Abstract
M.A. (History)
The USA became formally involved in the second World War
in December, 1941, after the Japanese attack on the American
Naval Base of Pearl Harbour. Franklin D. Roosevelt
was so obsessed with the idea of defeating Germany that
he failed to set clear guidelines for the post-war era as
regards Germany. He commenced from the erroneous supposition
that wartime co-operation with Britain and the Soviet
Union would be continued after the war and that the
Great Three Would decide on, Germany's future in the postwar
era. As a result the USA's German policy of 1944-45
was marked by ambiquities.
As a consequence of Roosevelt's indecision, Britain took
the initiative in partitioning Germany into occupation
zones. This division gave the Soviet Union an advantage
as well as planting the seed for the partition of Germany
in 1949. The Western Powers obtained no guarantees from
the ~oviet Union for their free passage into Berlin. Consequently
the Soviet Union could blockade Berlin in June
1948.
In April 1945, directive JCS-1067 was issued setting out
the basis for the USA'S German policy. In the punitive
clauses of JCS-1067 Henry Morgenthau's influence on President
Roosevelt is clearly apparent. The majority of
punitive clauses of JCS-1067 were taken up verbatim in
the Potsdam Agreement of July-August 1945. The Potsdam
Agreement stipulated that Germany was to be handled as
an economic entity. However, France and the Soviet Union
thwarted economic co-operation between the Occupation
Forces. This led to a change in the USA's German Policy
from early 1946...