Chugalug2, Very good post. I laud Chuchill as a war leader but share your distaste for his political manoeuvering after the war.
Nevertheless, we must remember that, following WW2, the threat changed and we needed Germany onside. Operation Unthinkable proposed 100,000 Wermacht troops fighting alongside the Allies against Russian forces.
We rapidly needed to be seen as 'the good guys'.
In the immediate aftermath of WW2 things were not great for Germans. I recollect an uncle castigating my young cousin for refusing to eat, saying that he'd seen people starving in Germany.