WHAT WAS THE IMPACT OF THE DIVISION OF GERMANY?

Summary of the Impact

WHAT WAS DECIDED AT POTSDAM?

To manage the Germans and to break up Germany into 4 occupational zones

WHAT WERE THE EARLY AIMS OF THE DIVISION OF GERMANY?

1. Deal with the immediate post war aftermath
2. Unite Germany afterwards

WHAT IS DE-NASIFICATION? NAME 2 EXAMPLES

Remove Nazi symbols from the country (e.g. removing former Nazis from government, remove Nazi symbols)

WHAT WERE THE ECONOMIC RESTRAINTS PLACED ON THE GERMANS?

Disable its ability to wage war, war production facilities taken down, limiting production

WHY DID THE USA WANT TO STRENGTHEN WEST GERMANY?

They wanted to take the knowledge the Nazi scientists had gained and apply it to the USA nuclear programme, as well as create a strong trading ally

WHAT THREE COUNTRIES UNITED? (CREATED TRIZONIA)

Britain, USA, and France

WHAT DID THE NEW CURRENCY AND UNIFICATION LEAD TO?

1. prevented rampant inflation
2. led to road blockades
3. creation of the Berlin airlift

WHAT CAUSED TENSION IN POTSDAM?

The American use of the atomic bomb in Japan, as it gave America military superiority, and further raised tensions as the Soviet Union had not been told of their development despite their ally

WHAT PARTY TOOK OVER IN JUNE 1948?

SED- any appearance of democracy had been abandoned

WHAT DID THE COMMUNISTS ARGUE FOR THE START OF NAZISM?

Nazism had emerged as a result of a crisis in capitalism, and therefore capitalism had to be abolished.

HOW DID THE USSR ‘ABOLISH CAPITALISM’?

1. broke up large agricultural estates
2. takeover of banks and factories
3. equipment dismantled
4. Russians kidnapped experts and scientists to help reconstruct equipment they had seized

WHAT COUNTRIES MERGED TO FORM BIZONIA AND THEN LATER TRIZONIA?

Bizonia: Britain and USA

Trizonia: Britain, France, and USA

WHAT DEPARTMENTS DID THE SOVIETS ENSURE THEIR CONTROL IN?

1. education
2. appointment of personnel

WHAT WAS THE POLICY OF CONTAINMENT?

approach to containing, or preventing, the spread of Communism after WWII

WHAT TRIGGERED THE BERLIN BLOCKADE?

The currency reform

WHAT WAS THE NAME OF THE SECOND CURRENCY BROUGHT IN? WHY WAS IT BROUGHT IN?

Deutsche Mark- brought in so that normal economic activity could be resumed with a stable currency and not a barter system

WHAT CURRENCY DID THE SOVIETS BRING IN?

East German mark

WHEN WAS THE BERLIN BLOCKADE?

June 1948- May 1949

WHAT CAUSED THE AIRLIFT TO OCCUR?

The West began the airlift as they were not willing to relinquish control and supplying Berlin was a clear sign that the West would resist the spread of communism, even if it resulted in the division of Germany.

WHAT WAS THE AIRLIFT? WHY WAS IT SUCCESSFUL?

Airlift was the delivery of food and supplies to Berlin from Allied airbases.