Cold War Division of Germany

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Cold War Division of Germany

• HI136 History of Germany

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Schedule

1. Germany in 1945 die Stunde Null (zero hour)
2. Occupation Policies
3. The First Berlin Crisis
4. The Second Berlin Crisis
5. Conclusion

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Liberation of the Concentration Camp Dachau
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A badly managed disaster area
Refugees arriving in Berlin, 1945
Black market raid in Berlin, 1945
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The Formal Division

• Teheran Feb. 1943 Germany will be divided and
  occupied
• London Sept. 1944 three zones envisaged (joined
  by French in 1945)
• Potsdam July 1945 Germany to be single economic
  unit, but administered by zonal commanders
  meeting in Allied Control Council
• Officially, temporary situation pending peace
  treaty, but de facto consolidation
• 1947 Economic Council appears in western zones as
  proto-government
• June 1948 separate currencies introduced
• May 1949 Federal Republic of (West) Germany
  announced Oct. 1949 German Democratic Republic
  (East) follows
• May 1955 FRG joins NATO GDR joins Warsaw Pact
• August 1961 Berlin Wall built cementing division

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Principles

• Denazification
• Democratisation
• Demilitarisation
• Decentralisation
• Decartelisation
• (Dismantlement)

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Soviet Occupation

• Gradualist approach with creeping Sovietisation
  (no one-party copy of USSR)
• Lack of planning, but smash and grab (Beria)
  versus reconstruction (Tyulpanov) factions
• Mass rapes alienate women
• Nationalisation of industry popular (77
  support), but dismantling of 30 of factories
  unpopular (approx. 30)
• Land reform (popular among farmers, but set
  unilateral precedent, upsetting western partners)
• Refugees USSR mainly blamed for inhumane
  treatment of refugees, ca. 1.5 million die)
• Norman Naimark, The Russians in Germany

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Revisionist views of Russia

• Stalins perceived desire for a deal on Germany
  (united but neutral)
• Message to KPD leaders in June 1945 that Germany
  would remain united
• Brakes on separatist pressures from East German
  leaders (June 1948)
• National unity offers (March 1952 Stalin Notes)
  was this to try to scupper FRG integration into
  military bloc?
• Rolf Steininger, Wilfried Loth, Stalins Unwanted
  Child

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French Occupation

• Hopes for dismemberment of Germany (Rhinelandia
• International control of Ruhr
• Oppose centralised institutions
• Non-signatories to Potsdam (no refugees allowed
  into French Zone)
• Punitive reparations from German industry and
  forestry
• Only join Anglo-American Bizone in 1948

General Koenig, French commander
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British Occupation

• April 1946 British alarm at communist-SPD merger
  in Soviet Zone (bid for all-zone superparty?)
• Mid-1946 British sterling crisis occupation
  becoming liability
• Invite other occupiers to merge zones (only US
  accept gt Bizonia, Jan. 1947)
• Britain now seen as proactive keen to encourage
  firmer line from Americans (Deighton, The
  Impossible Peace)
• Post-revisionist synthesis stresses regional
  actors

Ernest Bevin, British foreign secretary
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American Occupation

• JCS 1067 no fraternisation population to be
  kept at subsistence level
• May 1946 US halt reparations deliveries to
  Soviet Zone
• Byrnes speech (Sept. 1946) America pledges to
  stay in Germany for long haul
• 1947 governor Clay blocks moves to
  nationalisation of industry
• Carolyn Eisenberg, Drawing the Line, for a
  critical view of the Americans

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Marshall Aid, June 1947-1952

• West Germany as locomotive to economic recovery
  of western Europe
• Internationalisation of economy to satisfy French
  security worries
• Renewed West German infrastructure of Ruhr mines
• Was it more psychological than real aid? (Werner
  Abelshauser v. Christoph Buchheim)
• Cf dismantling policy in eastern Germany

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Schedule

1. Germany in 1945 die Stunde Null (zero hour)
2. Occupation Policies
3. The First Berlin Crisis
4. The Second Berlin Crisis
5. Conclusion

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Berlin the quadripartite city
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Berlin cont.

• Liberated by USSR in April 1945 at cost of
  100,000 casualties western sectors occupied July
  1945
• Formal access only recognised via air
• Easy access to West via open border, including
  U-Bahn or flown out of Tempelhof

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Berlin Airlift

• Soviet concerns at western preparations for
  separate West German state (London talks from
  Jan. 1948)
• Currency reform June western Allies introduce
  deutschmark into western zones and West Berlin
• Soviets retaliate with closure of access to West
  Berlin
• General Clay organises airlift with political
  support from Mayor Reuter despite difficulties
  in autumn 1948, tonnages rise in Nov.
• Propaganda debacle for East
• Western Allies move from being victor powers to
  protector powers

American transport aircraft (raisin bomber)
lands at Tempelhof note the children waiting for
possible sweets thrown overboard
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Berlin the Divided City

• During blockade two city governments
• U-Bahn (West) S-Bahn (East)
• Currency speculation
• Shopwindow Berlin Ku-Damm as showcase of
  western standard of living
• Espionage centre (CIA Berlin tunnel, human
  intelligence)
• Broadcasting RIAS American radio

Beware RIAS poison communist anti-American
poster warning of US broadcasts
Poster showing smuggling of currency between
sectors
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Schedule

1. Germany in 1945 die Stunde Null (zero hour)
2. Occupation Policies
3. The First Berlin Crisis
4. The Second Berlin Crisis
5. Conclusion

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Refugees via Berlin Inner-German border
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Berlin Crisis, 1958-61

• GDRs desire for recognition by West
• USSRs hopes for peace treaties removal of
  atomic weaponry from FRG
• Khrushchev ultimatum for West to leave West
  Berlin within 6 months
• Western intransigence threat of nuclear weapons
  to preserve West Berlin but non-intervention in
  East Berlin
• Economic race to overtake West German economy
  falters in 1960
• Wall cheap alternative to subsidies by USSR

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Conclusion Division of Germany

• Traditional interpretation Soviet Union is
  responsible
• Revisionist interpretation USA are mainly
  responsible
• Post-revisionist interpretation both sides are
  responsible