The Morgenthau Plan: Soviet Influence of American Postwar Policy

In the Aftermath of War ""The plan was designed to completely destroy the German economy, enslave millions of her citizens, and exterminate as many as 20 million people"": John Dietrich, who served six years in the Defense Intelligence Agency, takes a hard, revisionist look at American policy toward Germany after WWII in The Morgenthau Plan: Soviet Influence on American Postwar Policy. Charting its origins, development and brief implementation, the author argues that the secretary of the treasury's plan for the demilitarization of Germany ""thoroughly reflected"" Roosevelt's opinions on postwar strategy (and that the president may have bribed Churchill to sign off on it); that the Soviet Union was the plan's sole beneficiary; and that the plan had far greater effects than anyone involved cared to admit. (July 15)