Chapter 4 - Divided Germany: The Federal Republic and the DDR 1949-63

What was another name for the FRG and the GDR/DDR ?

FRG - West Germany (Formed May 23rd 1949)

GDR/DDR - East Germany (Formed October 7th 1949

Who was Konrad Adenauer

Background

• Member of the Centre Party pre ww1

• Refused to co-operate with Nazis

• Worked with the western powers due to his anti-communist beliefs

• Co-founded the Christian Democrats in 1945

• Elected as president of the parliamentary council (who drew up the constitution for West Germany)

• Elected to the Bundestag & became the first chancellor in 1949

• Won 4 elections between 1949 and 1963

• He refused to believe in reunification but bought stability to the Western side

Features of the West German (FRG) constitution:

• Freedom of expression

• Freedom of associated & movement

• Regional states (Lander) had elected representitives into the Bundesrat

• For the Bundestag, 60% of the seats were won through FPTP and 40% through PR and your party needed 5% of the vote to be represented

• The President was chosen by a convention made up of all the members of the Bundestag and members elected by Lander (regional) parliaments

• The President was more symbolic

• The President appointed the Chancellor however this chancellor needed support & approval of the parliament

• A new Chancellor had to be voted in before one was dismissed

Why was the constitution called basic law?

To indicate that it was only temporary and than eventually, Germany would be reunited as one

Features of the East Germany (GDR/DDR) constitution:

• There was a parliament (Volkskammer) that claimed to represent the people and passed laws

• However, the number of seats for each party was allocated before each election with the SED winning 98% every time

• The Landerkammer represented the 5 regions (Lander) who could review legislation passed by parliament and representitives were chosen by the state

• There was a President who was initally put in place and could appoint officials who was elected by the Volkskammer and the Landerkammer (however the SED decided who was in both)

• There was a prime minister who played a less significant role of leading the Council of Ministers who ran day-to-day government and were the cabinet

• The Politburo made all political decisions over the economy & government who were chosen by the SED

The Lander were abolished in 1952 and replaced by Bezirke which were smaller units that were easier to control

The Landerkammer was abolished in 1958

The President was replaced by the Council of State in 1960

What was the State Security Service?

The Stasi (intelligence agency) was established in 1950 in the GDR who were supported by the army, police & border guards

4 Statistics for the West German economy:

• Average annual growth rate between 1951 and 1965 was 8%

• GNP doubled between 1950-55 then grew by 50% againt 1955-60

• West Germany was theh 3rd largest trading power after the USA & Britain

• Unemployment was 4.2% by 1955

What were the reasons for the economic miracle?

West German advantages

• Lots of raw materials (100m tons of coal & 5m of iron ore mined in 1950s)

• Skilled workers arriving from the East as a regular supply of cheap labour

Economic policies

• Currency reform in 1948 (removal of price controls)

• Removing wage & production controls

• Reduction in marginal tax rates (rich people got richer leads to spending on goods)

• There was a steep rise in prices at the start which didn’t match wage increases

• Shortage of resources that had to be imported (balance of payments deficit)

Ludwig Erhard (Minister of Economics)

• Economic liberalisation & a free economy

• State regulations were ended

• He implemented the currency reform

• 1950 lack of foreign investment made currency growth difficult however the Korean war saved it

Marshall aid

• 1949-1954 = $2Bn

• The aid was quite minor at only 5% of West German national income in 48-49

• However it did show the principle that West Germany could be helped by the USA

Korean War

• Slightly increased demand for goods which the Ruhr could supply

• Stimulated growth & allowed Erhard to continue with the social market economy idea without objection

Industrial relations

• Due to 8% growth anually there were few strikes

• The growth in demand for consumer goods from living standards rising gave income

Role of the government

• Created the Bundesbank in 1957 for providing finnancial stability, controlling interest & inflation

• Government expenditure was lower than other countries

• West Germany didn’t have to pay reparations & defence costs as it had no army until 1955

What did Adenauer do to make West Germany successful?

• Integrated West Germany into the new post-war Europe

• Created the bundesbank in 1957 to control inflation

• Wasn’t able to reunify Germanys

• Withdrew from the 1959 presidentail campaign

• Poorly perofrmed in the 1961 election due to the Der Spiegel affair & his reaction to the Berlin Wall

How was political stability secured in West Germany?

• There were only 2 main parties, CDU & SPD

• Due to PR and FPTP, smaller parties didn’t get many seats

• The KPD & Socialist party were banned

• A party needed 5% of the votes to have a representitive in the Bundestag

How was social stability secured in West Germany?

Problems

• Millions of refugees

• Lack of democratic support

• ¼ of the population was fatherless

Denazification

• Compensated for those who suffered

• Exonerated Nazis from their crimes by acknowledging them

• Nazi civil servents regained their jobs through law 131 where they underwent educational reteaching

• Former Nazis were also able to claim pensions for their service to the Nazi state so people didnt mass emmigrate

The economic miracle

• People are happier if they’re rich

• 430,000 homes were built by 1952 and 4 million by 1957

• Wages rose 400% between 1949 and 1963

Social wefare

• Pensions & insurance-based healtyhcare was avaliable

• Improvements to standard of liviving stopped any communist threats

• There were still old elites who dominated German society

• There was growing resentment from the younger generations

What were the social issues in the 1960s for West Germany?

• Economic growth was starting to slow

• The young felt excluded from new cultural ideas from music in the USA & West

What was Adenauers relation with the East & West like?

