Potsdam and the establishment of the Soviet zone

When did Hitler commit suicide?

April 30, 1945

When was the Yalta conference?

February 1945

What was agreed at the Yalta conference?

Germany to be disarmed & divided into 4 zones of occupation

When was the Potsdam conference?

July 1945

What was agreed at the Potsdam conference?

-Divide Germany & Berlin into 4 zones

-demilitarise Germany

-hold free elections for German government

Germany to pay reparations to allies. Mostly USSR, and whoever suffered most.

-Ban Nazi party and try leaders for war crimes

-Participate in united nations

-Move Poland border westwards.

How was the soviet zone demilitarised?

German forces disbanded after their surrender in May 1945. As there was no German government, there could be no independent German military force.

What happened to Nazis in the soviet zone?

The Nazi Party was disbanded and major war criminals were tried at Nuremberg. The Soviet sone interned large numbers of former Nazis, many of whom died in the former concentration camps. Later. 'normal' Nazis who committed themselves to communism returned to political life.

What did the Soviets claim Nazism resulted from?

Capitalism

How did the Soviets destroy capitalism?

- Large landed estates were confiscated and redistributed among landless agricultural labourers

- Former Nazis' property was taken; some kept by state

- Some equipment was dismantled and taken back to Russia as reparations. Russia also removed experts to reconstruct technical equipment in Russia

Who led the German Communists?

Walter Albright

What was the aim of the German communists?

Planned to gain control in Berlin, but give the appearance of democracy

What was order number 2?

Licensed the formation of political parties. All parties were brought together in an anti-facist bloc, or National front, against Nazism in July 1945

When was democracy abandoned by the Communist party?

1948

What was the SED?

The leading communist party

Who led the SED?

Walter Ulbricht

How did the SED gain popularity?

Confiscating property belonging to absentee factory owners, Nazis, war criminals and junkers.

What was the founding statement of the SED?

Claimed that it was wrong to impose the Soviet system and called for 'the establishment of an anti-facist, democratic regime, a parliamentary-democratic republic'

What were the two new parties the SED set up?

The National Democratic Party, aimed at former Nazis, and the Democratic Peasants Party of Germany, aimed at peasants

What did all parties in the Soviet zone agree on>

That state control and economic intervention was needed, and this gave communist plans and the Communist Party further support

How did the Communists dominate the Eastern zone?

- Having gained popular support, the communist SED gradually eliminated other political groups and views

- The Soviet military command surpassed political party activity in Berlin. CDU and LDPD activities were ended

- Free expression was severely limited and political dissent was restrained

- The military government determined appointments and dismissals