what is the difference between west germany and germany
History of Germany (1945–90)
During the war , Germans seized food supplies from occupied countries and forced millions of foreigners to work on German farms , in addition to food shipped from farms in eastern Germany . When this ended in 1945 , the German rationing system ( which stayed in place ) had much lower supplies of food . The U.S. Army sent in large shipments of food to feed some 7.7 million prisoners of war -- far more than they had expected -- as well as the general population . For several years following the surrender , German nutritional levels were low . The Germans were not high on the priority list for international aid , which went to the victims of the Nazis . It was directed that all relief went to non-German displaced persons , liberated Allied POWs , and concentration camp inmates . During 1945 it was estimated that the average German civilian in the U.S. and UK occupation zones received 1200 kilocalories a day in official rations , not counting food they grew themselves or purchased on the large - scale black market . In early October 1945 the UK government privately acknowledged in a cabinet meeting that German civilian adult death rates had risen to 4 times the pre-war levels and death rates amongst the German children had risen by 10 times the pre-war levels . The German Red Cross was dissolved , and the International Red Cross and the few other allowed international relief agencies were kept from helping Germans through strict controls on supplies and on travel . The few agencies permitted to help Germans , such as the indigenous Caritasverband , were not allowed to use imported supplies . When the Vatican attempted to transmit food supplies from Chile to German infants , the U.S. State Department forbade it . The German food situation became worse during the very cold winter of 1946 -- 1947 when German calorie intake ranged from 1,000 -- 1,500 kilocalories per day , a situation made worse by severe lack of fuel for heating .
During the war , Germans seized food supplies from occupied countries and forced millions of foreigners to work on German farms , in addition to food shipped from farms in eastern Germany . When this ended in 1945 , the German rationing system ( which stayed in place ) had much lower supplies of food . The U.S. Army sent in large shipments of food to feed some 7.7 million prisoners of war -- far more than they had expected -- as well as the general population . For several years following the surrender , German nutritional levels were low . The Germans were not high on the priority list for international aid , which went to the victims of the Nazis . It was directed that all relief went to non-German displaced persons , liberated Allied POWs , and concentration camp inmates . During 1945 it was estimated that the average German civilian in the U.S. and UK occupation zones received 1200 kilocalories a day in official rations , not counting food they grew themselves or purchased on the large - scale black market . In early October 1945 the UK government privately acknowledged in a cabinet meeting that German civilian adult death rates had risen to 4 times the pre-war levels and death rates amongst the German children had risen by 10 times the pre-war levels . The German Red Cross was dissolved , and the International Red Cross and the few other allowed international relief agencies were kept from helping Germans through strict controls on supplies and on travel . The few agencies permitted to help Germans , such as the indigenous Caritasverband , were not allowed to use imported supplies . When the Vatican attempted to transmit food supplies from Chile to German infants , the U.S. State Department forbade it . The German food situation became worse during the very cold winter of 1946 -- 1947 when German calorie intake ranged from 1,000 -- 1,500 kilocalories per day , a situation made worse by severe lack of fuel for heating .