Download Cold War Germany

By Jessica Flynn
West Germany: Pre-wall
Joined NATO (1955)
 A place of economic growth

 Wirtschaftswunder (1955)
 Joined the European Economic
Community (1957)
East Germany: Pre-wall
The Soviet Union had seized most of
their industrial equipment so their
economic conditions were dire
 1953 Uprising: 40,000 construction
workers revolted but were
suppressed by Soviet troops

 June 17 became a national holiday in
remembrance in FDR

Joined the Warsaw Pact (1955)
1958: Nikita Khrushchev demanded all Western
troops leave West Berlin within 6 months. Unlike the
Blockade in 1948, the city was too large to be
supported via air shipments, so it became a
concern how it was to be dealt with. They came to
a temporary agreement in Geneva, but tensions
rose again after the U2 incident in 1960. Eisenhower
refused to give in and met with Khrushchev in
Austria (1961) for discussion which did not lead to
any resolutions. Instead, a wall was erected and
Soviet and American troops stood on either side of
the wall in a stand-off manner.
Despite Ulbricht’s claims that there
was “no intention to build a wall”, an
“anti-fascist protection barrier” is
erected regardless
The Berlin Wall (August
31, 1961)
Life in East Germany



Farmers were forced to divide their land
between each other equally and give up their
harvests to the people
Monetary award system for having children
Stasi (1950)
 Secret police force similar to the Gestapo

Youth Groups
 Thälmann Pionier Frei Deutsche Jugend
 Military training one month each year

Culture
 Socialist realism
 German-centric
Party Opposition
West Germany
 RAF
 Guerilla army force
that caused 289
bombings

KBW
 A Maoist
organisation
East Germany
 Barely any
opposition as fear
was prevalent
 Towards the end,
Monday
Demonstrations
were common
Kennedy’s speech to West Berlin to
address the US’s standpoint in
regards to the Wall and their
unchanging support to the FDR
“Ich bin ein Berliner!”
Ronald Reagan stood in the same
place as Kennedy had and demanded
for the completion of the arms race and
called for the fall of the Berlin Wall
“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
Günter Schabowski was late to a press
conference in which he was supposed to
announce that East Germans were now able
to apply for a travel visa into West Germany,
but he made it seem like every East German
could leave immediately, hence reuniting the
two halves of Germany.
http://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=b8GzptqhT
68
Fall of the Berlin Wall 9 November,1989