Germany and West Germany: Setting up the FRG

What was Zero Hour?

Complete economic and social breakdown due to the destruction and dislocation of WW2.

What did Germany still have which made the concept of zero hour misleading?

Efficient civil service

long-standing local government authorities

Well-established banking system

Industrial base and productive capacity

What was the number of German refugees fleeing the east after changes to the frontiers?

12 million

What percentage of housing had been destroyed after WW2?

20%

How many calories were consumed at the end of 1945?

1150-950

Who was apart of the Grand Alliance?

Britain, USA, Soviet Union

Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin

What were the three options for Germanys future narrowed down by the Grand Alliance?

A) G be neutral and disarmed with agrarian economy

B) G be democratic state with an economy to develop as trading power

C)G be broken up into small states

When was the Yalta Conference?

February 1945

What was the Yalta Conference?

A conference discussing the outcome of Germany after WW2

What was the outcome of the Yalta Conference?

1. Democracies agreed for ex-nazi lands

2. USSR join United Nations and join war against Japan

3. Germany divided into 4 zones

4. Decisions regarding the whole of G to be taken by the 4 High Commanders in the Allied Control Council (ACC)

5. Berlin to be divided into 4 zones ruled by the ACC

6. Political organisation and size of Germany were postponed

7. Set up commission to investigate reparations

8. Eastern Poland to USSR

9. Rest of Poland independent

When was the Potsdam Conference?

July 1945

What was the Potsdam Conference?

Stalin promised free elections, but was not doing so. Truman wanted to help other countries be free. This conference decided that each country would take reparations mainly from their own occupation zones.

Compared to Yalta what was the different at Potsdam?

1. Red Army biggest in the world whilst West had demilitarised suggesting Stalin could be planning an attack

2. Roosevelt replaced by Truman whom confidently stands against Stalin by claiming Stalin wants to take over Europe

3. Churchill replaced my Atlee who has no political tact or connections

What did the Potsdam Agreement consist of?

Denazification, decentralisation, demilitarisation and democratisation

What was the purpose of the Nuremburg Trials?

All leading Nazi's should go through trials consisting of 4 judges from each of the Allies

How long did the Nuremburg Trials last?

20/11/45 - 10/46

What happened to Joseph Mengele?

Auschwitz doctor who escaped

What happened to Adolf Eichmann?

Bureaucrat responsible for organisation of holocaust went into hiding

What was Frageboden?

the western allies asked 16 million germans to complete frageboden which was a questionnaire consisting of 131 questions about their activities during nazi rule

What was a Persil Certificate?

a certificate granted to those that passed the fragebogen

What were the verdicts of the Nuremburg Trial given?

Death sentences: 12 (including Ribbentrop and Goring)

Life in prison: 3

Lengthy sentences: 4

Number aquitted: 3 (von papen, schacht and frick)

What are the reasons Denazification were needed?

Punishment, rehabilitation, cleansing of nazi ideology, justice, rebuild

What was the main issue surrounding denazification?

Millions were in Hitler Youth and Strength Through Joy

What three policies were implemented to aid denazification?

Forced to go to concentration camps

Ex members banned from leading positions

Frageboden categorised into 5 sections 1. major offenders, 2. offender incriminated, 3. less incriminated, 4. fellow travellers 5. exonerated

What was the German reaction to denazification?

Resentment for Allies who blamed the German population as a whole, was it too far? They are bombing Hiroshima yet in charge of justice? Lets just move on

What did decentralisation look like?

Reconstructed the G regions to mimic old historical territories

What was the CDU/CSU?

Moderate conservative party founded by Zentrum members

What was the FRG'S SPD?

Socialist party reformed by previous SPD

What was the FDP?

Free Democratic Party, liberal party

What was the KPD?

Communist Party of Germany

How many men were in the Red Army?

over 3 million

What was the Berlin Blockade?

Stalin's attempt to starve the city into submission so the soviets can have all of Berlin and the Allies would become dependent on the USSR...

What were the causes of the Berlin Blockade?

