Transcript HI136 The History of Germany Lecture 15

HI136 The History of Germany
Lecture 15
The Cold War Division of Germany
The Morgenthau Plan
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US Secretary of State, Henry Morenthau Jr.
(1891-1967)
Drawn up by the US Secretary of
State, Henry Morgenthau.
Designed to ensure that Germany
could never again be a threat to
her neighbours.
Germany to be divided into
independent
states,
higher
education prohibited and heavy
industry destroyed.
Pressure from the public to punish
Germany led to this being adopted
as official US and UK policy until
the spring of 1945.
The Yalta Conference
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Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin at the Crimean
resort of Yalta, February 1945
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An Allied Control Commission
to be established to govern a
defeated Germany.
Germany to be occupied by
the 3 wartime allies and
France. Each power was to
occupy and administer a zone
of its own.
The USSR was to retain the
territory seized under the NaziSoviet Pact of 1939 & the
borders of Poland were to be
shifted westwards.
Reparations to be extracted
from Germany.
Occupied
Berlin
Source: R. Overy, The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Third Reich (1996)
Divisions within the Allies
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The Americans wanted a decentralized, federal
democratic system in Germany (modelled on the US
constitution).
Great Britain wanted Germany denazified and
demilitarized, but then a revival of the economy –
“security from attack, then business as usual” (Kramer).
Russia envisioned a united and neutral Germany. Her
priorities were to consolidate gains in Eastern Europe &
extract reparations from Germany.
French aims were similar to those after WW1 – They
wanted Germany broken up into weak states that would
be no threat to French security and the creation of buffer
zones in the Rhineland and the Saar.
Problems facing the Allies
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Germany is social, political and economic chaos.
German cities had been destroyed by Allied bombing: 75% of
buildings in Berlin had been demolished, only 1% of buildings in
Hanover were undamaged.
Communications & infrastructure had been similarly disrupted:
roads, rail networks, bridges etc.
Social chaos: old social structures disrupted, German men killed or
imprisoned during the war, women had to fend for themselves.
Refugee crisis: up to 12 million Germans migrated from the east,
plus thousands displaced within Germany, POWs and concentration
camp inmates.
Source: R. Overy, The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Third Reich
Problems facing the Allies
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Germany is social, political and economic chaos.
German cities had been destroyed by Allied bombing: 75% of
buildings in Berlin had been demolished, only 1% of buildings in
Hanover were undamaged.
Communications & infrastructure had been similarly disrupted:
roads, rail networks, bridges etc.
Social chaos: old social structures disrupted, German men killed or
imprisoned during the war, women had to fend for themselves.
Refugee crisis: up to 12 million Germans migrated from the east,
plus thousands displaced within Germany, POWs and concentration
camp inmates.
Political chaos: no authority or administration, need for restoration of
law & order.
Basic necessities of life had to be restored: gas, electricity, water,
food supplies, housing etc.
The Potsdam Conference
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The Allies agreed on the broad
principles for the treatment of
Germany:
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Attlee, Truman and Stalin at Potsdam. Standing
behind them are their respective foreign ministers:
Ernest Bevin, James Byrnes & Vyacheslav Molotov.
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Demilitarization & disarmament.
Denazification & democratization.
Industry to be decentralizaed &
reconstruction focus on ‘peaceful
domestic industries’.
No central government for the time
being.
Reparations in kind rather than cash –
each power authorized to seize goods
from their own zone. The USSR to get
50% of the total amount.
All decisions to be taken collegially
within the Allied Control Council.
These temporary measures, pending a
formal peace conference.
Denazification
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Nuremberg Trials: 22 Nazi leaders
put on trial, 12 condemned to
death.
Four-power agreement on the
need to remove Nazis from the
civil service, judiciary, education
etc.
Differences in approach:
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Russians saw Nazism as an
outgrowth of German capitalism –
radical structural reforms.
Americans wanted to remove
Nazism but maintain the existing
social & economic structure – a
more bureaucratic approach.
British & French saw Nazism as
inherent in the German national
character – an emphasis on reeducation.
Denazification ultimately devolved
to German tribunals.
Democratization
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1947: Break up of the old state of Prussia.
Creation of new administrative areas (Länder) within the
zones of occupation.
Differences in approach:
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A more centralized approach in the British zone – unelected
German officials made up Central Economic Office & Zonal
Advisory Council. Municipal elections in autumn 1946, elections
to state assemblies in May 1947.
The Americans keen to introduce democracy as soon as
possible: elections held in Jan. 1946. By the beginning of 1947
power had been devolved to the Länder in the US zone.
