Unit 2E.2 – The German Democratic Republic, 1949-90
Topic 1 (Establishing and consolidating Communist Rule in the GDR in
1949-61) and Topic 2 (The development of the East German State, 1961-
85)
What to expect:
- All the notes and detailed guide on everything you need to know
about Topic 1 and 2 of the GDR History Edexcel course.
- A-A* students targeted with facts and figures, own knowledge and
historians such as Mary Fulbrook , Mario Kebler , Anna Funder and
Anne Applebaum used to aid my notes to enhance understanding
and provide detail which makes you stand out from other students.
Topic 1: Establishing Communist Rule in the GDR
Why did the events in the years 1945-1949 lead to the division of Germany?
During the Second World War, Britain, the USA and the USSR had
fought as allies in the 'Grand Alliance' to defeat Nazi Germany.
Germany's size meant that it had the potential to become
very strong economically and its geographical position in
central Europe made it strategically important.
o First of all in May 1949 the FRG was formally
established from the US, British and French zones
of occupation and was to become firmly allied with
Western Europe and the USA.
o The remaining Soviet zone of occupation then became
the GDR in October 1949 and part of the Eastern bloc
communist countries controlled by the
USSR.
During the Cold War, most Western historians supported one of two
explanations for Germany's post-war division.
One argument was based on the belief that the FRG was set
up to prevent Stalin's aim of establishing Communist control
over the whole of Germany.
Another interpretation viewed Stalin as only planning for a
communist East Germany.
Consequently, the FRG was a necessary response to counter Stalin's
aims for a separate communist German state and to create a
lucrative trading market.
1
,The Soviet zone
In February 1945, the leaders of the 'Big Three' Western powers - the USA, Britain
and the USSR had met at Yalta.
One of the decisions reached was that at the end of the Second World War,
the USA, Britain and the USSR would each be allocated an occupation zone
of Germany as well as a sector of Berlin.
The eastern part of Germany would become the USSR's zone of occupation.
Within the Soviet zone was Germany's capital - Berlin. The city would
be totally surrounded by the Soviet zone of occupation which meant that the
Western Allies would only have access their sectors of Berlin by passing
through the Soviet zone.
The three powers met again after Germany's surrender at Potsdam in July 1945.
Here it was also decided that each power would be able to take reparations from its
zone of occupation. These decisions were implemented in the first few months
following Germany's defeat.
Four roads, two railway lines and three air corridors linked the Western
sectors of Berlin with their zones of occupation within Germany.
Stalin also began the ruthless extraction of reparations from the Soviet zone
which he regarded as justified given the USSR's huge losses of an estimated
25 million Soviet lives during the Second World War and the destruction of
so much Soviet territory.
Both of these decisions were almost immediately a source of growing
tension between the Western powers and the USSR.
o The West's access to their sectors of Berlin was clearly dependant
on the USSR and the extent of reparations taken from the Soviet
zone of occupation was regarded by the Western powers as
detrimental to the zone's economic and political development.
Creation of the Socialist Unity Party (SED)
On 30 April 1945, just days before the end of the war in Europe, a group of German
communists led by Walter Ulbricht (known as the 'Ulbricht Group') arrived in Berlin.
For most of the period of the Third Reich, the group's members had been in
exile in Moscow.
Their first priority was to try and ensure that the KPD (German Communist
Party) controlled as many key local administrative positions as possible and
encourage popular support for the party.
However, by the local elections that summer, it was clear that the SPD
(German Social Democratic Party) had far more popular support than the
KPD could ever hope to achieve.
2
, It was unlikely a political party regarded by many Germans as a tool of
the Soviets would ever have any significant appeal due to intense anti-
soviet propaganda + widespread looting.
.
In April 1946, 600,000 KPD members and nearly 700,000 members of the SPD merged
to form the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED).
The very next day saw the first edition of the SED newspaper, Neues
Deutschland.
This controversial merger came about as a result of both Soviet pressure on
the SPD to disband and a general concern to avoid having two left-wing
political parties competing for votes.
As well as splitting the left-wing vote, many Germans regarded the failure of
the KPD and SPD to cooperate in the early 1930s as a major reason why the
Nazis had been able to achieve power.
o However, SED leaders swiftly ensured that this new political party
was soon dominated by communists.
o There was a purge of SED members that had been former
politicians and supporters of the pre-Second World War SPD.
o In 1948, only two years after its formation, the SED officially stated
its commitment to Marxist-Leninist principles. By
1950 approximately 5,000 former SPD members had been arrested
and sent to Soviet prisons
KEY TERMS
Ulbricht Group
A group of German communists who were trained in the USSR to prepare for the
spread of communism in Germany after the Second World War. They were,
therefore, communists who were loyal to Moscow.
Third Reich
The name used by the Nazi Party for the period when they formed the government of
Germany.
Growing divisions among the victor powers
In the summer of 1945, the US, British and Soviet heads of government met at
Potsdam, near Berlin, for a post-war conference.
It was clear that relations between these powers were becoming strained
and areas of disagreement between the Western allies and the USSR soon
emerged.
3
, This was partly due to the death of US President Roosevelt
in April 1945 and the outlook of his more anti-communist successor,
Truman.
One particular source of tension was the USSR's demands for reparations,
which were regarded by the Western Allies as excessive and likely to hamper
Germany's economic recovery. The Western Allies believed a weak economy
and low living standards would increase the appeal of communism.
Another major disagreement was the location of Germany's eastern border
with communist Poland.
o The Western Allies viewed Stalin's preferred location as too far
west, giving Poland territory that contained millions of displaced
Germans.
o This issue remained unresolved at the end of the conference and it
was agreed to make a decision at a future meeting.
o This decision never happened and it was not until 1990 that the
German-Polish border was finally settled.
o Shows the severing relations between the West and East.
Bizonia and the Truman Doctrine
In January 1947, after almost a year of secret negotiations, the US and British
governments announced their decision to merge both their zones into one economic
unit into what became known as 'Bizonia'.
Stalin regarded this as Britain and the USA's first deliberate step towards the
creation of an independent, capitalist West German state.
He argued that the measures to develop economic unity between zones
should have been discussed beforehand with both the USSR and France.
Then, in March, US President Truman announced his policy of
Containment and what became known as the Truman Doctrine.
This would require stable and prosperous states in Western Europe; three months
later, the USA announced significant amounts of financial aid for war-damaged
Europe with the ‘Marshall Plan’, the economic policy to directly support the Truman
Doctrine.
In June 1948, after more months of secret planning, Britain and the USA announced
the introduction of a new currency, the 'Deutschmark', into the western zones of
occupied Germany and the western sectors of Berlin.
Economically, a new currency was seen as essential to successfully boost
trade, increase industrial production and eradicate the extensive black
market. But it had serious political consequences.
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