One of the main tasks that the Allies set themselves after the defeat of Germany was the denazification of the country. The entire adult population of the country passed a questionnaire prepared by the Control Council for Germany. The Erhebungsformular MG/PS/G/9a had 131 questions. The survey was voluntary-compulsory.
Refuseniks were deprived of food cards.
Based on the survey, all Germans are divided into "not involved", "acquitted", "fellow travelers", "guilty" and "guilty in the highest degree." Citizens from the last three groups were brought before the court, which determined the measure of guilt and punishment. "Guilty" and "guilty in the highest degree" were sent to internment camps, "fellow travelers" could atone for their guilt with a fine or property.
It is clear that this method was not perfect. Mutual responsibility, corruption and insincerity of the respondents made denazification ineffective. Hundreds of thousands of Nazis managed to avoid trial and forged documents on the so-called "rat trails", and after only a few years - to take prominent positions in the state apparatus of Germany. Thus, the third Federal Chancellor of Germany, Kurt Georg Kiesinger, was a member of the NSDAP since 1933.
The Allies organized a large-scale campaign in Germany to re-educate the Germans. Movies about Nazi atrocities were constantly shown in cinemas. Residents of Germany also had to go to the sessions without fail. Otherwise, they could lose all the same food cards. Also, the Germans were taken on excursions to the former concentration camps and involved in the work carried out there. For the majority of the civilian population, the information received was shocking. Goebbels' propaganda during the war years told them about a completely different image of Nazism.
Demilitarization
By decision of the Potsdam Conference, Germany was to undergo demilitarization, which included the dismantling of military factories. The Western Allies accepted the principles of demilitarization in their own way: not only were they in no hurry to dismantle factories in their zones of occupation, but they were actively restoring them, while trying to increase the quota of metal smelting and wanting to preserve the military potential of Western Germany for a future war with the USSR.
By 1947, more than 450 military factories were hidden from accounting in the British and American zones.
The Soviet Union was more honest in this respect. According to the historian Mikhail Semiryaga, in one year after March 1945, the highest authorities of the Soviet Union made about a thousand decisions related to the dismantling of 4389 enterprises from Germany, Austria, Hungary and other European countries. However, this number cannot be compared with the number of facilities destroyed by the war in the USSR. The number of dismantled German enterprises amounted to less than 14% of the pre-war number of Soviet factories. According to Nikolai Voznesensky, then chairman of the State Planning Committee of the USSR, only 0.6% of the direct damage to the USSR was covered by the supply of captured equipment from Germany.
Marauding
The topic of looting and violence against the civilian population in post-war Germany is still debatable. A lot of documents have been preserved, indicating that the Western allies took out the valuable property of the citizens of defeated Germany literally by ships.
"Distinguished" in the collection of trophies and some Soviet officers. So, when Marshal Zhukov fell into disgrace in 1948, they found and confiscated 194 pieces of furniture, 44 carpets and tapestries, 7 boxes of crystal, 55 museum paintings and other luxury items. All this was taken out of Germany.
As for the soldiers and officers of the Red Army, there were not so many cases of looting according to the available documents. The victorious Soviet soldiers were more likely to be engaged in applied "junk work", that is, they were engaged in collecting ownerless property. When the Soviet command allowed sending parcels home, boxes with sewing needles, fabric trimmings, and working tools went to the Union. At the same time, our soldiers had a rather squeamish attitude to all these things. In letters to their relatives, they justified themselves for all this “junk”.
strange counts
The most problematic topic is the topic of violence against civilians, especially against German women. Until the time of perestroika, the topic of mass rape of German women was not raised either in the USSR or by the Germans themselves.
In 1992, a book by two feminists, Helke Sander and Barbara Yohr, Liberators and Liberated, was published in Germany, where a shocking figure appeared: 2 million.
The justification for this figure left a lot of room for criticism: the data were based on records in a German clinic alone, and then were multiplied by total amount women. In 2002, Anthony Beevor's book "The Fall of Berlin" was published, in which the author gave this figure without paying attention to its criticism, and the data sources were described with the phrases "one doctor concluded", "apparently", "if" and "it seems".
According to the estimates of the two main Berlin hospitals, the number of victims raped by Soviet soldiers ranges from ninety-five to one hundred and thirty thousand people. One doctor concluded that approximately one hundred thousand women had been raped in Berlin alone. And about ten thousand of them died mainly as a result of suicide. The number of deaths throughout East Germany must be much higher if one takes into account the 1400,000 rapes in East Prussia, Pomerania and Silesia. It appears that about two million German women were raped in total, many (if not most) of whom suffered this humiliation several times.
