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What’s the Matter with Germany?

A Review of the German Question from 1945-1961. What’s the Matter with Germany?. Germany has been at the center of conflict throughout the 20 th century. This is a brief review of the major issues concerning Germany in the early years of the Cold War.

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What’s the Matter with Germany?

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  1. A Review of the German Question from 1945-1961 What’s the Matter with Germany?

  2. Germany has been at the center of conflict throughout the 20th century. This is a brief review of the major issues concerning Germany in the early years of the Cold War. “Underlying all the questions that separated the Great Powers in the first 16 years of the Cold War was Germany.” - Colin Brown and Peter Mooney

  3. Yalta Conference, 1945 • The Big Question – what to do with a defeated Germany? • De-militarization and Occupation Zones • Reparations • A temporary situation administered by the Allied Control Commission (ACC)

  4. Potsdam, 1945 • “Bad tempered” conference • Zones of control would be independently administered • Strong Germany vs. Weak Germany issue

  5. Marshall Plan Aid, 1948 • US viewpoint – to revive European economies; not aimed against any country or doctrine • USSR viewpoint – “dollar imperialism” meant to tie countries to US economy and influence • Result: US aid flowed to the US/British/French zones but was kept out of the Soviet • Soviets implement their own plan = COMECON for Eastern Europe/Germany

  6. The Berlin Blockade, 1948-1949 • Stalin blocks all land routes to west Berlin to starve the city into (communist) unification and block western influence (especially economic) • US launches an airlift to provide necessities • The USSR lifted the blockade in May, 1949 • Impact: West Germany and East Germany officially formed from occupation zones • NATO alliance founded

  7. NATO and the Warsaw Pact, 1949 & 1955 • US + Canada + north/west European countries • Joint military assistance/defense pack • First US peacetime commitment • West Germany, created in 1949, joins in 1954 • East Germany, created in 1949, joins the Warsaw Pact (founded in 1955 in response to NATO)

  8. East German Uprising, 1953 • Walter Ulbricht pushed unpopular and unsuccessful policies of forced collectivization and high production quota targets • Mass exodus of East Germans through West Berlin • Workers throughout the East Berlin and Germany rose up in revolt • Brutally repressed by East German and Soviet security forces; very embarrasing

  9. Walter Ulbricht, leader of East Germany (GDR), 1950-1971

  10. Khrushchev Ultimatum • The Problem: many East German citizens were fleeing to the more prosperous and free West Germany through Berlin’s open border • 1945-1961 = 1/6 of the population “moves” • Khrushchev wanted a regional solution in the context of the superpower rivalry • Ulbricht wanted an immediate solution (and more power) • The Ultimatum: Berlin demilitarized, Western forces withdrawn, Berlin is a “free city”. OR the USSR would turn over control to the East German government (and the West would be forced to recognize it’s legitimacy). • Increasingly tense conferences are held between the US and USSR over this issue in 1958, 1959, and 1960

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