The post-war division of Germany

Question 1

When did Germany surrender to the victorious Allies?

Answer 1

8 May 1945

Question 2

What had brought Germany to catastrophe during the Second World War?

Answer 2

Hitler’s expansionist aims and genocidal policies against Jews and others

Question 3

The state of Germany following the Second World War

Answer 3

Many of its cities were destroyed by mass bombing or battle

It had no functioning institutions or economy

Its currency had collapsed

There was widespread fear of starvation and the outbreak of disease among its inhabitants, many of whom were living in cellars or in the open, their homes having been destroyed

Question 4

What did the four zones of occupation initially focus on? How did this develop?

Answer 4

The four zones of occupation initially focused on demilitarisation and denazification, then later on economic development

Question 5

How did Stalin provoke a crisis?

Answer 5

Stalin provoked a crisis by blockading the Western zones of the city, to which the USA and UK responded with an airlift of supplies

Question 6

By the time Stalin reopened the borders…

Answer 6

the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) had been created

This was followed by the foundation of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in October 1949

Question 7

When was the Yalta conference?

Answer 7

4 February 1945

Question 8

What was the primary purpose of the Yalta conference?

Answer 8

To discuss the post-war reorganisation of Europe and the establishment of a new world order after the defeat of Nazi Germany

Question 9

What was discussed in the Yalta conference?

Answer 9

The leaders discussed various issues related to the post-war division of Germany, the formation of the United Nations, the fate of Eastern European countries liberated from Nazi occupation, and the ongoing war in the Pacific against Japan

Question 10

The Yalta conference resulted in several key agreements including…

Answer 10

the division of Germany: It was agreed that Germany would be divided into four occupation zones, each administered by one of the Allied powers (the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and France)

Question 11

When was the Potsdam conference?

Answer 11

17 July 1945

Question 12

What were the main objectives of the Potsdam Conference?

Answer 12

The conference aimed to determine the post-war order, address issues in Germany, establish peace treaties, and discuss the fate of Eastern European countries

Question 13

In the Potsdam conference, the allies agreed to the following policies…

Answer 13

• Denazification
• Demilitarisation
• Deindustrialisation
• Democratisation

Question 14

Denazification

Answer 14

Former Nazi leaders would be brought to justice in post-war trials

The most famous of these was held at Nuremberg in 1945—46

Question 15

Demilitarisation

Answer 15

Military reductions would ensure Germany could never wage aggressive wars again

Question 16

Deindustrialisation

Answer 16

Large German industrial concerns would be dismantled partly to keep Germany weak but also to ship them to the Soviet Union to help pay reparations

Question 17

Democratisation

Answer 17

It was agreed that Germany should be prepared for democracy

Question 18

As a result of war losses, the ratio of women to men in the Soviet zone was…

Answer 18

135:100

Question 19

As a result of war losses, for every ___ persons of employment age, there were __ who were not

Answer 19

100
58

Question 20

Thousands of former Nazi Party members and officials were…

Answer 20

arrested and often sent to concentration camps such as Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen where conditions were as bad as during the Nazi period

Question 21

Why was the eradication of Nazism widened?

Answer 21

To effectively purge the Soviet zone of any potential opposition

Question 22

What was believed gave rise to Nazism?

Answer 22

It was felt that the elitist nature of pre-war Germany, with its wealthy classes and inequalities, gave rise to Nazism

Question 23

It was felt that the elitist nature of pre-war Germany, with its wealthy classes and inequalities, gave rise to Nazism. The removal of these preconditions took various forms such as…

Answer 23

Land reforms, the confiscation of property and reforms in the education system

Question 24

What was the aim of the initial land reforms, the confiscation of property and reforms in the education system?