In 2004, this book was published in Russia, picked up as an "argument" by anti-Soviet people, who spread the myth about the unprecedented cruelty of Soviet soldiers in occupied Germany.
In fact, according to the documents, such facts were considered “extraordinary incidents and an immoral phenomenon,” which was followed by punishment. Violence against the civilian population of Germany was fought at all levels, and marauders and rapists fell under the tribunal. So, in the report of the military prosecutor of the 1st Belorussian Front on illegal actions against the civilian population for the period from April 22 to May 5, 1945, there are such figures: 124 crimes were recorded in seven armies of the front for 908.5 thousand people, of which 72 were rapes . 72 cases per 908.5 thousand. What two million can we talk about?
There was also looting and violence against the civilian population in the western occupation zones. Naum Orlov wrote in his memoirs: “The British guarding us rolled chewing gum between their teeth - which was new for us - and boasted to each other about their trophies, throwing up their hands high, studded with wristwatches ... ".
Osmar Whyat, an Australian war correspondent who can hardly be suspected of partiality to Soviet soldiers, wrote in 1945: “Severe discipline reigns in the Red Army. There are no more robberies, rapes and bullying here than in any other zone of occupation. Wild stories of atrocities emerge from exaggerations and distortions of individual cases under the influence of nervousness caused by the immoderation of Russian soldiers' manners and their love of vodka. One woman who told me most of the hair-raising tales of Russian brutality was eventually forced to admit that the only evidence she had seen with her own eyes was drunken Russian officers firing their pistols into the air and at bottles..."
Germany surrendered on May 8th, 1945. The Great Patriotic War ended. The history of post-war Germany is a tale of unrest, civil strife, and rebirth. History of the GDR and the FRG.
The post-war situation led to the division of Germany. The Cold War that followed World War II split the world into two camps: the communist east, led by the Soviet Union, and the western capitalist world, led by the United States. Germany was divided into 4 parts: the northwest was under British rule, the southwest was overrun by the French, the south was under US control, and the Soviets took control of eastern Germany.
The Potsdam Conference in 1945 decided the future of Germany. It was decided that Germany would compensate the Allied States for the losses they suffered during the war. The compensation was in the form of goods and equipment. The USSR received the lion's share of the reparations. However, disagreements arose between the countries regarding the share of compensation and the future of the country. The USA and Great Britain aspired to democracy and economic independence of Germany. The Soviets wanted more territory and were opposed to the idea of German development. The French also wanted a significant portion of the land and vetoed the country's government unification plan. The consensus that suited everyone was the formation of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) under the leadership of the USSR in the east, and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in the west under the auspices of the United States and Great Britain. From the very beginning of the division, the territory under the control of the USSR began to lag behind economically.
The uprising of the workers of the GDR took place on June 17, 1953, when a series of strikes and demonstrations took place throughout East Germany.
The beginning of the Berlin uprising is associated with the Berlin workers who built elite housing for the nomenklatura. On June 16, 1953, workers took to the streets to protest against the Government's decree to raise labor standards by 10 percent. Very soon, political protest was added to the social one: the first demands for the resignation of the government were made. The Germans demanded free elections and the withdrawal of Soviet troops. Residents of other cities also heard about the Berlin events on the radio. On the 17th of June the whole country was aflame with popular unrest. About a million people took to the streets. More than a thousand businesses went on strike. In Hall, Bitterfeld and Görlitz, demonstrators seized city power. The government responded harshly, with the help of Soviet troops and the Stasi, crushing the wave of protest, killing leaders and imprisoning activists. According to the introduced state of emergency, all demonstrations, meetings, rallies and gatherings of more than three people in the streets and squares, as well as in public buildings, were banned. The movement of pedestrians and vehicles at night was prohibited. Violators of this order were punished according to the laws of war. In just a couple of days, life returned to normal. However, the protest continued to live.
The socialist government of the GDR announced the creation of a wall that would prevent the influence of the West. Many people fled to the west before construction, some were killed during its construction and even more while trying to overcome it. The Berlin Wall, which showed the complete difference between communism and the capitalist world, was completed in August 1961.
