60. Germany after World War II: from split to unification (1945 - 1990).
After the termination of the state existence of Germany on May 23, 1945, the territory of the former Austria was separated from its territory (divided into 4 zones of occupation), Alsace and Lorraine (returned to France), the Sudetenland (returned to Czechoslovakia), the region of Eupen and Malmedy (returned part of Belgium), the statehood of Luxembourg was restored, the territories of Poland annexed in 1939 (Posen, Wartaland, part of Pomerania) were separated. The Memel (Klaipeda) region was returned to the Lithuanian SSR. East Prussia is divided between the USSR and Poland. The rest is divided into 4 occupation zones - Soviet, American, British and French. The USSR transferred part of its occupation zone east of the Oder and Neisse rivers to Poland.
Members of the anti-Hitler coalition, primarily the United States, the USSR, Great Britain, and later France, at first sought to implement a coordinated occupation policy. The main tasks in this policy were demilitarization and "denazification".
The principles of the occupation policy and most of the territorial changes were fixed by the Potsdam Agreement.
Later, the political and economic unification of the American, British and French occupation zones took place in the so-called. Trizonia, since 1949 the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG).
A peace treaty with Germany following the results of World War II has not been signed to date.
Federal Republic of Germany
The Federal Republic of Germany was proclaimed in 1949 on the territory of the British, American and French occupation zones. The capital of Germany was the city of Bonn. France tried to separate the Saar region from Germany, but in the end, under the Luxembourg Treaty of 1956, the Saarland was reunited with Germany.
Thanks to the help of the Americans, the Marshall Plan in the 1950s achieved fast growth economy (the German economic miracle), which lasted until 1965. To meet the need for cheap labor, Germany supported the influx of guest workers, mainly from Turkey.
Until 1969, the country was ruled by the CDU party (usually in a bloc with the CSU and less often with the FDP). In the 1950s, a number of emergency laws were developed, many organizations were banned, including the Communist Party, and professions were banned. In 1955 Germany joined NATO.
In 1969, the Social Democrats came to power. They recognized the inviolability of post-war borders, weakened emergency legislation, and carried out a number of social reforms. In the future, the Social Democrats and Christian Democrats alternated in power.
West Berlin
Since 1945, Berlin has been divided between the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition into four occupation zones. Eastern zone occupied Soviet troops, later became the capital of the German Democratic Republic. In the three western zones, control was exercised, respectively, by the occupying authorities of the United States, Great Britain and France.
After the formation of the FRG and the GDR, both states declared their claims to sovereignty over West Berlin.
With the conclusion of the Quadripartite Agreement on September 3, 1971, the ratio of the FRG - West Berlin - GDR was put on a new legal basis. The occupation regime remained in West Berlin.
In 1990, West Berlin became part of a united Germany.
German Democratic Republic
The proclamation of the GDR took place on October 7, 1949 - a month later, in response to the creation of the three western occupation zones of the Federal Republic of Germany on the territory.
The USSR removed machinery and equipment from the Soviet occupation zone and levied reparations from the GDR. Only by 1950 did industrial production in the GDR reach the level of 1936. The events of June 17, 1953 in the GDR led to the fact that instead of collecting reparations, the USSR began to provide economic assistance to the GDR.
As proclaimed, the citizens of the GDR had all democratic rights and freedoms. Although the Socialist Unity Party of Germany occupied the dominant position in the country (its leading role was enshrined in the Constitution), four other parties existed alongside it for decades.
The rates of economic development of the GDR were lower than in the FRG, and the lowest among the Warsaw Pact states. Nevertheless, the standard of living in the GDR remained the highest among the Eastern European states. By the 1980s, the GDR had become a highly industrialized country with intensive agriculture. In terms of industrial output, the GDR occupied the 6th place in Europe.
Berlin Wall
The lack of a clear physical boundary between the zones of occupation in Berlin led to frequent conflicts and a massive drain of specialists from the GDR. East Germans preferred to get an education in the GDR, where it was free, to work in West Berlin or the FRG. In August 1961, the GDR authorities began building a guarded wall that physically separated West Berlin from the GDR. Berlin Wall was mostly destroyed in 1990.
