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Germany Divided and Reunited 1945-1991 > Defeated to Divided Germany, Chapter 1 > Flashcards

Defeated to Divided Germany, Chapter 1 Flashcards

1
Q

What was agreed at Yalta, 1945?

A
  • The setting up of the United Nations to maintain world stability and security
  • Free elections in Poland
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2
Q

What was agreed at Potsdam, 1945?

A
  • Germany would be divided into 4 zones (French, British, American and Soviet)
  • Berlin would be the capital, also split into 4 zones
  • Reparations, territorial agreements, denazification, disarmament
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3
Q

Which new leaders were present at Potsdam, 1945?

A

Harry Truman - less willing to work with USSR

Clement Attlee

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4
Q

What were the two main sources of conflict at Potsdam, 1945?

A
  • Poland (it was apparent Stalin wished to install a USSR friendly government, worried Allies)
  • Reparations - USSR wanted heavy repayments
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5
Q

What form did the USSR reparations from Germany take?

A
  • The USSR stripped Eastern Germany of factories, railway track, rolling stock, scientists, doctors, technological experts
  • Up to a quarter of industrial capacity taken to USSR
  • Not until 1948 that the USSR stopped stripping Germany
  • This worried the West
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6
Q

Why was there initial conflict between East and West zones?

A

USSR failed to fulfil agreement to supply food from the more agricultural East to the more industrial West
- This caused massive food shortages in the Western zones

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7
Q

How did the West retaliate to the food shortages?

A

The West stopped sending consumer goods to the East in 1946, hampering the Soviet zone’s economy

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8
Q

Why was the period 1945-9 grim for Germans?

A
  • Food shortages
  • Displaced people
  • Rations lower than wartime
  • Occupied tension
  • Potatoes and cigarettes replaced money as tender
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9
Q

What was the policy on displaced persons?

A

The USSR demanded any refugees from the Eastern zone should return, and many were returned by the West

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10
Q

Why were there tensions between Germans and Western occupiers?

A
  • There was some segregation between Germans and Allied troops
  • Allies enjoyed luxuries whilst Germans suffered
  • German women mixed with British, French and American officers
  • German women often had to resort to prostitution to survive
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11
Q

Why was there tension between Germans and Eastern occupiers?

A
  • Approximately 2 million German women were raped by Soviet forces, and men who tried to protect them were often shot
  • This continued until harsher penalties were put in place in 1949
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12
Q

Who were the Trummerfrauen?

A

German girls and women who helped clear the rubble of decimated German cities were called Trummerfrauen

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13
Q

How was denazification carried out in the East?

A

Denazification was carried out ruthlessly and thoroughly in the East:
- Many suspected and actual Nazis were sent to old concentration camps, called ‘Special Camps’’, as were political prisoners

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14
Q

How was denazification carried out in the West?

A

Denazification was confusing and eventually abandoned in the West.
Many ex-Nazis were able to work in the German government and legal system
- For the West, practicalities were more important, they needed those with medical and technological skills

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15
Q

Which group of committed German Communists returned to Germany from the USSR in 1945?

A

The Ulbricht Group, led by Walter Ulbricht?

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16
Q

What did the Ulbricht group aim to achieve?

A

The Ulbricht group aimed to achieve political power in the Soviet zone

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17
Q

Did the Soviet zone allow other parties to exist within East Germany?

A

Yes, there was an illusion of democracy, but in fact Stalin intended German Communists to have power

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18
Q

What was the name of the German Communist Party?

A

The KPD was the German Communist Party

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19
Q

Why were the KPD initially unpopular?

A

Many Germans were still outraged by Soviet behaviour after the War, and many remembered Nazi anti-Communist propaganda

20
Q

What was the most popular party in East Germany, 1945-46?

A

The SPD was the most popular party 1945-6, the Social Democratic Party

21
Q

What did the USSR do to gain Communist control in East Germany?

A

The USSR forced a merger between the KPD and SPD, to form the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, in 1946

22
Q

What year was the SED created?

