Download Why was Germany divided in 1949?

5 The division of Germany after 1945 and the establishment of Communist GDR up to 1963
prized possessions, became widespread currency. Those who lived on the land, or who were
unemployed and hence able to go out scavenging, were often better off than those with
wages, working in towns.
Bizonia
A British–American
merging of zones for ease
of administration in 1947.
Trizonia
When the French joined
Bizonia in 1949 it became
known as Trizonia.
The difficulties of achieving economic recovery led to pressures to relax inter-zonal
boundaries. In 1947 the British and Americans merged to form Bizonia, an economic unit
which could be administered in common. The French at first resisted, but eventually came
to join what now became Trizonia with effect from the beginning of 1949. The capitalist
economy of West Germany was effectively resuscitated with little change in either structure
or personnel, quite unlike the situation in the East.
Growing divergence between the economies of the western and the Soviet zones, as well as
disputes over Soviet reparations from the western zones, led to greater tensions between the
western powers and their former Soviet Allies.
AS History OCR A Democracy and Dictatorship in Germany 1919–63
P
The Cold War, the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan
By the spring of 1946, the Western Allies claimed that the Soviets were seeking to expand
their sphere of influence. Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill famously
articulated this concern in his ‘Iron Curtain’ speech, delivered in Missouri on 5 March 1946
(see Source A).
ACTIVITY
Period Studies
1
‘At the present moment in world history nearly every nation must choose between
alternative ways of life.’ How far do you agree with this view?
2
To what extent was the Truman Doctrine the main reason for the stablilisation of
West Germany?
Sources
A Winston Churchill outlines his views on the
emerging Communist influence:
From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron
curtain has descended across the continent. Behind that line
lie all the capitals of the ancient states of central and eastern
Europe… and all are subject, in one form or another, not only
to Soviet influence but to a very high and increasing measure
of control from Moscow… [I]n a great number of countries,
far from the Russian frontiers and throughout the world,
Communist fifth columns are established and work in
complete unity and absolute obedience to the directions they
receive from the Communist centre… .
Reprinted in Martin McCauley (ed.), (1983).The Origins of the Cold War
(pp. 114–15). Harlow: Longman.
Figure 5.4 Soviet soldiers overseeing the taking of reparations, in the rather unusual form of cows, through the
ruined streets of Berlin.
B US President Truman’s speech to Congress,
12 March 1947:
Why was Germany divided in 1949?
It was clear already in the early months after the end of the war that there was fundamental
distrust building up between the Allies – distrust which had, perhaps only tactically, been
kept under control while the principal goal was to defeat the common enemy of Nazism.
Among western historians, the traditional view was that Stalin had evil designs to spread
Communism in a bid for eventual world domination. Revisionist historians argued that the
Cold War was stirred up more by US fear of Communism than by any realistic analysis of
the Soviet threat at the time: following the devastating experiences of German invasion and
destruction, the Soviet Union was in no economic shape to seek any kind of expansion or
commit military resources to new conflicts. Furthermore, the US stood to gain both
economically and politically by its new interventionist role in Europe and the wider world.
Current thinking suggests at least that Stalin was keeping his options open at the time.
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At the present moment in world history nearly every nation
must choose between alternative ways of life. The choice is too
often not a free one.
free elections, guarantees of individual liberty, freedom of
speech and religion, and freedom from political oppression.
The second way of life is based upon the will of a minority
forcibly imposed upon the majority. It relies upon terror and
oppression, a controlled press and radio, fixed elections, and
the suppression of personal freedoms.
I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to
support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation
by armed minorities or by outside pressures.
I believe that we must assist free peoples to work out their own
destinies in their own way…
The seeds of totalitarian regimes are nurtured by misery and
want, They spread and grow in the evil soil of poverty and
strife. They reach their full growth when the hope of a people
for a better life has died.
We must keep that hope alive.
The free peoples of the world look to us for support in
maintaining their freedoms…
Great responsibilities have been placed upon us… .
Reprinted in Martin McCauley (ed.) (1983). The Origins of the Cold War
(pp. 121–22). Harlow: Longman.
One way of life is based upon the will of the majority, and is
distinguished by free institutions, representative government,
Fear of Communist expansion in south-eastern Europe led directly to the Truman Doctrine
in which it became a major US foreign policy goal to prop up governments fighting for
‘freedom’ against Communist influence.
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