Germany Booklet 4 Flashcards
Where were the two conferences that decided the fate of Germany after WW2?
Yalta and Potsdam
When did West Germany join NATO?
1949
When did East Germany join the Warsaw Pact?
1955
What did the Americans create in their zone?
Lander (Regional parliaments) and held elections in March 1946, the French and British did the same in May 1947
As part of the new FRG constitution, what powers did the president have?
Could remove the chancellor as a fail safe, just in case something went wrong again
As part of the new FRG constitution, what powers did the Chancellor and Government have?
Leader of the largest party is appointed chancellor
Could be removed by a vote of no confidence
Article 48 removed, couldn’t suspend the Bundestag
As part of the new FRG constitution, what was the new Bundestag?
The Bundestag sets the federal taxes
Partied had to gain at least 5% of the vote to take their seats in the Bundestag, this was to avoid the smaller extremist parties having influence
As part of the new FRG constitution, what were elections like?
Men and Women over 18 could vote
2 votes were made, one for a direct representative for their electoral district and another for a party list
As part of the new FRG constitution, what powers did the Bundesrat have?
Made up of the Lander - which controlled the education and administration in their state
Taxes split between Lander and government
Prussia erased as a state and the Landers given more power than ever
As part of the new FRG constitution, what was the civil service and judiciary?
Similar to the Weimar system in that it was politically independent
Acted as a check and balance to the active of government
Could ban parties they thought were undemocratic
As part of the new FRG constitution, what was the new welfare state?
New welfare state set up, similar to Weimar
True of False, West Berliners could vote in federal elections?
False: They were considered citizens of the FRG, but could not vote in federal elections
How many members of the Berlin assembly sat in the Bundestag and Bundesrat as observers?
22 in the Bundestag
4 in the Bundesrat
How much money did Marshal Aid give to West Germany?
$2.7 billion
What % of the population of West Germany was Catholic?
45%, as opposed to 30% pre-1945
How much did the CDU win the 1949 elections by?
CDU: 31% 139 Seats
SPD: 29.2% 131 Seats
Which party did the CDU form a coalition with and how many seats did this account for?
Free Democratic Party and the German Party which accounted for 208 of the 402 seats
How long did the CDU remain in power for?
Until 1969
Who was the first president of the FRG?
Theodor Heuss
What was the Ulbricht group?
German communists who had been in exile in the USSR while the Nazis were in power, they started developing in the Eastern Zone alone socialist lines under directives from Stalin
What was the SMAD?
The SMAD, Soviet Military Administration in Germany, controlled the USSR’s occupation of the Eastern Zone
Which two parties merged to form the SED and when?
The SPD and the KPD, 22nd April 1946
What was the FDJ?
Communist Free German Youth, similar to the Nazi Youth organisations
When was the FDJ setup and who was it for?
Setup in 1946 and for all those aged 14-25
What happened to all other groups and organisations?
They were all banned apart from Church groups
What were some other organisations setup in East Germany?
Women’s Democratic Association
Union of those persecuted by the Nazis
German cultural league
German-Soviet Friendship association
How much of industry and commerce had been nationalised in East Germany by 1949?
60%
How many large estates were redistributed as part of land reforms in East Germany?
7000
Which law was implemented in East German Schools in 1946?
Law of Democratisation
What changes were made in East German schools?
Removing all traces of Nazism in schools, which led to a shortage of teachers initially
New curriculum rapidly introduced socialist ideas to children from a young age
What happened to the number of students going to university in East Germany?
Doubled in almost 3 years
Which agreement was signed in 1951 which combined most of Western Europe into a common market?
European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)
What happened to real wages from 1950-64 in the FRG?
They doubled
How large of an army was the FRG allowed in 1950?
150,000 men
What % of the vote did Adenauer win in 1953?
45.2%, a 14% increase from 1949
What was the Hallstein doctrine?
