Origins of the Cold War: Conflict Over Germany - Developments Within the Sectors Flashcards
Allied Control Council (ACC)
• Each of the four zones of post-war Germany had a military governor but each could be administered differently
• The powers were to coordinate their actions through the ACC
• Aimed to enable economic and political unity in Germany to be maintained
• Decisions made by the ACC had to be unanimous
Describe politics in the Soviet zone
Stalin encouraged a centralised German party system and accepted the founding of four left-wing parties
• Soviets aimed at making the communists the dominant group to act as a basis for a nation-wide communist movement
• This failed - Stalin could dominate politics in the Soviet zone, but not on a national scale
• This apparent political independence did not achieve Soviet expectations so the SPD and the KPD were forcibly merged in
February 1946
• The newly formed party was the German Socialist Unity Party or
Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschland (SED)
What were the four newly-formed political parties in the Soviet zone?
• Communists (KPD)
• German Social Democrats (SPD)
• Liberals (LDPD)
• Christians Democrats (CDU)
Give examples of unilateral policies introduced in the Soviet zone
• Land reform
• Nationalisation of large industrial production
• Compulsory tuition in the Russian language for German school pupils
How was the Soviet zone viewed by West
Germans?
• Perceived as a place of tyranny and repression
• Apparent that the Soviet zone had been subiected to Soviet model of peoples’ democracies like in the rest of Eastern Europe
• Communists gradually took control of other left-wing groups
Describe the geography and population of the British zone
• The British zone was in the north-western part of Germany
• It included the major port of Hamburg and the Ruhr industrial area
• It consisted of about 22.5 million people
• This population was costly to feed and this increased Britain’s dependency on the USA
Describe the political implications of the Ruhr
• The Ruhr region was the industrial heart of Germany and therefore, was at the centre of Germany’s economic recovery
• Britain was concerned about the Soviets and the French wanting influence over the control of the Ruhr
• Soviet influence over it would provide access to further reparations from Germany, which might weaken Germany’s economic recovery and strengthen support for the communists among disaffected Germans
• The primary British fear by the spring of 1946 was that a revived
Germany might either cooperate with the USSR or, worse still, become dominated by it
• On 23 August 1946, Britain’s military governor in Germany created the state of North Rhine-Westphalia
• It was at this point that Britain committed itself to the merger of the British and American zones
Describe the US’ initial position towards joint occupation
• There was some ambiguity in the American position towards its zone and the notion of effective joint occupation of Germany as a whole
• In the summer of 1945, George Kennan was clear that the USA must develop in its zone of Germany a degree of independence and economic security that ensured its safety from any potential threat from the Eastern Bloc communist states in Europe
• Initially, the US administration was committed to making joint occupation work
• This was the intent of the first commander of the Office of Military Government, United States (OMGUS), General Dwight D.
Eisenhower and his deputy, General Lucius Clay
How did US views on joint occupation change?
• By the spring of 1947, Clay was less compliant. His position by then was ‘no’ to:
• the Soviet demand that the Ruhr should be placed under joint allied control
• the continued social and economic deprivation of the German populations in the US and British zones
• the Soviet desire to create a centralised Germany
What was the Office of Military Government, United States (OMGUS)?
• This administrative organisation was set up by the USA to manage its zones of Western Germany and West Berlin
• It was led by General Clay
•OMGUS had a variety of tasks
• One of these was to carry out a survey to establish the extent to which Nazism and Nazi sympathy had been removed from
Germany with its defeat
• Also responsible for monitoring the appointment of new officials from among the German population
• OMGUS was dismantled in 1949
Describe the US zone
• The USA allowed free elections in its zone
- The USA regarded the German Lander (state) as the basis for a future national structure based on federalism.
Describe France’s position on the future of
Germany
• Up to 1947, France had called for the complete dismemberment of Germany and for the internationalisation of the Ruhr in particular, with a strong French influence on its administration
• For the French, Germany was to become a number of small autonomous (independent) states
• France was a major factor in ensuring that the ACC could not function effectively
• Ultimately the French position was to support the creation of two German states with the Western part closely allied and influenced by the Western powers
• This conformed to the French aim to see the dismemberment of Germany and its strategy of ensuring France’s long-term security against a resurgent German state