Modern history of Germany
Gorbachev's reforms in the USSR were perceived with caution by the authorities of the GDR and with enthusiasm in the FRG. In 1989, tensions in the GDR began to increase. In the fall, long-term leader of the country Erich Honecker left his post as top party leader, his place was taken by the former leader of the Union of Free German Youth Egon Krenz. However, he did not stay at the head of state for long, only a few weeks. In early November, a grandiose demonstration began in Berlin, ending with the destruction of the Berlin Wall. This was the first step towards the unification of the two German states. Soon, the German mark of the FRG came into circulation on the territory of the GDR, and in August 1990, the Treaty on the Establishment of Unity was signed between the two parties.
It is quite understandable that during the war, any country that participates in it hopes to win it.
But not in every war throughout the history of Modern and Contemporary times
it was about the destruction of the defeated state. Most of all peace treaties provided for some annexation
parts of the territory of the defeated in favor of the winner, as well as indemnity
, which the winner could count on receiving only on the condition that it would be paid to someone.
Although, of course, there were exceptions. For example, sections of the Commonwealth in the 18th century
, as a result of which this Polish-Lithuanian state, formed by the Union of Lublin in 1569 by the union of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland, was gradually liquidated by its neighbors Prussia, Austria and Russia.
Another thing, 20th century wars .
According to the results World War I the political map of the world (and especially Europe) has become completely different from the one on which the state borders were marked as of June 28, 1914. The Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires were destroyed, the German Empire lost significant parts of its territory (about 20%, not counting the colonies). Russia, most likely, was expected by the fate of Turkey or Austria-Hungary, but it quickly managed to recover, albeit under a different name - the USSR.
Second World War was a logical continuation of the world massacre that preceded it at the beginning of the 20th century, but only more cruel and aimed at the partial or complete destruction of the states that converged in it. He does not have a detailed account of Hitler's plans for the global redistribution of Europe and the whole world. special meaning they are widely known. In addition, in the period 1938 - 1941. they were quite successfully implemented: the sovereign statehood of all countries subjected to German occupation was completely liquidated, and the satellites of the Third Reich can hardly be called completely sovereign.
well and Germany's war with the Soviet Union , which began on June 22, 1941, was carried out for the complete destruction of its statehood and the dismemberment of its territory without any potential granting of independence to any of its parts (See: plan "Ost").
Of course, during the Second World War, the countries Anti-Hitler coalition who became allies contrary to their political aspirations, due to the current political situation (which became such largely through their fault (not forgetting the notorious "Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact" of 1939, it is worth recalling the Munich Agreement of 1938, which unleashed Hitler hands), even in the most difficult years of the war, they had to think about how to protect the world from the possibility of a repetition of aggression from the main enemy - Germany.
And, of course, first of all these thoughts were aimed at destroying Germany as single state and not give her the opportunity to unleash a new war.
Plans for the division of Germany allies in the Anti-Hitler coalition began to develop more spring 1942 when the Victory was still very far away.
But before considering these projects, I propose to recall how the defeated Germany was divided in 1945 according to the decisions Yalta Conference (February 1945) , at which the final decision was made on the occupation of Germany and the delimitation of the occupation zones, which ultimately led to its division in 1949 into the FRG and the GDR (as well as West Berlin).
Partition of Germany in 1945:
(An incomprehensible flag on this map indicates the Saar region of Germany,
It was a protectorate of France from 1947 to 1956).
If it seems to you that Germany was treated too harshly in 1945, then I advise you to go under the cut and read what were the plans proposed and considered by the allies in the Anti-Hitler coalition, preceding the final plan adopted at the Yalta Conference and finally approved in Potsdam.
The first (or at least one of the first) plan for the dismemberment of Germany after the war was developed and proposed by the US Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles
in the spring of 1942, after the United States became involved in the Second World War, they became allies of the USSR, and also after it became clear that Hitler's plan for the rapid conquest of the USSR ("Barbarossa") failed, which became apparent during the counteroffensive of the Red Army under Moscow in December 1941 - February 1942, and that without the USSR, the Americans would not be able to win the war with Germany's ally Japan.
Sumner Welles
Sumner Welles Plan provided for the division of Germany into three states in accordance with historical and religious borders: Southwestern Germany (Bavaria and Hesse) with a predominance of the Catholic population, Northern Germany (Hanover and Westphalia) and East Germany (Prussia and Saxony), in which Catholics predominate.
At the same time, the entire territory of East Prussia was to pass to Poland.
On the Tehran Conference On December 1, 1943, two completely different plans for the division of Germany were proposed U.S. President F. D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister W. Churchill.
Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill at the Tehran Conference
Roosevelt's plan Germany was to be divided into five states: the Republic of Hanover, the Republic of Hesse, the Republic of Bavaria, the Republic of Saxony and the Republic of Prussia. East Prussia, again, was to go completely to Poland.
Churchill suggested transfer to Poland not only all of East Prussia, but also a significant part of Silesia, dividing Germany into Northern (of course, under the control of England), Western (Westphalia), which was also supposed to be under vigilant control from London. And most of southern Germany (Bavaria and Hesse) should be united with Austria and Hungary into a kind of "Danube Confederation".
At the Tehran conference Stalin
categorically opposed the plans of his allies, especially about the idea of Churchill to form a confederation of the Danube states. But at the same time, he agreed with the need to separate East Prussia from Germany, however, dividing it between Poland and the USSR.
Stalin also made a proposal regarding the post-war borders of Poland, which provided for compensating Poland for the loss of its eastern provinces that became part of the USSR (Ukrainian SSR and BSSR) in 1939 at the expense of Germany defeated in the future. This proposal by Stalin, like his idea of a border between Poland and the USSR in accordance with the so-called "Curzon line"
, was taken.
Stalin's position was so weighty that even in G. Morgenthau's plan, the transfer of the northern part of East Prussia Soviet Union was taken into account. However, about U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau's plan to partition Germany worth a little more detail.
Henry Morgenthau
This plan was approved in September 1944 at the 2nd Anglo-American Conference (without the participation of the USSR) in Quebec, Canada.
According to him, Germany was to be destroyed almost completely. In its place, two Germanys were formed: North (Hanover, Mecklenburg, Saxony and Thuringia) and South (Bavaria and Württemberg). All Western part Germany (Oldenburg, Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein) were transferred under international control (as was the case after the First World War, when the Rhine demilitarized zone was formed by the decisions of the Versailles Conference), the Saar passed to France, and all of Upper Silesia and most of East Prussia to Poland .
But besides this, according to the Morgenthau plan, it was supposed to deprive even dismembered Germany of all heavy industry and turn it into an agrarian country.
Despite the fact that the Morgenthau Plan was ultimately rejected, the actions of the British and American administrations in the occupation zones after 1945 are quite consistent with its most important points (except for territorial ones).
Thus, we can conclude that the decisions of the Yalta Conference, which decided the fate of post-war Germany, were the most lenient in relation to the defeated enemy, when compared with those proposed by Welles in 1942, Roosevelt and Churchill in 1943 and Morgenthau in 1944
Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin at Yalta (January 1945)
Of course, for 45 years Germany was divided: first into four occupation zones (by the way, I still don’t understand for what such merits France received its own zone and an increase in territory at the expense of Germany? However, this is a separate issue), and then - from 1949 to 1990 - into two (and if we count West Berlin, then three) separate states.
The question of whether the unification of Germany in 1990 would have been possible without the good will of the USSR is, although debatable, but very interesting, especially if we recall that the very same England opposed this unification.
But what is undoubted, in my opinion, is that if in 1945 not the plan adopted in Yalta, but any of those projects that were proposed by the USA and England in 1942-1944, had been implemented, modern united Germany would not have existed still.
And finally, let me explain why I am interested in this topic
.
The fact is that, taking into account mutually beneficial geopolitical interests, I consider Russia and Germany natural allies
in modern world. They have been such since the middle of the 19th century (especially after the unified German Empire was formed). And the roots of two global catastrophes - the world wars of 1914 - 1918. and 1939 - 1945 should be sought in the causes of the collapse "Union of the Three Emperors"
, after which the formation of two opposing military-political blocs began - the Triple Alliance and the Entente. Well, then followed what is quite appropriate to call a chain reaction.
I would very much like to hope that the need for an alliance between Russia and Germany will be recognized by both countries in the very near future.
Thank you for attention.
Sergei Vorobyov.
The results of the war for Germany. The Second World War ended tragically for Germany: the level of industrial production barely reached one third of the pre-war level; the standard of living has declined; there was a shortage of fuel; the purchasing power of money has fallen.
Germany lost its independence, its territory was divided into 4 occupation zones. To resolve general issues in Germany, a Control Council was created, consisting of the commanders-in-chief of the Allied forces. 
