From Versailles to Potsdam: A Contrast of the Changing Post-War Policy Regarding Germany

What is one to do with a defeated foe after a pernicious war? The post-war policies of the Allies after World War I as illustrated in the Treaty of Versailles and after World War II as illustrated in the Potsdam Conference show two very different answers to this question. After World War I, the main victorious parties, the United States, Great Britain, and France, set out to punish the country responsible for the War—Germany. In doing so, the Allies attempted to impose a metaphor—an “individual justice” metaphor—utilizing the idea of justice and criminal responsibility to punch the responsible country. Through this view, the entire nation of Germany was conceptualized as an individual as an individual in a court of law. Furthermore, this paper takes a comparative look at the Treaty of Versailles and the Potsdam Conference, arguing that the British and Americans discarded the idea of using an individual justice metaphor on Germany after World War II, resulting in an undeniably superior economic recovery for West Germany as compared to the economic recover of East Germany.