The Division of Germany.

Theoretical approach to Germany:

20^th century European History could be summoned up with one country; Germany:

• German efforts to establish and confirm power over central Europe had caused two world wars.

Big issues involving Germany at the start of the Cold War:

Directly after World War 2 the British, French and Russians all shared the same fear, “will Germany cause a third world war?” and much of the thought on what to do with Germany after ww2 was done in the shadow of this fear. The USA weren’t that worried, they were convinced from an early start that the way to avoid a German third world war was to get economic growth and democracy in the country.

Another important issue was “what are we going to do with the geographical borders of Germany after the war?”. USSR and France wanted compensation, France wanted the Saar-area, USSR wanted as much as they could get. UK and USA were opposing this, claiming that they didn’t want to cause another Weimar-republic.

Even more important, is Germany going to be split or unified? None of the allied wanted a divided Germany.

At Yalta the Big Three agreed on four zones but postponed the rest of the issues.

At Potsdam unity was agreed on, but the division in four zones remained. It was also agreed on that the Supreme Commanders of all the four zones should govern Germany together, a council was set up and veto was given to all parts.

The Division of Germany started as an economical division. It later on became a political division.

It all started around since the four zones were handled differently by the occupying powers:

• USSR wanted reparations and revenge.
• France also wanted reparations and took such from their zone.
• UK and US tried to get the economy started by sending aid to Germany. UK had for example rationing of bread in July 1946, something never had during the war, in order to export wheat to Germany.

This meant that from the very beginning that Germany was economically divided. The political division came, at least partly, as a consequence of the economic division.

In May 1946 General Clay stopped all reparations from the American zone to the USSR and in July the same year the Bizone was created. The Bizone was a fusion of the British and the American zones into one economic and administrative area. France stood outside the Bizone until 1947 and continued to get reparations from Germany. USSR also refused to change their policies.

This economic division was never solved and helped the political division.

The Political Division of Germany:

USSR insisted on a fusion between the communist party and the social democrats in their zone, when they insisted on the same in the other zones and in Berlin the other three refused. When Stalin orchestrated the coups in the countries he occupied he used this method. The communist got the important posts and then later when they had consolidated power, the social democrats were cleansed out in show trials. We remember the Moscow trials.

So back on the track, in 1946 a social democrat won the election for mayor of Berlin. This upset Stalin and he got even more upset when the mayor started criticizing the Russian management of east Berlin.

In June 1947 France joined the Bizone after realizing that the Russians would not support them in their efforts to get control over the Saar area. This meant that the political division of Germany had taken place.

In June 1947 Marshall held his Harvard Speech and the rest you know.

The Berlin Crises (sometimes referred to as the Berlin Blockade):

Started in June 1948 and ended in may 1949.

It all started with economic reforms in the Bizone and West Berlin. The need for a new German currency was apparent, especially for the British and the French.

June 20 1948 the D-mark was introduced. The Russians refused and responded by cutting of West Berlin.

227 000 flights later the Russians opened West Berlin again and a potential war had been avoided.

After the Berlin Crises the division of Germany was obvious to anybody.

The establishing of the two Germanys 1949 (Stefan’s notes, for those that are interested.).

The Federal Republic

1948 the Parliamentary Council convened to set up a constitution.

1949 the Federal Republic was proclaimed.

Political leadership was needed to organize further economic progress.

Allied politicians and politicians in West Germany sacrificed unity.

Instead they got a functioning state and economic progress.

The constitution

The president

A ceremonial figurehead.

Was elected indirectly by electoral college.

The government.

Was headed by the Chancellor.

Constructive veto of no confidence. Then General Elections.

The parliament

The Bundestag – the lower house

One vote for a named local candidate.

One vote for a party.

Proportional representation.

The five percent hurdle.

The Bundesrat – the upper house

Elected by the local states

Can veto decisions concerning the local states

The GDR

The constitution

The Volkskammer – the lower house

In theory a multi-party system

One simple list of candidates.

The SED was guaranteed a majority

The Länderkammer – the upper house

Corresponded the Bundesrat

1952 the five local states were replaced by 16 Bezirke.

1958 the Länderkammer was abolished

The president

Was abolished 1960.

The Politburo.

The Central Committee.

The Party Congress.

1968 SED’s leading role was mentioned in the new constitution.

Questions:

1. Why didn’t the Berlin crises lead to a hot war?
2. How close where we to a third world war?
3. Why do you think Stalin took so drastic actions against the Western Powers after the introduction of the D-mark?