Following the decisions of the Crimean and Potsdam conferences, the Allies pursued a policy of three “D” towards Germany:
- demilitarization - liquidation of the armed forces of Germany and their disarmament;
- denazification - the prohibition of Nazi organizations, the abolition of Nazi laws, the punishment of war criminals;
- democratization - the transformation of Germany into a democratic, peace-loving state.
Since the Western states and the USSR had different attitudes towards the policy of the three “D” and used the occupation for their own purposes, it was impossible to pursue a single policy towards Germany.
Start " cold war”, the confrontation of the former allies made the inevitable split of Germany.
The split of Germany. Fearing the strengthening of the “Soviet threat”, the Western countries abandoned the plan for the economic weakening of Germany and stopped taking reparations from it. In June 1948, a monetary reform was carried out, and the Reichsmark was replaced by the Deutschmark. Inflation was stopped, the “black market” disappeared, production and construction grew, and a market economy was formed.
In response to the monetary reform in the Western sectors, the USSR blockaded West Berlin. This event hastened the decision of the European countries to create a West German state. Back in December 1946, the British and American zones of occupation merged, and in early 1947 the French zone joined them.
The constitution of the German Federal Republic came into force in May 1949. According to the Constitution, the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) was declared a parliamentary republic. The Bundestag, a bicameral parliament, became the supreme legislative power. Unlike the Weimar constitution, the president was not elected by popular vote, but at a meeting of the Bundestag and had limited powers. The head of government is the Federal Chancellor. His candidacy was nominated as the leader of the winning party and approved by the Bundestag.
The Constitutional Court could strike down any law that was contrary to the constitution. Bonn became the capital of Germany.
In September 1949, the leader of the Christian Democratic Union, Konrad Adenauer, became Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.
On October 7, 1949, the German Democratic Republic was established in the Soviet zone of occupation. East Berlin became the capital of the GDR.
"Economic miracle" and its causes. The reasons for the “German miracle” - the accelerated development of the German economy:
a) material assistance in the amount of 3.6 billion dollars received from the United States under the "Marshall Plan";
b) the absence of military spending and the army until the mid-50s;
c) a large number of cheap labor.
Mechanical engineering, electric power, chemical and steel industries developed at a particularly rapid pace in the FRG.
In foreign policy Germany was leaning towards the United States, and this strengthened its position in the international arena. In 1951, the occupation regime was abolished on the territory of Germany. Germany joined NATO in 1955 and the EEC in 1957. The historical enmity between France and Germany has come to an end. The FRG refused to recognize the GDR and called for a boycott of it by the entire international community. In 1956, the activities of the German Communist Party were banned.
The Social Democrats are in power. In the 1960s, L. Erhard was Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. Then came to power the government of the "Grand Coalition", composed of Christian Democrats and Social Democrats. In the program of the German Social Democratic Party, the ultimate goal was to build democratic socialism
In 1969, the government of the “Small Coalition” came to power, headed by the leader of the Social Democrats, W. Brandt. Wages and pensions increased, and production councils were set up at enterprises, limiting the arbitrariness of the administration.
Principles for the implementation of the "New Ostpolitik" of the Brandt government:
- Rejection of the Cold War, respect for the real balance of power;
- Normalization of relations with the countries of Eastern Europe that suffered from Hitler's aggression, primarily with the USSR and Poland;
- Recognition of the German Democratic Republic.
As a result of the "Eastern Policy" of the government:
- The post-war borders of Eastern Europe were recognized.
- Interstate relations with the GDR were established.
- An agreement was reached on the status of West Berlin.
All this meant the end of the policy called "Munich rule". The economic crisis that broke out in 1974 affected Germany much less than other countries.
It became known that one of W. Brandt's employees was an intelligence agent of the GDR, and in 1974 Chancellor Brandt resigned.
The Social Democrat G. Schmidt, who replaced him in this post, continued the political line of W. Brandt. In 1982, 13 years later, the Christian Democrats came to power again. CDU leader Helmut Kohl became Federal Chancellor. His government cut taxes and government spending, took steps to weaken the state's role in business regulation and encourage fair competition. Since 1983, the country began an economic recovery.
The path to the unity of the German people. Helmut Kohl achieved the unification of Germany. The symbol of the division of Germany - the "Berlin Wall" - was dismantled in 1989.