- Brit and USA want G as trading partner

- Different aims

- Agreeing to the Marshall Aid Stalin saw as undermining the Russian influence in Eastern Europe

What happened in the Berlin Blockade?

In June 1948 Stalin cut off all road, rail and canal links to West Berlin - the Berlin Blockade.

The city only had 6 weeks supplies of food and fuel. Stalin aimed to starve the 2 million inhabitants in West Berlin into submission.

He believed that Truman would either have to give up West Berlin or go to war. But the West responded with a massive airlift - food, fuel and supplies were flown into Berlin for 10 months. Stalin dared no shoot down any planes - it would be an act of war. Stalin called off the Blockade in May 1949.

What did Berliner survive off of in the winter of 1948-49?

dried potatoes, powdered eggs and cans of meat

On 16/04/1949 how many flight bought how many tonnes of food? How much did Berliners actually need?

1400 flights

13,000 tonnes in one day

needed 6,000/day to survive

How many hours of electricity did Berliners have during the Berlin Blockade?

4

How many federal states made up the FRG?

11

What were the powers of the Bundeprasident?

7 year term dropped to 5 year term

Only re-electable for one further term

Chosen by Bundestag - equal number of members elected by Lander parliaments

What was A67 of the FRG constitution?

constructive vote of no confidence

What was A20 of the FRG constitution?

pluralism, democratic parties are essential part of the constitution thus cannot be abolished

What was A21 of the FRG constitution?

if a party acts or aims against the constitution and is anti-democratic it can be forbidden

What threshold was added in 1953 to minimize the effects of straightforward proportional representation?

if any party achieved <5% of national vote it was barred from parliment

Which four groups were banned in the 1950s seen as a threat to democracy?

SRP in 1951 - right, socialists

1950 11 communist org most significant Free German Youth

League of German Youth in 1953 - extreme right

Communist Party despite achieving 2,2% of vote in 1953 banned in 1956 after long legal case.

In the 1957 elections what % did the CDU/CSU achieve in majority?

50.3%

How many terms did Adenauer win in office?

4

What type of slogans did Adenauer use? How was this significant?

'No Experiments'

How many ex-Nazi members were included in Adenauer's foreign ministry of 1949?

39

How much did Adenauer pay Israeli's for damage done throughout the holocaust?

DM100 billion

What was the Construction Law of 1950? What did this result in?

Grants to lander

1957 4 million new homes built

What was the Equalisation of Burdens Act?

tax of 10% on every citizen

net worth of DM5,000 payable in 20 installments

by 1983 DM126 Billion raised

What was the Collective Bargaining Law on Industrial Relations of 1949?

unions had legal rights to speak/ negotiate for workers

What was the policy of 'co-determination'?

workers encouraged to participate in decision making within workplace

What did Adenauer do which was widely criticised?

failure to visit berlin when Berlin Wall construction began, delayed it for 9 days

What did CDU/CSU votes fall to in 1961 elections?

46%

What happened during the Der Spiegel Affair of 1963?

Editors arrested for writing an article criticising the armys ability to defend the country led to protests as people thought government becoming more authoritarian damaged rep of Adenauer

How did Mark Rathbone describe Adenauer?

In 2003 German television viewers voted him the greatest German

How did Gunther Kloss describe Adenauer?

tremendous confidence

no one doubted his tremendous capacity for work

What was A131 in the FRG constitution?

Allowed ex nazis to work in the government

How did the SPD describe Adenauer's chancellorship?

Chancellor democracy

What did Adenauer do which caused the FRG to have an unstable base?

Used to many ex nazis to rebuild germany even letting one work in the civil service

Excluded opposition similar to nazis

allowed the arrest of journalists involved int he order of Josef Strauss

What did Adenauer do which caused the FRG to have an stable base?

1952 banned the KPD and Socialist Reich Party

What was the OEEC?

The Organisation for European Economic Cooperation

Why was the OEEC formed?

set up to supervise the distribution of Marshall Aid

evidence that europe could work together for a common aim

When was NATO established? What could this suggest?