Answer 24

The aim was to reduce elitism and widen equality of opportunity, binding beneficiaries to the new regime

Question 25

Land reforms

Answer 25

In September 1945 all land owners who were tainted with support for Nazism with holdings exceeding 100 hectares lost their land without compensation

Two million hectares were redistributes to formerly landless peasants or smallholders

Question 26

Confiscation of property

Answer 26

In October 1945, property firms belonging to former Nazis or leading officers in the wartime armed forces were confiscated by the regional administrations

Question 27

Education

Answer 27

Higher education was opened up to members of the working class, thus creating a new graduate class dependent on the new state

In 1945 members of the working class compromised three per cent of university students; by 1950 this figure had risen to 58 per cent

Question 28

Marshall Aid

Answer 28

Marshall Aid, also known as the Marshall Plan, was a significant program initiated by the United States to provide economic assistance to war-torn European countries after World War II

Question 29

Why do many historians see the July Conference in Paris in which the Marshall plan was discussed as the formal division of Europe into Soviet and capitalist zones of influence?

Answer 29

The USSR and most of its satellite countries did not attend the July conference

Many historians see this as the formal division of Europe into Soviet and capitalist zones of influence, the two sides represented by those countries which did send delegates and those which did not

Question 30

What was the Berlin Blockade?

Answer 30

The Berlin Blockade was a Soviet attempt to block Western access to West Berlin

Question 31

When did the Berlin Blockade occur?

Answer 31

24 June 1948 to 12 May 1949

Question 32

Why did the Soviet Union impose the Berlin Blockade?

Answer 32

The Soviet Union imposed the Berlin Blockade in response to the introduction of a new currency, the Deutsche Mark, in the western zones of Germany and concerns over the potential integration of those zones with the East

Question 33

Faced with a ____ ________ that Germany would be divided, Stalin appears to have decided to take control of all Berlin for _________ in the Soviet zone

Answer 33

fait accompli
inclusion

Question 34

fait accompli

Answer 34

a thing that has already happened or been decided before those affected hear about it, leaving them with no option but to accept it

Question 35

What did Stalin say to Pieck?

Answer 35

“Let’s try with all our might and maybe we can drive them out”

Question 36

Stalin decided to take full control of Berlin - how did he do this?

Answer 36

• He ordered a blockade of West Berlin
• He ordered electricity supplies, which were generated in the East, to be cut off to the West
• On 24 June 1948 all land and canal routes from the Western zones to West Berlin were blocked

Question 37

Berlin Blockade - Stalin’s aim

Answer 37

It was intended that the West Berlin authorities would face the alternative of starvation or agreeing to join the Soviet zone

Question 38

How did the Western Allies respond to the Berlin Blockade?

Answer 38

The Western Allies responded by organising the Berlin Airlift, a massive airlift operation to supply West Berlin with food, fuel, and other necessities

Question 39

What was the Berlin Airlift?

Answer 39

The Berlin Airlift was a humanitarian operation in which the United States, the United Kingdom, and other Western Allies flew over 200,000 flights into West Berlin, delivering supplies and sustaining the city during the blockade

Question 40

How did the Berlin Airlift end?

Answer 40

The Berlin Airlift ended on May 12, 1949, when the Soviet Union lifted the blockade after realising it was not achieving its objectives

Stalin, realising that the Allies would not give in, restored electricity supplies and allowed convoys to use land and canal routes again

Question 41

What were the consequences of the Berlin Blockade and Airlift?

Answer 41

The Berlin Blockade and Airlift deepened the divide between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies, leading to the formal division of Germany into East and West Germany

It also marked a significant victory for the Western Allies in the early stages of the Cold War

Question 42

What had the GDR been variously referred to as?

Answer 42

“Stalin’s unwanted child” (Wilfried Loth)

“the unloved country”
(Michael Simmons)

Question 43

What did Historian Mike Dennis emphasise about the creation of the GDR?

Answer 43

Historian Mike Dennis had emphasised that it was created more out of default that design

Question 44

Why did Historian Mike Dennis emphasise that the GDR was created more out of default that design?

Answer 44

After the creation of the FRG in May 1949 in the Western zones, there seemed little alternative

Even then Stalin was reluctant to give the go ahead; when SED leaders spoke of creating a People’s Democracy along the lines of other communist states, Stalin insisted on a gradual route to communism

Question 45

When was the GDR founded?

Answer 45

7 October 1949