Creation of the FRG Flashcards
When/How did Germany end their involvement in WWII?
7th May 1945, Germany signed the final surrender = total defeat (no armistice, unlike WWI)
What were the existing problems within Germany?
(4)
- population displacement
- urban destruction
- economic damage
- hundreds of thousands of German women raped by Societ soldiers in the final weeks of the war; estimated 2 million
population displacement statistics
(3)
- 12 mil German refugees fled from the east; escaping Soviets, changes in frontiers, land becoming Poland
- 10 mil displaced persons; placed in labour camps etc.
- 11 mil Germans soldiers taken as prisoners of war; 7.7mil by west soon released, 3.3 mil held by Soviets until 50s (1/3 died)
urban destruction statistics
(3)
- 20% of housing was destroyed
- 30% of housing badly damaged
- caused by Allied bombing (especially in west), incoming Societ soldiers, and Hitler’s Scorched Earth Policy
Economic Damage Statistics
(3)
- economy badly damaged but not completely destroyed because of Speer’s refusal to enact Scorched Earth Policy
- no effective currency; massive black market for goods using a system of barter
- food shortages; on average people consumed half of recommended caloric amount
What major decisions were made by the Allies concerning Germany at different conferences?
Yalta Conference, Feb 1945
- set up Allied Control Council to run Germany by making unanimous decisions
- agreed to divide Germany and Berlin into 4 zones
Potsdam Conference, July 1945
- relationship between western Allies and USSR deteriorated (Roosevelt replaced by Truman)
- Germany to be treated as a single economic unit; because of existing transport and communications systems
- focus on disarmament, demilitarisation, decentralisation, de-Nazification
What was the aim of de-nazification?
to remove the taint of Nazism on German life; change national identity and political outlook created by Nazi racial and cultural ideology
How was de-nazification carried out?
(9)
- Nazi Party and all of its organisations were declared criminal
- 1945-1946, Nuremburg trials of Nazi leaders caught alive
- other trials held against leading lawyers, industrialists, death camp workers
- Germans forced to visit concentration camps
- former Nazis banned from holding important jobs (eg, in civil service)
- summer 1945, screening process created to determine whether each German should be allowed to continue their job
- May 1946, Allies banned Nazi schoolbooks, films, and slides used to teach Nazi racial theory
- teachers and librarians to be vetted to avoid hiring Nazi sympathisers
- 1946, US General Clay created questionnaire for all Germans to complete
Nuremburg Trials statistics
(5)
- started on 18th Oct 1945
- Nazi leaders who had been caught alive were tried on 4 counts; war crimes, crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, conspiring to commit the above
- trials public to reveal the horrors committed by Nazis and create public sense of justice
- 22 leading Nazis tried; 12 sentenced to death + 10 executed (Goering killed himself before execution), most imprisoned (Speer sentenced to 20 years), 3 acquitted (Von Papen)
- trials contraversial; some Germans felt it was a victor’s justice, wanted ‘stunde null’, others felt trials were too leniant
What were the difficulties of de-nazification?
(2)
- who classified as a Nazi; 6.5 mil members of the NSDAP by 1945 but Nazi fusion of state and party made it difficult not to join the party (eg. some joined to keep their jobs)
- de-nazification varied considerably across 4 zones
What was denazification like in the US zone?
(6)
- stern; wanted to purge all Nazis
- all NSDAP members before 1937 dismissed from post
- 1.2% of questionnaire takers exonerated
- ex-party members could not enroll in unoversities
- BUT, 1,600 ex-Nazis avoided prosecution by agreeing to work for the USA
- 1951 onwards, USA became more invested in the cold war; focus on containement of communism than de-Nazification
What was denazification like in the British zone?
(3)
- pragmatic
- ex-party members allowed to continue their roles in office and enroll in universities
- 58.4% of questionnaire takers exonerated
What was denazification like in the French zone?
(1)
preoccupied with safety and defence; wanted to remove threat and focus on demilitarisation
What was denazification like in the Soviet zone?
(3)
- identified Nazism with capitalism; therefore wanted to create a socialist state to avoid resurgence
- didn’t use Clay’s questionnaire
- prioritised pragmatism over justice; executed leading war criminals but kept engineers, scientists etc.
What was the reaction to de-Nazification?
(3)
- Initially, mix of positive and negative reactions
- 1960s, new generation didn’t believe in the ‘stunde null’ but wanted to face the past; unhappy at the sloppy way de-Nazification had been applied
- Injustice caused by different policies across zones; 1951 onwards, many amnesties given and Nazi prisoners released
How was demilitarisation carried out?