The 1970s and 1980s were marked by rapid economic growth in both East and West Germany. Two systems, socialism and capitalism, competed with each other, building an economic miracle on the territory of one single country. While East Germany was the political scapegoat of a stubborn communist regime and "little brother", there was rampant corruption and political instability in the West. The need to unite East and West came primarily from the Vestis (East Germans). With diminishing Soviet influence and great pressure from the populace, East and West were
Germany 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). The military administrations are gradually restoring representative bodies (landtags), carrying out reforms and restoring the historical territorial division of the 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
The Marshall Plan is a program of US assistance to 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 post-war state of the German economy
After World War II, Germany was divided into two independent states: the FRG and the GDR. The difficult state of the German economy, in addition to military devastation, was influenced by the dismantling of equipment from industrial enterprises, adopted by the decision of the Potsdam Conference of the Heads of Government of the powers that won the war on August 2, 1945. as compensation for damages, and the division of the country. In 1948, with the direct participation of L. Erhard, the architect of the policy of economic revival of West Germany, an economist and statesman(first the Minister of Economics, and then the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany), a monetary and economic reform was carried out.
Carefully prepared economic reform was carried out simultaneously with the monetary reform, price reform, restructuring of centralized administration. The old system was destroyed immediately, not gradually. The rise in prices stopped after about six months. The success of the reform was determined both by timely adjustments (for example, by revising the exchange rate of the national currency) and by the presence of a strong and authoritative government. Erhard is considered to be a representative of the neoliberal direction, but he was not a “pure” neoliberal and widely used state levers to switch to the principles of liberalism. Following the monetary reform, the administrative distribution of resources and control over them were abolished.
Industry
In the historically established unified pre-war German economy, the territory of the present-day GDR was an underdeveloped industrial area, which was largely dependent on its western part. Before the war, the eastern part exported 45% of all industrial and agricultural products from the western part. The raw material base, metallurgical, energy and heavy industry were located mainly in the western regions of Germany. In addition, as a result of the war, 45% of the equipment of an already underdeveloped industry, 70% of energy capacities and 40% of agricultural machinery were disabled. Compared with 1936, the volume of industrial production in the territory of the present GDR was only 42%. The entire existing economic base consisted of little more than a single blast furnace, the traditional textile industry, including textile engineering, precision mechanics and optics. Due to the split of Germany through the fault of the Western powers, which formed a separate West German state, the GDR found itself cut off from the traditional centers of heavy industry, metallurgy and energy. In 1949, the year the GDR was founded, the young state lacked entire industries, and those that did exist were very underdeveloped. At the cost of incredible efforts, the working people managed to overcome the most pernicious disproportions during the first years of construction.
With the help of the Soviet Union, entire industries were recreated, including the energy base, metallurgy, machine tool building, and a significant part of light industry. The referendum of June 30, 1946 on the gratuitous expropriation of 3,843 enterprises of active Nazis and war criminals, as well as large landowners, served as a democratic basis for the transformation of numerous enterprises into public property. At the same time, this expropriation and democratic land reform marked the beginning of the process of the transfer of economic power into the hands of the working class, in alliance with the peasantry and all other sections of the working people. In the following years, with the help of the Soviet Union, the workers created numerous new enterprises. These were very difficult years of industrial construction. They demanded from all the working people an enormous effort and cost them great hardships. The imperialist circles, hostile to socialism, tried to hold back the new development, hinder it and even frustrate it.
They maliciously used the state border between the GDR and West Berlin, which was open until 1961, undermining the currency regime of the GDR, luring away highly qualified specialists from there and exporting a large amount of vital consumer goods to West Berlin. According to official figures, due to the existence of the open border of the GDR until 1961, material damage was inflicted in the amount of more than 100 billion marks. After the implementation of measures to ensure the security of the state border of the GDR in 1961, there was a significant economic recovery. After almost all the peasants, who had previously been individual farmers, united in agricultural production cooperatives, socialist property became a solid economic basis for the GDR. After the VI Congress of the SED, held in 1963, which decided on the full-scale construction of socialism, great efforts were made to develop, test and put into practice effective ways and methods of managing and planning industry and all other areas of the national economy.
Political reform
The principle of the democratic state made possible the expression of the will of the citizens. The focus of the basic law is the person, because the state should serve the people, and not dominate them. Political system Germany is defined by 4 principles of the state: democratic; federal; legal; social.
The Marshall Plan On June 5, 1947, George Marshall, then US Secretary of State, proclaimed the European Recovery Program. A year later, the American Congress passed this plan, which provided for billions in loans. It included not only financial resources, but also supplies of equipment and gifts. Until 1952, the United States sent from the funds of the program
Germany after World War II. Basic Law of Germany 1949 Berlin Crisis. Division of the country
The Second World War ended for Germany with the defeat and collapse of the fascist regime in the country.
