yeah, but thats not really saying that it isnt cruel.

So 3 years of malnutrition is not cruel?

the country was treated generously for fear of it going to the other side

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied_plans_for_German_industry_after_World_War_II#Economic_consequences Quote:

In Germany the shortage of food was an acute problem. […] the average kilocalorie intake per day was estimated to be 1,080, […] millions of people are slowly starving.
Germany received many offers from Western European nations to trade food for desperately needed coal and steel. […]. Denmark offered 150 tons of lard a month; Turkey offered hazelnuts; Norway offered fish and fish oil; Sweden offered considerable amounts of fats. However, the Allies disallowed the Germans to trade.

So “generous” is a bit relative here. Germany was not subject to the most extreme plans for de-industrialisation, which some had planned. But at the same time there was definitely planned hardship, which had no reasonable explanation based on security.