Developments in the zones Flashcards
(49 cards)
Jan 1947
Bizonia is created
March-April 1947
The Moscow Conference
Nov-Dec 1947
the London Conference
Feb-June 1948
The London Conference of the Western Powers
June 1948
the Deutsche Mark is introduced into the three Western zones and West Berlin; the West Germans are authorised to draft a constitution for a new West German state; the Berlin Blockade starts
April 1949
NATO is formed
May 1949
The Berlin Blockade ends; the German Federal Republic (FDR) is formed
Oct 1949
The German Democratic Republic (GDR) is formed
what did each of the four zones of post-war Germany have?
a military governor
what was different about the governing of each zone?
each governor could be administered differently
what did each of the powers have to co-ordinate their actions through?
the Allied Control Council (ACC)
what was the function of the ACC?
to enable economic and political unity in Germany to be maintained
what was special about the ACC?
decisions made by the ACC had to be unanimous - enabled each power to remain independent of each other
what did Stalin recognised in 1945?
the utility of a centralised German party system
what was the USSR willing to accept?
the founding of four political parties in the Soviet zone: Communists (KPD), German Social Democrats (SPD), Liberals (LDPD), Christians Democrats (CDU)
what was the Soviet intention for the political alignment of their zone?
that the communist group would emerge as the dominant group, and this would form the nucleus of a whole-Germany communist movement
what happened when this political independence didn’t achieve Soviet expectations?
the SPD and the KPD were forcibly merged by the Soviet Military Administration of Germany (SMAD) and a new party was created in February 1946
what was the newly formed party in the Soviet zone called?
the German Socialist Unity Party (SED)
who significantly opposed the SED?
SPD members, led by Kurt Schumacher
what Soviet aim failed?
to influence and control German politics in any future united Germany
what was the Soviet Zone being increasingly perceived as by Germans in the Western zones?
a place of tyranny and repression
what had the Soviets reserved the right to do, having supported the principle of joint occupation policies in the ACC?
the right to function outside this agreement in their own zones
what Soviet action was a breach of the ACC conditions?
the unification of left-wing parties
what unilateral policies did the Soviet introduce into their zone?
land reform, nationalisation of large industrial production and compulsory tuition in the Russian language for German school pupils