(4)
- Germany allowed no armed forces at all
- no arms manufacturing in Germany (had been an important sector of German economy)
- thoroughly applied across all zones (significant importance to French)
- remilitarisation only became an issue again in 1950s when west Germany wanted to joint NATO
How was decentralisation carried out?
(3)
- focus on dismantling Prussia; symbol of militarism
- some parts of Prussia lost to USSR + Poland
- parts remaining in Germany were renamed
What was decentralisation like in the Soviet zone?
(1)
by 1952, had dissolved 5 lander and centralised authority again
What was decentralisation like in the US zone?
(3)
- strong supporters of decentralisation
- wanted the same structure as in the USA
- May 1946, held first free federal state elections
What was decentralisation like in the British zone?
(3)
- initially, reluctant to give Germany too much political power
- financial cost of occupation + domestic colonial issues = decentralisation
- elections for federal lander introduced a year after US zone
What was decentralisation like in the French zone?
(3)
- focus on security; wanted to keep Germany dismembered
- resisted establishment of political parties
- March 1947, permitted lander elections
How was democratisation put in place?
- 1945, political parties began to be set up again
–> June, Soviet zone allowed non-fascist democratic parties and free unions
–> western zones wearier; agreed to license (approve) democratic parties - most parties in Berlin allowed to communicate across zones, but always had different leaders for western and Societ zone
What were the major political parties in the western zones by the end of 1945?
(5)
- KPD; did not want a soviet system, but ‘German Socialism’ (land reform, new education system, democratic gov.)
- SPD; socialists, radical left-wing (wanted nationalisation of banks + key industry and significant social welfare)
- CDU; Christian democrats, right-wing, based on old Centre Party with support from other old right-wing parties
- CSU; Christian Social Union, existed only in Bavaria, right-wing, focused on Bavarian interests, worked with CDU
- LDPD/FDP; free deocrats/liberal party, right-wing liberals, wanted free economy, private property, and free market
How did the KPD fare in the western zones?
(3)
- initially very popular; active resistance during the Nazi regime
- support decreased as Soviet Zone became communist; only got 5% of vote in 1949, 2.2% in 1953 (no seats on Bundestag)
- 1956, KPD banned by the constitutional court under Article 21; contraversial as limited democracy, KPD suffered most under Hitler
Creation of FRG VS GDR timeline
(10)
- May 1947, US + British Zones unified; ‘Bizonia’
- 1st Mar 1948, western zones created the Bank of German States to administer the Marshall Plan = broke agreement to maintain economic unity across all zones
- 20th Mar 1948, USSR left the Allied Control Council
- 20th Jun 1948, Bizonia introduced new cuurency; Deutchemark/DM
- 23rd Jun 1948, Soviets introduced new curency and tried to force its use across all of Berlin
- June 1948 - May 1949, Berlin Blockade
- Sept 1948, parliamentary council set up to write new constitution for West Germany
- Apr 1948, France joined Bizonia; ‘Trizonia’
- 22nd May 1949, Trizonia –> Federal Republic of Germany (FRG)
- 7th Oct 1949, Soviet Zone –> German Democratic Republic (GDR)
What was the constitution of the FRG?
Basic Law;
- meant to be temporary until Germany reunited, then rewritten
- written by a parliamentary counil set up on 1st September 1948
What (human) rights did the Basic Law ensure?
(3)
- All Germans had equal rights, regardless of race, sex, religion, or political views
- ensured freedom of speech, to form unions/other groups, assembly, and no censorship
- state education available to all (private schooling still allowed)
How was the FRG political system set up under the Basic Law?
(5)
- Article 20, affirmed the democratic nature of the FRG
- Article 21, supressed small, extremist parties; could be banned by courts
- 1953, proportional representation still used BUT 1953, 5% rule introduced; a party needed at least 5% of the vote to gain a seat in the Bundestag
- head of state (president) had less power than in Weimar Republic; no equivalent to Article 48
- Reichstag –> Bundestag
What was the outcome of the first Bundestag elections?
(7)
14th Aug 1949, first Bundestag elections;
- no majority party
- CDU/CSU won 31% of vote
- SPD won 29.2% of vote
- FDP won 11.9% of vote
- first chancellor of the FRG = Konrad Adenauer, CDU leader
- 7th Sept 1949, Bundestag of FRG met for the first time in Bonn