A

The SED was created in 1946

23
Q

What was the FDG?

A

The FDG was the Free German Youth, a youth organisation young East Germans were urged to join

24
Q

What other organisations were set up by the SED?

A

The SED set up organisations for women, those persecuted by the Nazis, and an organisation promoting German and Soviet friendship

25
Q

What economic changes did the SED implement?

A
  • The SED nationalised 60 per cent of business and industry by 1949
  • Large estates were divided up and given to the workers and refugees by the state (sadly less efficient than large farms)
26
Q

What changes did the SED make to education?

A

The SED removed any traces of Nazism from the German education system

  • Communisty friendly textbooks were supplied
  • Working class children were given new opportunities
  • Not being a member of the FDG could hinder entrance to university
  • SED tightly controlled what children were taught
27
Q

What was allowed politically in the Western zone after 1945?

A

Political parties were allowed to re-establish themselves

28
Q

What political parties were there in Western Germany?

A
  • The Social Democratic Party
  • The German Communist Party
  • The Christian Democratic Union
  • Free Democratic Party
29
Q

What was the Truman Doctrine, 1947?

A

The Truman Doctrine was the declaration of President Truman of the USA to defend any country which felt threatened by Communism

30
Q

What was the Marshall Plan, 1947?

A

The Marshall Plan backed up the Truman Doctrine economically: it aimed to protect against Communism by boosting Western economies

  • This massively boosted Western economies
  • There was massive economic growth in much of West Europe
31
Q

How did Stalin respond to the Marshall Plan, 1947?

A

Stalin responded to the Marshall Plan, 1947, by setting up COMECOM, which aimed to support Eastern economies

32
Q

What was Currency Reform, 1948?

A

In 1948, the West introduced the Deutschmark, as the old currency had become worthless. This was needed to revive the West German economy, but severely damaged the Easten economy

33
Q

How did the USSR respond to Currency Reform, 1948?

A

The USSR responded to Currency Reform in 1948 with:
The Berlin Blockade - all land and water routes from West Germany to West Berlin were blocked. This made the division of Germany a virtual certainty
- Vicious anti-West propaganda

34
Q

How did the West respond to the Berlin Blockade, 1948-49?

A

The West supplied West Berlin by air

35
Q

What did the British and Americans decide days into the Berlin Blockade?

A

Days into the Berlin Blockade, 1948, the American and British decided to merge their zones, creating Bizonia in 1949

36
Q

After how many months did Stalin call of the Berlin Blockade?

A

Stalin called the Blockade off after 11 months, in 1949

37
Q

What happened overall in the West up to 1949?

A
  • Social and economic rebuilding
  • Reintroduction of democracy
  • Suspicion of Communism
  • Formation of Bizonia, 1949
  • Denazification had taken a backseat
38
Q

What was happening in the East?

A

Politics were shaped along one-party, Communist lines

39
Q

When was the FRG set up?

A

1949

40
Q

What did the new constitution of the FRG state?

A

The constitution of the FRG stated the President could not remove the chancellor, and that parties had to gain at least 5 per cent of the vote to gain seats, to minimise the impact of extremist parties
- The constitution was committed to the reunification of Germany

41
Q

Who became the first Chancellor of the FRG?

A

Konrad Adenauer

42
Q

What kind of government did Adenauer lead?

A

Konrad Adenauer led a coalition government, of the Christian Democratic Union party

43
Q

What did people fear about Adenauer and his government?

A
  • That the coalition would be weak
  • That Adenauer would be a puppet for the USA
  • Adenauer was more in favour of distancing the West from the East
44
Q

What did the Soviet zone become in 1949?

A

The Soviet zone became the German Democratic Republic in 1949, the GDR

45
Q

Who were the dominant party in the GDR?

A

The dominant party in the GDR were the SED

46
Q

What did the GDR constitution claim?

A

The GDR constitution claimed to give freedom of speech, religion and the right to strike, but in reality suppressed opposition ideas to the SED

Germany Divided and Reunited 1945-1991 (8 decks)

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