Video Description

With the invasion of neighboring Poland by the German armed forces in the fall of 1939, Germany ignited the Second World War. Six years of murder, destruction, expulsion and hunger shaped the fate of people in many parts of the world. In May 1945, the guns fell silent in Europe. Germany was defeated. An end and a beginning at the same time. But how did the political, social and economic reconstruction take shape in post-war Germany? How did a dictatorship become a democracy? We look at the first years after the end of the war – and the long road towards a new political order. #dwhistoryandculture #dwhistoryexplained For more visit: https://www.dw.com/en/culture/s-1441 Please follow DW's netiquette: https://p.dw.com/p/MF1G 00:00 Introduction 00:50 (Title) After Hitler: The Path to Democracy 01:04 Germany at the beginning of 1945 04:48 Prescribed Democracy - A Recipe for Success? 10:46 Denazification - a new beginning? 13:54 Learnings from the Past