greece also participated in the negotiation of the Paris Compensation Conference, and enjoyed 2.75% category A compensation and 4.35% category B compensation in the distribution plan. However, Greece and other countries insist that the Paris Agreement does not exclude Germany's other compensation obligations to its allies once and for all, and they have the right to apply for compensation for Germany alone.
Not long after the implementation of the "regional compensation" policy, Germany fell into division. With the advent of the Cold War, in order to revive Germany against the Soviet Union, the United States and Britain tried their best to reduce the compensation plan for the occupied areas in the west and constantly adjust the industrial level plan. It is precisely because of the continuous reduction of demolition factories that the production capacity of the occupied areas in western Germany has not been seriously weakened, and even maintained and increased to a certain extent.
1952 in may, the federal Republic of Germany and its western allies signed the Bonn treaty, ending the military occupation of the United States, Britain and France (except Berlin), stopping the demolition and exempting the federal Republic of Germany from all compensation obligations. 1953, the Soviet union also announced that in order not to leave an insatiable impression on the west and avoid further riots in the GDR due to over-exploitation, it would give up all compensation requirements for the GDR.
At the same time, in order to integrate into the international community as soon as possible, the Federal Republic of Germany began debt negotiations with 23 countries including the United States, Britain and France in London to discuss the total foreign debt and the amount of foreign loans that the Federal Republic of Germany needs to pay. Whether the Federal Republic of Germany can restore its credit and obtain foreign loans is at a critical juncture.
1953 In February, after a year of negotiations, countries including Greece signed the London Debt Agreement with the Federal Republic of Germany. The total foreign debt payable by the Federal Republic of Germany decreased from DM 29.3 billion to DM 654.38+04.5 billion, and the term was reduced from DM 654.38+0953 to DM 654.38+0994. Germany's total pre-war debt capital decreased from 8.3 billion marks to 6 billion marks, and the pre-war debt default interest decreased from 4.4 billion marks to 654.38+0.4 billion marks.
Judging from the economic situation from 195 1 to 1952, it seems that the Federal Republic of Germany cannot afford this burden. However, a few years later, the facts show that the Federal Republic of Germany can easily pay the above amount with the increasing foreign exchange income brought by its prosperous foreign trade. The debt delivery period stipulated in the London Debt Agreement was originally extended to 1994, but the Federal Republic of Germany repaid all debts in advance at 1966.
At the same time, the London Debt Agreement also agreed to postpone the decision on compensation for World War II until the reunification of Germany and the finalization of the final peace agreement, but at the same time stipulated that the Federal Republic of Germany must compensate Nazi Germany for "personnel and property losses" from 1953, and agreed to pay compensation of 60 billion marks.
From 1959 to 1964, the Federal Republic of Germany concluded a package of compensation agreements with 12 countries. 1960, the federal Republic of Germany and Greece reached a bilateral agreement to compensate the victims of the Greek Nazis for1.10.50 billion marks, on the condition that Germany would no longer accept individual claims from Greece.
From 65438 to 0990, European countries including Greece signed "Building charter of paris for a new europe". The Paris Charter declared that the era of confrontation and division in Europe has passed, and Europe will move towards cooperation and unity from now on, and welcomed the final treaty to solve German affairs. According to the treaty, the four World War II allies gave up all the rights they had in Germany before.
At this time, it has been 45 years since the end of World War II, and it is obviously inappropriate to apply for compensation. Therefore, the Paris Charter declares that European countries should no longer be bound by history, but should unite and move towards the future together. Germany believes that the final treaty and the Paris Charter ended all legal compensation obligations related to World War II.
civil compensation
Although as early as the 1990 s, Germany completed its war compensation obligations in World War II. However, compensation for individuals is still in progress.
