Post War Germany (East) Flashcards
East Germany (USSR)
When did the Soviets permit re-establishment of non-fascist democratic parties?
10/6/1945
What did Kurt Schumacher do in resistance of the soviet reforms?
He fought against the states aims to merge with the communists, for a united socialist party. (SED). This was successful in the West but not the East
Who was the soviet leader of the SPD?
Otto Grotewohl
Who was the soviet leader of the CDU?
Jakob Kaiser
Who was the soviet leader of the LDPD?
Wilhelm Külz
What contributed to the USSR feeling tense leading up to the Berlin Blockade?
The severe losses after the war The issues over currency The Benelux meetings Bizonia Truman Docterine Marshall Plan
What had the USSR lost by 1945?
20 million civilians had died
70,000 villages destroyed
Lost 1/3 of their wealth
What had the USSR gained by 1945?
Widely respected globally, which many in Europe were grateful for communism
Largest army
Why were they tensions from the currency before the blockade?
The USSR saw the Wests Deutschmark as deliberately under mining the East.
The east changed their currency to Ostmark in East Germany and East Berlin, so the West did the same.
Why were they tensions from the Benelux before the blockade?
The allies and six powers had a conference in London in 1948 about the new ethology and economy but the Soviets were not invited
Why were they tensions from Bizonia and marshall aid before the blockade?
Stalin saw it as an attempt to undermine East Europe. America poured money into West Germany and Berlin and it infuriated Stalin
What was the Warsaw Pact?
Russian troops were sent to Communist countries.
Soviet version of NATO
When did Soviets successfully test an atomic bomb?
1949
How have Soviets been seen as the cause for the Berlin Blockade?
Soviets exploited all the economic potential to pay for the costs of war. They were determined to secure their own safety through satellite states e.g. Poland and Czech
What does GDR stand for?
German Democratic Republic
When was the GDR created?
7/10/1949
Where was the capital of GDR?
East Berlin
Who were the GDR’s leaders and when?
President= Wilhelm Pleck (1949-60)
Prime Minister= Otto Grotewohl (1949-60)
SED leader= Walter Ulbricht (1946-1971)
What was the state of East Germanys economic stability by 1948?
Soviets had given Nazi property to the state and gave huge land to struggling farmers. Overall industrial capacity had fallen dramatically from being virtually dismantled
What was the aim of the Berlin Blockade?
To try and stop West plans for currency and to make them surrender West Berlin
What was the ‘two state theory’?
The USSR launched ‘two state theory’ claiming two sovereign German states both representing the German nation
How did the GDR become sovereign?
The USSR changed its policies by giving GDR full sovereignty and by integrating the GDR into the Warsaw Pact in 1955 for a defensive alliance of the USSR and other countries of central east europe in soviet regime.
Why was there a mergence between the KPD and SPD?
Communists weren’t winning sufficient popularity to secure mass political basis in places such as Austria and Hungary
Who pressured a mergence to the KPD and SPD?
SMAD pressured the SPD and KPD to merge through threatening, arrests and censorship