On September 12, 1990, negotiations took place according to the “2+4” formula (Germany, East Germany + USA, USSR, Great Britain, France). A treaty was signed on the final settlement with respect to Germany. On October 3, 1990, Germany was unified. G. Kohl became the first Federal Chancellor of the united Germany.
In 1998, the Social Democrat G. Schroeder came to power. The current chancellor of Germany is Angela Merkel. At present, the German economy is developing steadily and dynamically. Both in the West and in the East, Germany is pursuing a balanced policy.
World War IGermany in 1945
At the last stage of the Second World War, the territory of fascist Germany was liberated by all progressive forces. A special role belonged to the Soviet Union, the USA, Great Britain and France. After signing the surrender in May 1945, the Nazi government was dismissed. The administration of the country was transferred to the Inter-Allied Control Council.
For joint control over Germany, the allied countries divided its territory into four occupation zones for transfer to the rails of peaceful life. The division looked like this:
- The Soviet zone included Thuringia, Brandenburg and Mecklenburg;
- The American zone consisted of Bavaria, Bremen, Hesse and Württemberg-Hohenzollern;
- The British zone covered Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia;
- The French zone was formed from Baden, Württemberg-Baden and Rhineland-Palatinate.
Remark 1
The capital of Germany, the city of Berlin, stood out in a special zone. Although it was located on the lands that had gone to the Soviet occupation zone, its management was transferred to the Inter-Allied Commandant's Office. It also houses the main governing body of the country - the Allied Control Council.
The occupation zones were managed by zonal military administrations. They exercised power until the election of a provisional government and the holding of all-German parliamentary elections.
Education Germany
In the next three years, there is a convergence of the western zones of occupation (American, British and French). Military administrations are gradually restoring representative bodies (Landtags), carrying out reforms and restoring the historical territorial division of German lands. In December 1946, the British and American zones merge to form Bizonia. Unified governing bodies and a united body of supreme power were created. Its functions began to be performed by the Economic Council, elected by the Landtags in May 1947. he was empowered to make financial and economic decisions common to all lands of Bizonia.
In the territories under the control of the Western powers, the "Marshall Plan" began to be implemented.
Definition 1
Marshall Plan - US aid program European countries for post-war economic recovery. It was named after the initiator - US Secretary of State George Marshall.
He served as a unifying factor. New authorities were created in Bizonia: the Supreme Court and the Council of the Lands (government chamber). Central authority was transferred to the Administrative Council, which reported on its actions to the Economic Council. In 1948, the French occupation zone joined Bisonia to form Trizonia.
The London meeting of the six victorious countries (USA, Great Britain, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium and France) in the summer of 1948 ended with a decision to create a separate West German state. In June of the same year, a monetary reform was carried out on the territory of Trizonia and the drafting of a constitution began. In May 1949, the West German constitution was approved, which fixed the federal structure of the state. At the next session of the victorious states in June 1949, the split of Germany was officially recognized. The new state was named the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). The FRG included three-quarters of all German territories.
Formation of the GDR
In parallel, the formation of the state in the Soviet occupation zone took place. The Soviet military administration (SVAG) announced the liquidation of the Prussian state and restored the Landtags. Gradually, all power was transferred to the German People's Congress. The SED (Socialist Unity Party of Germany) initiated in May 1949 the adoption of a Soviet-style constitution. A cross-party National Front of Democratic Germany was formed. This served as the basis for the proclamation on October 7, 1949 of the East German state of the GDR (German Democratic Republic).
The defeat of Germany in World War II immediately raised the question of the future fate of this state. By the time the Act of unconditional surrender Germany, the territory of the country was occupied by Soviet, American, British and French troops. Almost the entire economic infrastructure of Germany was destroyed, government organizations and management structures were absent after the defeat in the war. Naturally, the allies faced a very difficult task - not only to eliminate any possible manifestations of resistance from the "ideological" Nazis, but also to completely reorganize the future life of the country.
The question of what to do with Germany in the event of her defeat began to be discussed by the Allies long before the victory in the war. At the Tehran Conference, held from November 28 to December 1, 1943, the question was raised as to whether post-war Germany should be divided. Franklin Roosevelt proposed the creation of five autonomous states instead of a united Germany; Winston Churchill also advocated the dismemberment of Germany, emphasizing the need to separate Bavaria, Baden, and Württemberg from Germany. Churchill proposed to include these territories together with Austria and Hungary in a separate Danube confederation. Stalin opposed the division of Germany. His words that even if Germany is divided, nothing will prevent her from uniting later, turned out to be prophetic. On September 12, 1944, a protocol was signed in London on the creation of three occupation zones - eastern, northwestern and southwestern. After the victory, Berlin was also to be divided into three occupation zones.