It said that a diplomatic recognition of the GDR by anyone other than the USSR was a hostile act against the FRG, and now the FRG was a member of NATO, this had some meaning
What else did the Hallstein doctrine say?
No one could receive financial assistance from the FRG if they recognised the GDR
The doctrine referred to the GDR as a zone rather than an illustration of how the FRG wanted to challenge the legitimacy of the east
How much of the vote did the CDU win in 1957?
50.2%
What did the FRG negotiate for in 1955?
The release of German POWs from the USSR, in return for FRG recognition of the USSR
What was the Fragebogen?
A questionnaire with 133 questions concerning issues such as involvement in the German Army, whether they had connections to the Nazi party, who they voted for in 1933 and whether they were a Junker
Who had to complete the Fragebogen?
Anyone who wanted to work in the US Zone, even those persecuted by the Nazis
What was an issue with the Fragebogen?
It depleted the number of key workers in the US Zone who were needed to rebuild following the war
How many people were being vetted in one Lander?
2.5million were being investigated
How did the allies change the Fragebogen method?
In October 1946, 5 categories were decided upon with lesser offender, who may have been members of the Nazi Party but less supportive of it being placed on probation for 2-3 years
Special tribunals were created to deal with questionable cases
By 1947, how many Germans were kept in prison camps for their more serious Nazi category?
90,000
When was the de-nazification policy officially ended?
1951
Which important Nazi managed to escape to Brazil?
Josef Mengele, the Nazi doctor
When was the amnesty legislation passed?
1951
How many Germans benefitted from the amnesty legislations?
800,000
How many migrant workers from Italy, Yugoslavia and Turkey were there in Germany?
8 million
When was the West German KPD banned and why?
Banned in 1956 for supporting the USSR’s actions in East Germany during the 1953 uprising
When was Adenauer accused of being overly authoritarian?
During the 1962 Spiegal affair, when it was discovered that journalists writing for the Spiegel magazine had been arrested after criticizing the FRG’s armed forces
How many benefitted from the Second Amnesty Law?
400,000 were exonerated
When was the Neo-Nazi Socialist Reich Party banned?
August 1952
In 1952, how many foreign office diplomats were former Nazis?
66%
Why was there so many former Nazis as foreign office diplomats?
Adenauer believed that it was counter-productive to bar thousands of experienced people when they could make a positive contribution to West German democracy
In which year was the West German constitution created?
1948
Which parties made up the new CDU (Christian Democratic Union)?
Centre (Z) Party, German Nationalists and the Populists
How many members of the Länder parliaments met to create the new West German constitution and at which meeting?
65 at the Parliamentary Council (in Bonn)
What name was given to the new German constitution?
Fundamental Law
What role had Adenauer had before becoming chancellor of Germany?
Mayor of Cologne from 1918 and involved in the 1944 bomb plot against Hitler
Who was Adenauer’s economic advisor?
Ludwig Erhard
What was significant about the General Treaty in 1955?
It gave the FRG control of its foreign policy and they joined NATO
Why did Schumacher think he was the right leader for post-war Germany?
Only politician to stay in Germany under the Nazis and not collaborate
Give two reasons why Schumacher failed in the 1949 election?
Economic policies too similar to East Germany and fear of communism
When did Schmacher die and who replaced him as leader of the SPD?
1952 and Erich Ollenhauer
Who replaced Ollenhauer as leader of the SPD and in which year?
Willy Brandt and 1953
What was the Bad Godesberg Programme of 1959?
The SPD’s move away from Marxism and towards capitalism. It made the SPD ‘the party of the whole people’
When did the SPD gain power in the FRG for the first time?
Formed a coalition with the CDU in 1966 and in 1969, Willy Brandt became chancellor
How did Adenauer appease Israel?
On 10th September, 1952, Germany paid DM3 billion to Israel due to the Holocaust
Why did Adenauer get away with such a lenient denazification process?
Economic growth in the 1950s and a desire for Germans to move on from the past
