Why exactly did the Allies further reduce the size of Germany after WW2?

Why exactly did the Allies further reduce the size of Germany after WW2?

I don't understand the benefit. Germanic peoples were living in Prussia for hundreds of years, only for them to be sent to the heart of the German country?

I get why Germany lost territory with Versailles: as punishment. However, considering that rebuilding Germany into a functioning, modern and democratic nation was the goal, shouldn't Germany have kept all their territory that contained majority Germanic people?`

Or, have I got this all wrong, and was it the USSR who divided the nation, considering their satellite state Poland would gain land?

IMPORTANT EDIT:

I get why Germany lost territory with Versailles: as punishment. However, considering that rebuilding Germany into a functioning, modern and democratic nation was the goal [AFTER WW2], shouldn't Germany have kept all their territory that contained majority Germanic people?`

If they wanted all G*rms in the same country they'd have put them together with Austria
After WW2 they did what they should have done at Versailles, partition Germany
Much easier to handle that way and they wanted to avoid further conflict and a possible war with the Soviets, so they compromised on the division of Germany
Poland lost more than it gained, they got some prewar stuff back and the German part they got the G*rms were forcibly expelled and replaced with the Poles the Soviets forcibly expelled from the bit they took

They didn’t. Aside from alsace lorraine Germany didn’t lose any allied occupied territory, all their territorial loss was done by the soviets, who were spiteful and had no interest in a rebuilt Germany.

The USSR and the USA only ever really agreed on one thing: that Hitler was bad and he had to go. Once Hitler shot himself, the USSR and the USA no longer had any common enemy to stop them from hating each other. America essentially forgave Germany the moment that Hitler shot himself. The Americans even pardoned many Wehrmacht generals who'd been convicted of war crimes, giving them drastically reduced sentences so that they could help rebuild the German Army. The Soviets were much more vengeful, and they wanted Germany to suffer as much as possible.

Stalin wouldn't concede his pre-Barbarossa gains and Poland couldn't be a tiny rump state.

>The Soviets were much more vengeful, and they wanted Germany to suffer as much as possible.
this is as much as a meme as your claim that the allies were merciful. In some ways the Allies made a more genuine effort to denazify their part of Germany than the Soviets did. In short, it's not as simply as you say.

Basically they said "this Slav-German ethnic slurry and border gore has caused two world wars in as many decades; ENOUGH."

hmm?

Exactly what I was looking for, thanks user!

/thread

that image should be flipped; Poland issued that gazzilion dollars demand after Germany said that Poland needs to accept refugees.

The flags should be flipped with Poland telling Merkel to fuck off

You need to understand that Prussia was a bizarrely diverse region. Germs, Poles, and Balts, all living together.

To say that territory was German is legitimate only to the extent that the power known as Prussia was led by the Germanic people who lived there. Likewise, to say it is Polish is legitimate only in the sense that Poles control it now. It remains a diverse region, although significantly less so after WW2.

Fucking poland, join eu for gibs and the honor of cleaning anglo, french and kraut toilets and try this shit as soon as the boat starts rocking

>this album is entirely responsible for the proliferation of pregnant Anne Frank erotica and fanart in the past year

I think we can all agree that Poland was a meme best left to the 18th century where it died.

It wasn't up to the Allies, the Soviet Union began unilaterally redrawing the borders of Eastern Europe, and massive population exchanges were occuring under their occupation.
There used to be far more Poles in Ukraine and Belarus, for example. Part of the reason for the annexation of Prussia and Silesia was to keep the Poles from revolting as they were forcibly moved around, the USSR, for their trouble, gained Belarus and Eastern Ukraine.
Why didn't the Allies stop this? They straight up couldn't, and no one wanted another war.

>who were spiteful
Taking East parts of the Reich and giving it to Poland (in "exchange" for Kresy) was not done in spite, but to move the USSR farther West. Look at the 1938 and 1945 borders.

indeed, russia just fucked with everything as it served russia

those who showed true spite were the french

Major European wars since 1945: 0.

Whatever they did, it's working.

The only meme out here started in 1871.

reallymakesyouthink

>rebuilding Germany into a functioning, modern and democratic nation was the goal [AFTER WW2],
Maybe for western Germany. Are you sure you should be posting here?