West

• Closely allied to the West, Created more divisions between East & West

• Welcomed back to European affairs & Joined:

  • Council of Europe 1948

  • EEC in 1957

  • NATO in 1955

  • Atomic energy Community in 1957

East

• Russia was concerned about the integration into the West

• Stalin sent notes in 1952 to the West suggesting that the USSR would give up East Germany for it to be united

• Ignored the East German risings of 1953

• Refused to recognise the DDR/GDR & followed the Hallstein Doctrine (West Germany should only recognise the USSR not East Germany)

• Secured the return of prisoners of war giving him support at home

• Lack of response to the Berlin Wall

Why did Adenauer decline?

International response to the Berlin Wall

• He ignored the Berlin Wall being built, ignored East German uprisings, whereas the SPD leader did & Kennedy did

• The SPD leader had a stronger response as he visited it instantly whereas Adenauer postponed the visit for 2 days

Der Spiegel Affair

• A magazine publisher published an article that was critical of the West German army

• The government raided the offices & arrested the journalists

• This made the government seem like a dictatorship & Adenauer resigned the following year

What was the 1953 Uprising?

Causes

• The public disapproved of the border controls, collectivisation & industrial pressure which was furthered in the 1952 Building of Socialism (emphasising more productivity)

• Stalin died in March 1952 & Greater freedoms were promised

• In June 1953 Ulbricht was told that his policieis were too weak however the politburo announced that they were too strong

• As a result of this productivity would have to rise by 10% but wages would stay the same so the working class were infuriated

Events

• On the 16th of June the workers in building went on strike & demanded more pay for more hours & the end of Ulbrichts economic policies & removal of democracy

• Ulbricht called on Soviet forces to crush the rising

• The policy on increased working hours was ended but more consumer good swere produced to improve living standards

What was collectivisation?

• Due to large estates being seized & given up tot he working class after 1945, all the farms lacked resources so the SED resolved this by introducing collectivisation in 1952

• Collectivisation - Small farms were merged into state farms where the same owners would become workerst

• This didn’t change much for individual farmers as they just gave up farming & left for the West

• This abandonment of farms resulted in 13% of all agricultural land being derelict which had a serious impact on the supply of food to cities

• By 1958 1/3 of all farms were collectivised

• There was a second wave of collectivisation in 1960/61 which meant that farmers who didnt join were denied new machinery, then after trying to be persuaded they would be arrested & land confiscated

• By 1962 85% of all farms had been colectivised

What was the 2 year plan?

• 1949-1950

• 76% of production was under of the VEB which was the state

• Emphasis on heavy industry like fuel, power, iron & steel

• Set production levels, ran social activites & handled worker discipline to control them

What was the 1st 5 year plan?

• 1951-55

• Aim was heavy industry but not many consumer goods

• State production doubled in the 2 year plan

• The quality of factories was low as they were in inappropriate areas

• Good were low quality as quality>quantity

• Plans were slow & became out of date

• Living standards didnt improve much& there was lots of inequality with benefits, housing & salaries

  • This caused many low skill workers to move to the West

What was the 2nd 5 year plan?

• 1956-58

• Focus shifted to consumer goods, the economy grew by 12% in the late 50s

  • Rationing didnt end till 1958

  • Growth was still not as big as the West & workers still moved

What was the 7 year plan?

• 1959-62

• Aim was to match DDR growth with soviet union growth

• Lowered economic expectations

• The wall stopped migration

• Growth fell after the 2nd 5 year plan

Social change in East Germany:

Work

• Industrial expansion in rural regions gave work opportunities & new state organisation

• If you were loyal to the SED party you would recieve benefits in the workplace like promotions

• Rural and urban areas gained better educational opportunities as the state required better trained workers & farmers

• The former middle class lost their position as they were seen as enemies of the state

• Many new young doctors & particularly women were trained and would just leave due to not earning enough money

What were the mass organisations in the GDR?

The Free German Trade Union League (FDGB)

• Every adult male was a members

• Ran ny the state & controlled by the party

• Organised workers’ holidays & their interests

Womens league

• Promoted gender equality

• Women practiced practical skills

League of Culture

• Lots of cultural pursuits like art & drama

Educationin East Germany:

• All children given the same opportunites with an emphasis on technical skills & practical work experience

• Law for the Democratisation of German Schools (1946), abolished private & relgiious schools, expanded nursery, centralised the curriculum

• Polytechnic education (1956), emphasis on science & technology and ideological indocrination e.g Russian as a first language, compulsory work experience once a week, fitness training

• Schools could block the advancement of further training opportunities of those who were less commited to the political system

• Scholarships were avaliable & uni opened up to everyone however people from aristocratic classes were discriminated against

Youth organisations in the DDR:

• The Free German Youth Organisation (FDI) for 14-25 year olds with activites & camping trips, visits to the concentration camp where Thalmann (former communist leader) was murdered

• Some support for Western culture like in the 1930s which was seen as bad to the party

• By the 1960s many had copied the Western lifestyle where the state responded by repression until 1964 where they just admitted it

Churches in the GDR:

• At the end of the war there were 16m Christians however the SED wanted this to go

• The Law for the Democratisation of German Schools removed relgiious studies from the curriculum

• By the 1950s, the SED ccampaigned against the Protestant Church youth groups making it difficult for members to go to further school

• In 1954, the Youth Dedication Service was imposed & had commitment to the atheist state where young people had to face a dilemma with being discriminated against post-16 education or conforming to God

Why was the Berlin Wall built