Democracy and Dictatorships in Germany 1949-63: 'Divided Germany' Flashcards
‘The FRG failed to remove Nazi elements from its government institutions by 1963.’ How far do you agree with this statement? [20]
Introduction: Agree. Though the FRG was no doubt an anti-fascist government, certain elements of Nazism remained in its institutions
1) Agree
-The Basic Law set up a representative democracy which limited the public’s input in governance
2) Agree
-Free press and freedom of speech was targeted during the Der Spiegel Affair as the editor and journalists were arrested to protect government interests
3) Disagree
-Before the creation of the FRG, the Americans were thorough in arresting and executing Nazis, executing 324 Nazis, more than any other Allied occupation force. This meant the FRG’s was rid of ‘major’ Nazis. however, in practice, the FRG’s institutions could not function without employing ex-Nazis, and the civil service especially continued to function with Nazi administrators
4) Agree
-The Basic Law which acted as a ‘constitution’ for the FRG was flawed in terms f Nazi influence from the beginning, excluding parties who did not gain 5% of the vote and allowing chancellors to serve more than two terms, allowing Adenauer to serve for nearly four complete terms. Though it can be argued that this was for good reason, the fact is that one person was able to govern West Germany for 14 years, longer than Hitler. This meant that, like Nazi Germany, the FRG had a very limited democratic aspect
Conclusion: Though the FRG was ready to admit the horrors which the Nazi regime had committed before it,, removing all elements of the Nazi past was not achieved by the government as certain aspects of the Nazi regime remained, so as restrictions on freedom of speech, press censorship and limitations on democratic input from the public
‘The Berlin Uprising of 1953 was caused by the anger towards land reform in the GDR.’
To what extent do you agree with this statement? [20]
-Introduction: Disagree
the uprising was a combination of failures in the system and the opportunity to rebel by workers who felt the regime which should have provided for them was failing
1) Disagree
-Economic failures were an important cause for the mobilisation of 400,000 workers for the uprising
-the nationalisation of industry had had disastrous effect on economic growth especially in comparison the the FRG, which was experiencing huge growth. The Soviet Union’s idea of ‘nationalisation’ was more focused on reparations until 1953, dismantling factories and shipping them to Russia. In the West, this had ceased three years earlier, allowing industry there to grow and so induce economic growth
2) Disagree
-The Berlin Uprising was caused because the workers of the GDR were given the opportunity to rebel after the death of Stalin in March 1953.
-The new leadership in the the USSR had rejected Stalinism and even Ulbricht’s own security forces had doubtful levels of loyalty to the regime
-in this way, workers thought they had a chance to change the system and perhaps even invite the west to join them
3) Agree
-land reform had had a significant impact on the GDR’s economy due to the failure of collectivisation into the early 1950s
-by 1953, 13% of farmland in the GDR was not being farmed, leading to food shortages
-this lost the trust of workers who were supposed to be looked after by the Communist regime
4) Disagree
-the increase in work norms by 10% without increasing wages due to the regime’s rigid aims on ‘building on socialism’ meant the quality of life of many workers decreased
-in Berlin this sparked riots as workers could observe their counterparts in the Western sector enjoying consumer goods and higher wages, so revolted against Ulbricht’s hardliner expectations of East German industry
Conclusion: Disagree
disillusionment of the regime fuelled by the failing economy and increased pressure from the government to increase production resulted in the uprising when the workers realised they had a chance in changing the system especially after Stalin’s death and the possibility of support from the police. it is in fact this same opportunity for change in Hungary and Czechoslovakia in 1956 and 1968 which sparked revolts there
To what extent were women in the GDR better off than their counterparts in the FRG? [20]
Introduction: GDR women were not better off
1) GDR women not better off because education was still very low in terms of numbers of women
- 20.4% of students women in GDR compared to 19% in FRG in 1950
- though the GDR offered greater social mobility through education, women were not so much the focus as poorer students which the GDR needed to educate in Communist ideals as the new generation.
2) GDR women not better off as social welfare was not favourable to women
- budget cuts in 1947 left hundreds of thousands of widows without benefits and the many young people who were fleeing to the west were leaving many older women alone to fend for themselves without any state support financially
3) GDR women were better off due to working opportunities and wages
- though both the FRG and GDR claimed to treat men and women as equals, employment in the GDR offered more opportunities than for women in the FRG. the pay gap in the FRG was considerably higher than in the GDR at a 40% difference
- however, the lack of a workforce after the war pressured many women into working, adding hardship for many women, especially as this was not because of the state’s encouragement but because circumstances forced the state to employ more women
4) GDR women not better off due to general quality of life
- the FRG’s economy meant that consumer goods were abundant, and so household technologies such as washing machines were making the traditional life of women encouraged by the state more modern in this way compared to the daily life of women in the GDR who still had to fulfil the traditional role of ‘the women at home’ without these technologies.