From February 4 to February 11, 1945, when it was already clear that the victory over Nazi Germany approaching, the Yalta Conference was held, at which it was decided to allocate the fourth zone of occupation - the French. Although the contribution of France to the victory over Germany cannot be compared with the contribution of Great Britain and the United States, not to mention the contribution of the Soviet Union, Winston Churchill insisted on the allocation of a French occupation zone. He explained this by the fact that sooner or later France would still have to make efforts to contain possible aggression from Germany in the event of its revival, since France has a large common border with Germany and a long experience of negative interaction with this country. Stalin opposed the allocation of the French zone of occupation and the involvement of France in the control of post-war Germany, however, despite the position of the Soviet side, Great Britain still managed to push through its line. On May 1, 1945, a week before the surrender of Germany, France was also included in the control mechanism.
On June 5, 1945, the Declaration on the Defeat of Germany and the Assumption of Supreme Power over Germany was signed in Berlin by the governments of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom and the United States of America and the provisional government of the French Republic. From the Soviet Union, the declaration was signed by Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, from the USA by General of the Army Dwight David Eisenhower, from Great Britain by Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, from France by Army General Jean Marie de Latre de Tassigny. The declaration emphasized that since in Germany at the time of its signing there was no central government or forces capable of taking responsibility for governing the country, fulfilling the requirements of the victorious powers and ensuring order, the governments of the allied countries - the USSR, the USA, assumed supreme power in Germany. Great Britain and the provisional government of France. At the same time, it was discussed that this decision was not an annexation of Germany. That is, initially it was about the joint management of Germany as a temporary measure, which will be canceled sooner or later. On June 6, 1945, the USSR, the USA, Great Britain and France officially divided the territory of Germany into four zones of occupation.
The eastern zone of occupation under the control of the Soviet military administration was given under the control of the Soviet Union. It included the lands of East Germany, which by the time the Act of Unconditional Surrender was signed were occupied by Soviet troops. These were Saxony, Thuringia, Halle-Merseburg, Magdeburg, Anhalt, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg and Vorpommern. To manage the Soviet zone of occupation, a Soviet military administration in Germany was created with headquarters in the Berlin district of Karlshorst (originally the administration was located in the Holzdorf estate near Weimar).
Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov was entrusted to lead the Soviet military administration in Germany, General of the Army Vasily Danilovich Sokolovsky (Deputy Commander of the 1st Belorussian Front) was appointed his first deputy. Colonel General Vladimir Vasilyevich Kurasov (deputy chief of the General Staff of the Red Army) became the chief of staff of the Soviet military administration. Commissar of State Security of the 2nd rank Ivan Aleksandrovich Serov (head of the rear guard troops of the 1st Belorussian Front) became the deputy for civil administration, and Major General of the quartermaster service Semyon Ivanovich Shabalin (member of the Military Council of the 2nd Belorussian Front) became the deputy head of the Economic Department. Baltic Front on the rear). The structure of the Soviet military administration included 5 territorial directorates in Saxony, Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg and Brandenburg and a separate Office of the military commandant of the Soviet sector of the occupation of Berlin.
One of the main tasks of the Soviet military administration was the organization of the actual German forces, which could assist the Red Army, and in the future form the basis of the pro-Soviet German government. For this purpose, prominent figures of the communist and anti-fascist movement began to arrive from the USSR to Germany. Back in April 1945, before the surrender of Germany, the "Ulbricht group" arrived from Moscow - German communists led by Walter Ulbricht. On June 10, 1945, the commander-in-chief of the SVAG, Marshal Zhukov, by his order allowed the activities of non-fascist political parties in the Soviet zone of occupation, after which the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) were recreated, which on April 21, 1946 merged into the Socialist United Party of Germany (SED). Already in the summer of 1946, the SED began preparations for elections to local and land authorities.
Great Britain has traditionally considered the north-west of Germany to be the sphere of its interests. The British zone of occupation included Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg. The headquarters of the British military administration was located in the city of Bad Oeynhausen. Management bodies were created - the Control Commission for Germany, headed by the British military governor and the Zonal Advisory Council, which included representatives of civil administrations and political parties operating in the British occupation zone.
