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HI 224 Raffael Scheck Colby College

Explore the complex history of divided Germany, from the aftermath of WWII to the reunification in 1990. Discover the challenges, achievements, and lingering effects of both the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic.

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HI 224 Raffael Scheck Colby College

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  1. HI 224Raffael ScheckColby College (5)

  2. Family Recollections

  3. Gustav Scheck (1901-1984) Ernestine Nitschke-Scheck (1901-1984) Florian Scheck (born 1936) August Wache (1906-1994) Klara Plessow-Wache (1902-1971) Dora Zander-Wache (born 1912) Monika Scheck-Wache (born 1935) My Grandparents and Parents

  4. The Hour Zero

  5. Living in the Ruins • Famines • 12 million refugees from the East • Denazification; Nürnberg Trials • Allied considerations

  6. The Partition of Germany

  7. Against Partition: The Potsdam Conference (July-August 1945) • The 5 D‘s: • Democratization • Demilitarization • Denazification • Decartelization • Decentralization • Problems and Results: • Stalin decides on German east before the conference • Deportation of 12 million Germans sanctioned • No peace treaty; no German government • Tenuous agreement for common administration

  8. The Beginning of the Cold War • Western suspicions of Soviet designs (Greek Civil War, 1947) • Growing cooperation between the western zones („Bizonia,“ 1947; „Trizonia,“ 1948) • Introduction of the D-mark in the western zones, 1948 • The Berlin Blockade, 1948-49

  9. The Federal Republic of Germany • Democratic constitution (Grundgesetz), October 1949 • Weak president but strong chancellor • Capital: Bonn • Rapid economic recovery with the help of the Marshall Plan

  10. The German Democratic Republic • Forced unification of SPD and KPD (SED) • Sham elections 1949 • SED as Soviet style „Unity Party“ • Capital: East Berlin • Slow economic recovery • Uprising in June 1953 • Mass flight to the West until 1961

  11. Reflections on Divided Germany, 1949-1990

  12. West Germany • Success and stability of democracy; rule of law • Prosperity, social welfare state; partnership of trade unions and employers‘ federations • Openness to the world • Downsides: large unemployment since the 1970s; environmental problems; terrorism; drugs; crime; malaise of wealth?

  13. East Germany • Another repressive system, based not on the popularity of a dictator but on Soviet power; massive spying by secret police (Stasi); propaganda; careers monitored by the state • Scarcity; communist „welfare“ state • Increasingly enclosed and parochial society • Environmental crisis - but unacknowledged • Bright sides? Almost no crime; no unemployment; progressive policies toward women (employment; daycare; abortion)

  14. Initial openness to discussing the Holocaust; later: anti-Israel stance Focus on communist resistance; guilt hidden behind „antifascist“ ideology, which works as an integration factor („as communists, we were all victims of Nazism“) Official Communist brotherhood with the Soviet Union and its allies Accusation against West Germany and the U.S. as capitalist (equals fascist) states and successors of Nazism Dealing with the Nazi Past: East Germany

  15. Dealing With the Nazi Past: West Germany • Distancing during the economic miracle (legends of „clean“ army; generalization of the military resistance; anti-communism) - except for historians • Payments to surviving German Jews; support for Israel (since 1950s) • Totalitarian theory: communism as Nazism‘s relative • Since 1970s: open and accusatory public discussion of the Nazi past. Widespread acceptance of guilt. Mandatory Holocaust education; civil service in countries that suffered from German aggression

  16. The End It was a pleasure working with you!

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