While punishment doesn’t inherently create better outcomes, the point of such punishments is generally to defang the elite of their former power.
As Germany post-WW1 was left in charge of its own punishment, effectively, the elite ensured that the punishment was distributed in such a way as to minimize its influence on their power. Not a great choice, obviously.
As for East Germany, the notion that the Sovs were ‘harder’ on German society in the east does not really stand up to scrutiny. In West Germany, the notion of national guilt was pushed hard, which eventually resulted in the student movements in the 1960s decisively rejecting Nazism. In East Germany, overwhelmingly the idea that was pushed was that the German proletariat had been kept repressed by the Nazis, rather than active and enthusiastic participants in their crimes. There’s a whole host of additional reasons, mind, why the far-right sees more success in the former GDR.
Also, if you’re going to try and have rule of law, treason has to be dealt with harshly imo. You can’t be soft on the elites who inevitably attempt to claim the powers and/or privileges of kings.
There are some notes which must be made here.
While punishment doesn’t inherently create better outcomes, the point of such punishments is generally to defang the elite of their former power.
As Germany post-WW1 was left in charge of its own punishment, effectively, the elite ensured that the punishment was distributed in such a way as to minimize its influence on their power. Not a great choice, obviously.
As for East Germany, the notion that the Sovs were ‘harder’ on German society in the east does not really stand up to scrutiny. In West Germany, the notion of national guilt was pushed hard, which eventually resulted in the student movements in the 1960s decisively rejecting Nazism. In East Germany, overwhelmingly the idea that was pushed was that the German proletariat had been kept repressed by the Nazis, rather than active and enthusiastic participants in their crimes. There’s a whole host of additional reasons, mind, why the far-right sees more success in the former GDR.
Also, if you’re going to try and have rule of law, treason has to be dealt with harshly imo. You can’t be soft on the elites who inevitably attempt to claim the powers and/or privileges of kings.