conclusion: GDR women were not better off
- though the GDR’s constitution and societal views on women encouraged emancipation of women more than in the FRG, general living standards accompanied by the failures in the GDR made daily life a struggle for many women who felt left out by the state and regime which was supposed to look after and encourage the role of the women being equal to men’s in society
To what extent was the GDR a totalitarian regime? [20]
Introduction
To what extent did the GDR build a ‘socialist paradise’ by the mid-1960s? [20]
Introduction
Assess the consequences of the June 1953 uprising for the citizens and politicians in the GDR. [20]
Introduction
Which of the following was more responsible for the GDR’s economic failures?
i) Collectivisation
ii) The ‘brain drain’
[10]
i) -Collectivisation was poorly managed to begin with, resulting in 13% of arable land not being farmed, leading to rationing being reintroduced in 1961.
-Collectivisation was not only poorly managed and so resulted in slow production growth and economic stagnation, but the lack of competition between farmers meant the incentive to work was lost and food production fell
-therefore collectivisation had a dramatic effect on the economy’s ability to grow beyond minimum food production levels
ii)-The ‘brain drain’ severely impaired the economy’s ability to grow beyond primary and secondary sector jobs and move to services and technological advances
-With thousands of young people leaving the East (144,000 in 1959 alone) meant a hard working section of the work pool was being lost, so the economy could not progress, let alone meet production targets, leading to the consistent failures of the GDR’s economic plans
Conclusion:
Though collectivisation posed a serious strain on the economic growth of the GDR, the brain drain compromised growth in the future while collectivisation eventually improved to become the best collectivised eastern-bloc country with the highest production. The loss of the next generation to the West left the GDR with a workload deficit for many years to come.
‘Despite its limitations the GDR created a fairer society for its citizens.’ To what extent do you agree with this statement? [20]
Introduction
Asses the reasons for the success of Erhard’s economic policies. [20]
Introduction
How far did German society change in the twenty years after the Second World War? [20]
Introduction
Which of the following had the greater impact in ensuring prosperity for the FRG between 1949 and 1963:
i) integration with the west
ii) the economic miracle
[10]
Introduction
‘West Germany proved to be an unqualified success under Adenauer’s chancellorship.’ To what extent do you agree with this statement? [20]
Introduction
‘The policies of the government of the German Democratic Republic transformed East German society in the years 1949-63.’ How far do you agree? [20]
Introduction: No: Common factors between Nazi and Communist regimes: fear (Stasi), lack of freedom and repression. The GDR’s policies were therefore too similar the Nazi and Soviet occupation policies, with a focus on industrialisation and indoctrination to support the state dominating social policies.
1) Church was still persecuted, undermined at first, then explicitly targeted by the state
-By 1960, the number of Christians fell from 80% to 50% of the east German population
-The state sought to make its leadership the only authority in Germany, much like the Nazi regime and the SMAD (Soviet Military Administration in Germany) up to 1949
2)Youth
-though more people, went to school (60,000 university students by 1958, the focus of ‘education’ was still indoctrination to create a generation of Communist supporters and a focus on industrialisation and the youth being ‘the strength of the nation’ with physical exercise still playing an important role in youth organisations
-Schools were twinned with factories to encourage industrialisation and a community spirit based on Ulbricht’s ‘building on socialism’
3)Ideology
-The regime set up by the SED did not favour the elite in the same way as the Nazis had, and instead pushed for greater social mobility and the lifting of the proletariat in society
-by 1949, 36% of university students were from working class backgrounds compared to only 19% in 1946, so allowing the working class to emerge in a way which society had not allowed before hand
-however, the regime still relied on terror to keep society ‘under control’, especially after the Berlin Uprising, where the number of Stasi officers increased to 13,000 in 1955
-if anything, state surveillance had increased dramatically since the fall of the Nazi dictatorship
4)Women
-Social policies towards women did encourage women into the workplace and provide more opportunities in education, however, the SED was more concerned with ‘building on socialism’ and increasing production, and women simply offered a new workforce, so the ‘emancipation’ of women was more of a consequence of industrial aims, not a focus of policies, so this change in society was not a result of the GDR’s policies
Conclusion:
There was no great change in East German society during the years 1949-63 as a result of the SED’s policies. Not only did many groups in society experience little change, but the regime’s general approach to governance left no room for ‘change’ unless this benefited the state, so was not so different from Nazi aims and means of keeping order. In the words of Walter Ulbricht, ‘It must look democratic, but we must have everything in our control.’ The SED’s aims were therefore only to create a measured change which would result in the propagation of state powers, so there was no great change in society itself as the Nazis had been very successful in creating a society which could be managed under an authoritarian form of governance.
