Cold War Division of Germany

1. Cold War Division of Germany HI136 History of Germany

2. Schedule • Germany in 1945 – die Stunde Null (zero hour) • Occupation Policies • The First Berlin Crisis • The Second Berlin Crisis • Conclusion

3. Liberation of the Concentration Camp Dachau

4. ‘A badly managed disaster area’ Refugees arriving in Berlin, 1945 Black market raid in Berlin, 1945

5. The Formal Division • Teheran Feb. 1943: Germany will be divided and occupied • London Sept. 1944: three zones envisaged (joined by French in 1945) • Potsdam July 1945: Germany to be single economic unit, but administered by zonal commanders meeting in Allied Control Council • Officially, temporary situation pending peace treaty, but de facto consolidation • 1947 Economic Council appears in western zones as proto-government • June 1948 separate currencies introduced • May 1949 Federal Republic of (West) Germany announced; Oct. 1949 German Democratic Republic (East) follows • May 1955 FRG joins NATO; GDR joins Warsaw Pact • August 1961 Berlin Wall built cementing division

7. Principles • Denazification • Democratisation • Demilitarisation • Decentralisation • Decartelisation • (Dismantlement)

8. Soviet Occupation • Gradualist approach with creeping Sovietisation (no one-party copy of USSR) • Lack of planning, but ‘smash and grab’ (Beria) versus ‘reconstruction’ (Tyulpanov) factions • Mass rapes alienate women • Nationalisation of industry popular (77% support), but dismantling of 30% of factories unpopular (approx. 30%) • Land reform (popular among farmers, but set unilateral precedent, upsetting western partners) • Refugees: USSR mainly blamed for inhumane treatment of refugees, ca. 1.5 million die) • Norman Naimark, The Russians in Germany

9. Revisionist views of Russia • Stalin’s perceived desire for a deal on Germany (united but neutral) • Message to KPD leaders in June 1945 that Germany would remain united • Brakes on separatist pressures from East German leaders (June 1948) • National unity offers (March 1952 Stalin Notes); was this to try to scupper FRG integration into military bloc? • Rolf Steininger, Wilfried Loth, Stalin’s Unwanted Child

10. French Occupation • Hopes for dismemberment of Germany (Rhinelandia • International control of Ruhr • Oppose centralised institutions • Non-signatories to Potsdam (no refugees allowed into French Zone) • Punitive reparations from German industry and forestry • Only join Anglo-American Bizone in 1948 General Koenig, French commander

11. British Occupation • April 1946 British alarm at communist-SPD merger in Soviet Zone (bid for all-zone superparty?) • Mid-1946 British sterling crisis; occupation becoming liability • Invite other occupiers to merge zones (only US accept > Bizonia, Jan. 1947) • Britain now seen as proactive & keen to encourage firmer line from Americans (Deighton, The Impossible Peace) • Post-revisionist synthesis stresses regional actors Ernest Bevin, British foreign secretary

12. American Occupation • JCS 1067: no fraternisation; population to be kept at subsistence level • May 1946: US halt reparations deliveries to Soviet Zone • Byrnes’ speech (Sept. 1946): America pledges to stay in Germany for long haul • 1947 governor Clay blocks moves to nationalisation of industry • Carolyn Eisenberg, Drawing the Line, for a critical view of the Americans

13. Marshall Aid, June 1947-1952 • West Germany as ‘locomotive’ to economic recovery of western Europe • Internationalisation of economy to satisfy French security worries • Renewed West German infrastructure of Ruhr mines • Was it more psychological than real aid? (Werner Abelshauser v. Christoph Buchheim) • Cf dismantling policy in eastern Germany

14. Schedule • Germany in 1945 – die Stunde Null (zero hour) • Occupation Policies • The First Berlin Crisis • The Second Berlin Crisis • Conclusion

15. Berlin: the quadripartite city

16. Berlin: cont. • Liberated by USSR in April 1945 at cost of 100,000 casualties; western sectors occupied July 1945 • Formal access only recognised via air • Easy access to West via open border, including U-Bahn or flown out of Tempelhof

17. Berlin Airlift • Soviet concerns at western preparations for separate West German state (London talks from Jan. 1948) • Currency reform: June western Allies introduce deutschmark into western zones and West Berlin • Soviets retaliate with closure of access to West Berlin • General Clay organises airlift with political support from Mayor Reuter; despite difficulties in autumn 1948, tonnages rise in Nov. • Propaganda debacle for East • Western Allies move from being ‘victor powers’ to ‘protector powers’ American transport aircraft (‘raisin bomber’) lands at Tempelhof; note the children waiting for possible sweets thrown overboard

19. Berlin: the Divided City • During blockade two city governments • U-Bahn (West) & S-Bahn (East) • Currency speculation • ‘Shopwindow Berlin’: Ku-Damm as showcase of western standard of living • Espionage centre (CIA Berlin tunnel, human intelligence) • Broadcasting: RIAS American radio ‘Beware RIAS poison’: communist anti-American poster warning of US broadcasts Poster showing smuggling of currency between sectors

20. Schedule • Germany in 1945 – die Stunde Null (zero hour) • Occupation Policies • The First Berlin Crisis • The Second Berlin Crisis • Conclusion

21. Refugees via Berlin & Inner-German border

22. Berlin Crisis, 1958-61 • GDR’s desire for recognition by West • USSR’s hopes for peace treaties & removal of atomic weaponry from FRG • Khrushchev ultimatum for West to leave West Berlin within 6 months • Western intransigence & threat of nuclear weapons to preserve West Berlin; but non-intervention in East Berlin • Economic race to overtake West German economy falters in 1960 • Wall cheap alternative to subsidies by USSR

23. Conclusion: Division of Germany • Traditional interpretation: Soviet Union is responsible • Revisionist interpretation: USA are mainly responsible • Post-revisionist interpretation: both sides are responsible