North Atlantic Treat Organisation - 1949

USA wants to protect Europe from communism

When was the FRG allowed into NATO?

155 May

What was the EEC?

European Economic Community: removed tariffs between members to improve the European economy

What was the Hallstein Doctrine?

This held that the FRG would break diplomatic ties with any country which recognised the sovereignty of the GDR.

When was the Hallstein Doctrine established?

22/09/1955

How many people had moved from the GDR to the FRG in by 1961?

2 million

When was the Berlin Wall built?

12-13 Aug 1961

How long was the Berlin wall? How tall? How many watch towers did it have?

97 miles

4 meters high

30 watchtowers

How many Berliners protested due to the Berlin Wall?

300k

Why was the EEC formed?

An expansion of the ECSC into a broader "Common Market," removing tariffs and trade barriers between the member states.

To create economic unity, boost wealth, and bind the economies of Western Europe so tightly together that they functioned as a single bloc.

It anchored West Germany's booming economy directly into the Western democratic world, making the FRG indispensable to Europe and paving the way for the modern European Union (EU).

How was the EEC formed?

Treaty of Rome March 25, 1957

What was the ECSC?

European Coal and Steel Community

A merger of the coal and steel industries of six countries (West Germany, France, Italy, and the Benelux nations) under a single independent authority.

Why was the ECSC formed?

Coal and steel were the literal ingredients of warfare (used to make weapons and fuel factories). By putting them under shared control, it made war between France and Germany materially impossible.

It allowed West Germany to ramp up its industrial production (the Wirtschaftswunder) without France panicking that Germany was secretly building a war machine. It traded away total German control over its factories in exchange for international legitimacy.

How was the ECSC formed?

Treaty of Paris, April 18, 1951

When did the FRG gain full soverignty?

May 1955

What did the FRG introduce in July of 1956?

15 month compulsory military service

In the 1955 plebiscite what % rejected French control of the Saar?

68%

What was the Magnet Theory?

Adenauer knew that a divided Germany could not be reunited by force. Instead, he believed that if he built the FRG into a wildly wealthy, democratic, stable, and deeply integrated Western powerhouse (via the EEC and ECSC), it would act like a powerful magnet. Eventually, the economic misery and political oppression of communist East Germany would become so unbearable by comparison that the GDR would collapse, and its people would naturally pull toward the West. (Decades later, in 1989, this is essentially what happened).

Which two countries went against the Hallstein Doctrine and when?

Yugoslavia 1957

Cuba 1963

When was the DM introduced?

June 20, 1948

What did banks industrial output increase by?

50%

Due to the DM, what disappeared?

Black Market

In 1950 what was an average income? Thus, what did tax fall to for them? In 1948 how high had tax rates been?

2,500

18%

95%

What income meant tax remained at _ _ %?

DM250K

95%

What was unemployment in 1950? What was this by the end of the decade?

10.3%

1.2%

From 1949-1955 what % did salaries increase by?

80%

What was the social market economy theory?

West Germany's "Third Way" economic system combining free-market capitalism with a strong social safety net.

The Two Pillars:

1. Market: Free competition, private property, strict anti-monopoly laws, and a stable currency.

2. Social: Universal healthcare, unemployment insurance, pensions, and worker co-determination

Significance: fueled the Wirtschaftswunder providing the social stability needed to secure West German democracy.

What did the Investment Aid Law of 1952 provide?

DM3.2 bil facilitate industrial investment

By 1960 what was the FRG's economy looking like?

3rd largest in the world

What % was economic growth at during 1955-66?

8%

What was the 'economic miracle'?

rapid, unexpected, and massive economic reconstruction and growth of the FRG

Why was the 'economic miracle' signidicant?

Legitimized Democracy

Defeated Communism's Appeal

Restored International Respect

What is it meant by cartels??

arrangement between businesses to control the market by excercising a joint monopoly

How did living standards improve?

By 1971 96% of homes had central heating whereas in 1949 none had

How did Mary Fullbrook summarise the improvements in living standards in the FRG?

"Being well-fed and well-housed mattered more to West Germans"