As long as men have fought wars, victors have exacted payment of indemnities from the vanquished. But systematic dismantling of factories as reparations came as an innovation in the wake of World War II. At Yalta and Potsdam the U.S., Britain and Russia tried to avoid the mistake made by the Allies after World War I, i.e., to demand an impossible money tribute from Germany; instead, they plumped for reparations in capital equipment. In addition to anything she cared to take out of her own zone, Russia was to get 25% of the dismantled plants from the West.
The purpose of dismantling...
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