The southwestern or American zone of occupation included Bavaria, Hesse, North Baden and North Württemberg. The American military administration was also led by a military governor. As part of the occupation zone, three lands were allocated - Gross-Hesse, Württemberg-Baden and Bavaria, the civilian Council of the Lands and the Parliamentary Council were created, despite the fact that only the American military command still had real power.
The Western or French zone of occupation included the Saarland, South Baden and South Württemberg, the southern part of the Rhineland, two districts of Hesse and four districts of Hesse-Nassau, the Lindau region. Unlike the British and American command, the French command abandoned the idea of creating a single German civil authority in the territories under their control. In the future, part of the occupied territories, according to the provisional government of France, was to join France, the Saar region was to be integrated into the French financial and economic system, and a federal state was created in Württemberg. Of all the powers, France was most of all interested in the dismemberment and weakening of Germany, since it repeatedly fought against Germany for its own, and these wars, as a rule, ended miserably for France. General Charles de Gaulle even stated in October 1945 that he hoped that France would never see a strong Germany again.
Already in 1946, relations between yesterday's allies began to deteriorate rapidly. The Soviet Union stopped food supplies to the western occupation zones, after which Great Britain and the United States decided to unite their occupation zones into a single Bizonia. Joint governing bodies were created, which faced the main task of improving the economy and normalizing living conditions in the territories occupied by American and British troops.
One of the main tasks that both the British and American military administrations set for themselves was the preservation of the industrial and especially the military-industrial potential of the "old" Germany, which the Allies sought to use for their own purposes, namely, for the future opposition to Soviet expansion in Europe. Therefore, in the British and American occupation zones in 1947 alone, about 450 military factories were hidden from accounting. They were to form the backbone of the future West German military industry.
France did not join the joint Anglo-American project of uniting the occupation zones for quite a long time. Only on June 3, 1948, France decided to unite the western occupation zone with Bisonia, as a result of which Trizonia was created. Great Britain and the United States managed to "bribe" France with the promise of creating a collective governing body for the Ruhr area without the involvement of the Soviet Union. Great Britain, the USA and France, having created Trizonia, agreed with the Marshall Plan and the further economic modernization of Germany under the control of the Western powers. At the same time, the Saar region, for which France had special views, remained under the French protectorate for almost 10 more years - until 1957. On September 7, 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany was created on the basis of Trizonia. In the history of post-war Europe has been turned upside down new page where the occupation zones were to become sovereign states.
Until 1948, the denazification policy was actively pursued in the Soviet zone of occupation, within the framework of which the local administrative apparatus was cleansed of former NSDAP activists, as well as potential opponents of the Soviet Union, including representatives of bourgeois political parties. The creation of the Federal Republic of Germany by the Soviet Union was met negatively. The lands that were part of the Soviet occupation zone did not recognize the formation and constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany, after which, on May 15–16, 1949, elections were held for delegates to the German People's Congress. On May 30, 1949, the German People's Congress adopted the Constitution of the German Democratic Republic. The GDR included five lands that were under the control of the Soviet military administration - Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Mecklenburg and Brandenburg. Thus, the second German independent state was created, which, unlike the FRG, was under the ideological, political and military control of the Soviet Union.
Thus, in reality, the division of Germany was carried out rather on the initiative of the Western powers, who were very afraid of the leftist forces coming to power in post-war Germany and turning it into a country friendly to the Soviet Union. It was Joseph Stalin who, even at the Tehran Conference, showed himself to be a consistent opponent of the dismemberment of Germany into independent states, and in 1945, after the victory, he declared that the Soviet Union was not going to dismember or destroy Germany. Only when the West openly agreed to create a new German state in its occupation zones did the Soviet Union have no choice but to support the creation of the German Democratic Republic.
For more than forty years, in place of Germany, two independent states were formed, one of which belonged to the Western bloc, and the other to the socialist camp. Germany has become one of the key military and political allies of the United States in Europe and the foundation of NATO. The treacherous policy of the Soviet leadership at the turn of the 1980s - 1990s, in turn, led to the fact that the GDR ceased to exist, becoming part of the FRG, but the West did not fulfill its promises - the FRG remained in NATO, on its territory American bases and troops remain, it still plays a crucial role in the US anti-Russian military strategy in Europe.