In 1944, Morgenthau proposed the Morgenthau Plan for postwar Germany, calling for Germany to lose its heavy industry, and the Ruhr "should not only be stripped of all presently existing industries, but so weakened and controlled that it can not in the foreseeable future become an industrial area".
(meta data) TITLE: Suggested Post-Surrender Program for Germany 140 captures 19 May 2010 - 30 Sep 2022 About this capture COLLECTED BY Organization: Alexa Crawls Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. Collection: Alexa Crawls Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20130531235410/http://docs.fdrlibrary.marist.edu:80/psf/box31/t297a01.html ## Text Version Suggested Post-Surrender Program for Germany 1. Demilitarization of Germany. It should be the aim of the Allied Forces to accomplish the complete demilitarization of Germany in the shgortest possible period of time after surrender This means completely disarming the German Army and people (including the removal or destruction of all war material), the total destruction of the whole German armament industry, and the removal or destruction of other key industries which are basic to military strength. 2. Partitioning of Germany. (a) Poland should get that part of East Prussia which doesn't go to the U.S.S.R. and the southern portion of Silesia as indicated on the attached map, (Appendix A). (b) France should get the Saar and the adjacent territories bounded by the Rhine and the Moselle Rivers. (c) As indicated in part 3 an International Zone should be created containing the Ruhr and the surrounding industrial areas (d) The remaining portion of Germany should be divided into two autonomous, independent states, (1) a South German state comprising Bavaria, Wuerttemberg, Baden and some smaller areas and (2) a North German state comprising a large part of the old state of Prussia, Saxony, Thuringia and several smaller states. There shall be a custom union between the new South German state and Austria, which will be restored to her pre-1938 political borders 3. The Ruhr Area. (The Ruhr, surrounding industrial areas, as shown on the attached map, including the Rhineland, the Keil Canal, and all German territory north of the Keil Canal. Here lies the heart of German industrial power, the cauldron of wars. This area should not only be stripped of all presently existing industries but so weakened and controlled that it can not in the fore- seeable future become an industrial area. The following steps will accomplish this: (a) Within a short period, if possible not longer than 6 months after the cessation of hostilities, all industrial plants and equipment not destroyed by military action shall either be completely dismantled and removed from the area or completely destroyed. All equipment shall be removed from the mines and the mines shall be throughly wrecked. It is anticipated that the stripping of this area would be accomplished in three stages: (i) The military forces immediately upon entry into the area shal destroy all plants and equipment which cannot be removed. View Original View Next Page Return to Folder IndexReturn to Box Index
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Henry Morgenthau Jr.
The Morgenthau Plan.