Allied Occupation

• When the US, British and Soviets entered the Rhine, they were pushed back by Nazis. The leaders committed suicide in a bunker.
• Hitler's successor signed a surrender and the country was left in a state of chaos with a political vacuum and 6.5 million Germans had been killed.
• The allies agreed on occupation zones with a divided Berlin at the 1945 Yalta Conference.
• They disagreed as Stalin wanted to push the polish border into Germany, and a neutral, disarmed, united Germany. America wanted a democratic state and trading partner. The French wanted to destroy Germany.
• Concluded on the four Ds: democratisation, demilitarisation, decentralisation and denazification. The German army was disbanded and national socialism was outlawed.
• USSR had the advantage of arriving in Berlin first and Walter Ulbricht who was a communist (fled to USSR under Nazis) would establish five Länder governments under the supervision of the Soviet Military Authority. Little the allies could do but accept the communist regime.
• In western zones, they believed the best option was to reeducate. They licensed some parties such as the SPD, KPD, CDU and FDP. CDU and SPD gained the overwhelming majority.
• From 1946, the west banned the Soviets from taking anymore reparations.
• All carried out the Nuremberg Trials: all but 3 of Nazis accused of war crimes were convicted and 12 sentenced to death. The USSR opened prison camps, but slowly lifted restrictions on those who would contribute to a socialist society. The west underwent mass imprisonment without trial, then had to clear many as there was no one to replace the elites.
• At the 1945 Potsdam Conference, they agreed each ally could take their own reparations, making them separate economic units, overturning the previous decision coordinate it through the Allied Control Council.
• Stalin compensated land to Poland, meaning Germany had lost 25% of its 1937 land, expelling 6.75 million Germans.
• In east, left-wings were forced into a coalition under the SED, headed by Ulbricht. They drew up plans for a GDR but still hoped for unification.
• In west, they suggested the 'first past the post' system, but it was heavily criticised for being undemocratic. Elected local governments were voted on by the German people, not the allies.
• America proposed an economic union as a weak economy may encourage a communist takeover - Soviets and French rejected.
• Marshall Aid, 1947 saw huge sums of US money to promote European recovery, encourage trade and industry, the USSR rejected. In response, the USSR set up German Economic Commission to coordinate economic policy.
• Western development was repeatedly attacked by East German Communist press.
• A German's people council used to draw up a constitution for German unity. However, as this was unlikely, it was more so east Germany had a structured government.
• Berlin disruptions: Soviet guards stopped a British military train and detached two cars carrying German passengers, Western powers were denied access to a political meeting where Sokolovosky claimed Berlin was in soviet zone, Soviets ordered baggage must be checked to and from Berlin, Western powers told guards to ignore and a Soviet fighter plane collided with a British transport plane where Soviets said that British had violated air safety regulations.
• A new currency was created in west called the Deutschmark. The Bank Deutscher Länder would serve as a central bank for the western zones.
• A plan for the establishment of a provisional west German government was issued. Soviets said this broke the Potsdam agreement that Germany should be treated as a single economic unit, and they made the new currency illegal.
• The new currency led to the 1948 Berlin Blockade. Road and railway links were cut, and the Soviets refused to allow food and supplies to enter Berlin. The only way they could keep control was through the air. It lasted 11 months and 7,845 tonnes were transported per day. The west cut off steel and chemicals to east, impacting their economy and in May 1949, the blockade ended.
• East introduced the Ostmark. The west introduced their currency but allowed the Ostmark in West Berlin. East Berlin authorities said they would not accept west currency.
• In the FRG, the first parliament was created in August 1949, allied occupation continued until 1955. West Berlin was not a part of the federal state. They were admitted into Council of Europe and the OEEC.
• Wilhelm Pieck (communist) was elected president of GDR. The real power lay with the deputy prime minister, Ulbricht. People's police comprised 50,000 men and 20,000 border police. A one party dictatorship would soon emerge.