Before the end of World War II, the Allies began to discuss Germany's compensation for Nazi victims, and authorized the new German government to confiscate all the property plundered by the Nazi government first. After the war, the control Committee began to return the confiscated property to its original owner, but it was limited to property. At that time, compensation had not yet extended to the victims of Nazi persecution.
The inventory of this kind of property reads like the bulk inventory of a recycling store. The property rights handled are:11/church clock, 2,000 barges,1/boat, 700 locomotives, 1670 horses and 2,800 vehicles.
A martial law in the United States from 65438 to 0947 stipulated that these properties or things should be returned to their original owners or given corresponding compensation. Since then, this law has become the guiding principle for the German federal government to formulate a series of compensation laws.
In 195 1, Premier Adenauer's position on the newly established Federal Republic of Germany was summarized as follows: "The Nazi regime committed heinous crimes in the name of all Germans, so we are obliged to make moral and material compensation." In the same year, the German Federal Parliament issued a statement saying that Germany would compensate Jews for the material losses suffered by fascist Germany during World War II "within the limits of Germany's solvency".
1952 In March, Germany started negotiations with Israel in The Hague, and in September of the same year, Germany and Israel signed the Luxembourg Agreement on the issue of reparations. According to the agreement, Germany paid 3 billion marks to Israel and 450 million marks to the Jewish Association for German Material Compensation. Although this compensation was done in the form of countries, Israel actually accepted Germany's personal compensation for persecuted Jews as a country.
The most common way to implement this kind of compensation is that the Israeli delegation in Cologne, according to the instructions of the Israeli government, sends orders to factories in the Federal Republic of Germany, and the federal government pays for the goods, and the goods are finally shipped to Israel by German shipping companies. The federal government allocates funds twice a year, in April of 15 and August of 15 respectively. With the approval of the Minister of Finance, the funds will be remitted to the account of the Israeli delegation in the German Federal Bank.
In addition, German citizens or foundations paid about 75 million marks to wartime workers. According to the Federal Compensation Law promulgated by 1954 and the Federal Compensation Termination Law promulgated by 1965, Germany paid a total of 78.4 billion marks in compensation to individuals persecuted during the Third Reich, especially Jews.
1992 On May 1 day, two years after the reunification of Germany, the Law on Compensation for Victims of Nazi-occupied Areas Following the Federal German Team was promulgated. According to the new law, Nazi victims who could not get compensation for some reason in the former Federal Republic of Germany can reapply, especially those who lived in GDR before.
During Nazi rule, some well-known big German companies also used the so-called "forced labor" ignominiously. Most of them are Jews, Gypsies and Eastern Europeans from the occupied areas. The total number of "Nazi laborers" was100000-140000, and most of them were controlled in military factories, mines, enterprises and farms of the Third Reich.
After the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany, former Nazi workers began to sue the big German enterprises that had enslaved and squeezed them and demanded compensation. Strong public pressure at home and abroad also forced these large enterprises to wash their sins in the form of compensation. In order to wash away their sins, these big companies also actively participate in compensation.
During the period of 1999, Chancellor Schroeder and Clinton jointly launched a public foundation called "Commemoration, Responsibility and Future". The fund sponsors included Volkswagen, Ruhr Coal and BASF. The German government and German enterprises donated 654.38+00 billion marks to the foundation to pay compensation to the workers enslaved by Germany in wartime, including the fault compensation of German enterprises in wartime.
From June, 5438 to October, 2000 10, the German government cabinet began to discuss the formulation of a compulsory labor compensation law to regulate the operation of the "Memorial, Responsibility and Future" foundation. In July of that year, representatives of Germany, the United States, Israel, Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Belarus and other Eastern European countries signed the Nazi Labor Compensation Agreement in Berlin, Germany. This is the final document signed by the German government and relevant countries on the issue of Nazi workers' compensation after one and a half years of negotiations.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said at the signing ceremony that the signing of the agreement marks the end of the last chapter of Nazi evil history, and Germany's historical and moral responsibilities can stand the test in this agreement.