The Russians established a central authority, the Soviet Military
Administration of Germany (SMAD), in July 1945 at the same
time as governments in the Länder in their zone.
The Economy
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Major dislocation in the economy after 1945 – food shortages,
valueless currency etc. led to a thriving black market.
Ongoing disagreements over reparations: the Americans saw the
revival of the German economy as a priority whereas the Russians
wanted reparations as soon as possible.
July 1946: the USA suspends reparations deliveries to the Russian
zone and offers an economic merger of the zones. Only the British
agree, leading to the creation of the Bizone on 1 Jan. 1947.
The French and Soviets continued to extract reparations in kind from
their zones – by 1949 the Russians had secured over $10 billion
worth of resources and equipment.
In the Soviet zone a radical programme of nationalization and land
reform.
In the western zones an insistence from the Americans that
reconstruction and reform be achieved within the framework of the
free market.
Steps Towards Division
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21 April 1946: Merger of the SPD and KPD in the Soviet Zone to form the
Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (Socialist Unity Party, SED)
Establishment of the Bizone – interpreted by the Russians as an attempt to
create a separate state hostile to the USSR
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July 1947: Centralization of Bizonia with new political & economic institutions set
up.
In response the Russians establish the German Economic Commission (DWK) in
their zone.
Nov-Dec. 1947: Failure of the London Foreign Ministers Conference –
Convinces the Western Allies that the Russians are trying to establish a
Communist puppet state. They determine to devolve more power to West
Germany & integrate it into Western Europe to provide a buffer against the
spread of Communism.
Feb-March 1948: London Conference: Western Allies meet to decide the
fate of Germany.
April 1948: The Bizone included in the Organization for European Economic
Cooperation (OEEC) & accepts Marshal aid.
June 1948: The Western powers announce their intention to convene a
constituent assembly to draw up a constitution for a separate West German
state.
The Berlin Blockade
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20 June 1948: A new currency, the
Deutschmark,
introduced
in
Bizonia, the French Zone and
West Berlin.
The Russians fear that this will
destabilize the economy in their
zone & move to cut off road & rail
access to West Berlin in the hope
of pressuring the west to abandon
their plans for a separate state.
June 1948-May 1949: The allies
airlift fuel & food into West Berlin.
A symbolic struggle that back-fired
on
the
Russians
&
only
accelerated the integration of
West Germany into the Western
European system.
The Formation of the FRG
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July
1948:
65
member
Parliamentary Council established
to draw up a constitution for the
Western zones.
10 Feb. 1949: The proposed
constitution presented to the
Military Governors for their
approval.
8 May 1949: The Parliamentary
Council adopts the ‘Basic Law’ by
a vote of 53 to 12.
Elections in August return a
majority for a centre-right coalition
of the Christian Democrats (CDU)
and the Free Democrats (FDP).
Konrad Adenauer elected first
Chancellor
of
the
Federal
Republic of Germany on 15
September 1949.
The Formation of the GDR
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Despite the long build up, the establishment of the FRG took both
the Russians and the East Germans by surprise.
Stalin still hoped that a single neutral German state could be formed
and was reluctant to agree to proposals from the SED leadership for
a separate state in the East.
But establishment of the Federal Republic ended such hopes and
on 7 October 1949 the establishment of the German Democratic
Republic was announced.
A draft constitution had already been drawn up in the spring – on
paper this was very similar to that of FRG. In practice the GDR was
a single-party state dominated by the SED backed up with Russian
tanks.
12 October: A new government led by Otto Grotewohl formed.
The Berlin Wall
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Berlin remained under four-power
control after 1949 & Berliners
could move relatively freely
between the Eastern & Western
Zones.
This led to many East Germans
fleeing to the West via Berlin.
The East German leadership
wanted to plug this gap &
proposed doing so by force.
1958-61: Berlin Crisis – a standoff between the USSR & USA over
the position of Berlin.
The East Germans use this as an
occasion to close the border
crossings & erect a wall 140 km
(87 miles) long across Berlin.
Formalized
the
division
of
Germany and became the symbol
of the Cold War division of
Europe.
Conclusion
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Germany’s total defeat in WW2 placed her in the hands of the Allies.
Most Germans were more interested in the day-to-day struggle to
survive than politics.
The division of Germany therefore has to be seen in the context of
emerging Cold War tensions between the Superpowers.
Historiography:
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Orthodox school = the Soviet Union primarily to blame for the Cold War
& division of Germany.
Revisionist school = the Western powers (and the USA in particular)
primarily to blame for the Cold War & division of Germany.
Post-revisionist school = both sides share equal blame – the division of
Germany a consequence of mutual suspicion and irreconcilable
ideological differences.