Parting of the ways: 1945–1949

For Germany, 30 April 1945 – the date of Hitler’s suicide – became the Stunde Null (zero hour). In practice, not everything changed (the non-criminal elites of the Drittes Reich and the Weimarer Republik survived to play important roles in the postwar era, particularly in the west), and the changes which did occur did not all take effect immediately.