This created the conditions for building a new, democratic German state.
Germany again, like 27 years ago ( after World War I), had to start almost from scratch.
However, now the situation is complicated by two more factors:
1. The difficult economic situation of the country caused by the consequences of the war;
2. Contradictions between allies ( more precisely - between the USSR and the allies) on the further development of the country. At the same time, each side sought to make Germany its sphere of influence;
The consequences of the war for Germany were more severe than for many other European states.
Losses amounted to 13.5 million, cities were destroyed, industry was destroyed or dismantled ( allies - that's freaks!
Real marauders! The USSR exported everything from Germany - from ships to buttons). The country's economy experienced a shortage of workers (the male population died in the war). There is general speculation in the country, the “black market” is flourishing. Not enough housing. The financial system of the country is destroyed - no money has a price. Most of the population is starving.
The formation of the new German state had to take place in extremely difficult conditions.
The following made things even more difficult:
Such starting conditions did not bode well - and it turned out - the future justified the worst fears (everything happened, except third world war…).
With the end of hostilities, the territory of Germany was divided into occupation zones(4 - USA, UK, France, USSR).
This was necessary for a coordinated solution of priority problems, after which, by agreement between the allies, power was to be transferred to the new German authorities.
A special body was created to govern the country, which included all the allies - Control Council(commanders of four armies who became military governors).
It was them that the Control Council carried out. The main place in them was occupied by a policy called " four D»:
| Demilitarization | The elimination of the country's military industry. Transfer of the economy to peaceful construction. The elimination of the monopolies that led the country to war. Dissolution of the Reichswehr (German army). |
| Denazification | Prohibition and dissolution of all fascist organizations ( NSDAP, SS, and others). Prohibition of any paramilitary formations. Removal of Nazis from the state apparatus and prosecution of fascist criminals. |
| Democratization | Restoration of all political (and other) rights and freedoms. Creation of a democratic party system, holding democratic elections. |
| Decentralization | Restoration of the federal structure of the country and local self-government. Formation of local authorities. |
Initially, the Allied policy towards Germany was carried out in one direction.
The implementation of the most important measures listed above did not cause doubts and special disagreements.
However, when determining the ways of further development of the country, such disagreements appeared very quickly. And that's why:
After the implementation of the plan four D”, the next stage was to be the creation of German state bodies and the transfer of power to them.
However, by this time, the territory of Germany was becoming more and more clearly an arena of confrontation between communism and capitalism (USSR and USA). No one wanted to give in - as it turned out very soon, the policy in different zones varied quite significantly.
Soon a line of confrontation emerged - the USSR on the one hand, the allies (USA, Great Britain, France) on the other. The activities aimed at creating a German state, carried out in the eastern and western zones, were diametrically opposed, and actually aimed at building different models of the state.
This very quickly led to a political crisis.
Events unfolded like this:
| The split of Germany and the formation of the FRG and the GDR | |
| "Two-Headed Politics" | The main difference existed, a clear fuck, between western zones and the USSR zone. In fact, two different states were built on these territories. In the eastern lands, transformations began according to the Soviet model ( building a totalitarian state), while in the West, the Allies carried out liberal transformations according to their own model. Such differences could not but lead to serious disagreements about the future of the country. They were not long in coming - Paris session of the Ministerial Council ( May 1946) failed to resolve any of the issues. |
| "Economic glitch" | Different economic policies in the occupation zones led to the creation of a special situation:
This situation did not please the USSR at all - as a result, a regime was introduced between the zones to control the movement of goods and people. |
| "Bison" | In the summer of 1946, the situation escalated even more. After the announcement of the US State Department about the unification of the American and British zones, such a merger was carried out in December 1946. The combined zone was called " bison". Its main feature was that it was not occupational, but already German authorities- became the main Economic Council(head L. Erhard). Thus, "Bizonia" became the prototype of the future Germany. |
| Wasted Effort | Despite the difficulties, attempts to find a common solution for Germany still continued. However, the negotiations were doomed to failure even before they began. This was confirmed by the Ministerial Council session in March 1947. Like the previous one, it did not solve a single problem, but created many new ones. The next one (November 1947) ended with the same "result". After its completion, the parties did not even agree on the next one. This was a bad sign. |
| "Trizonia" | In February 1948, the French zone of occupation also became part of the "Bison" - formed " Trizonia».
Now all the Western sectors formed a single economic and political space, almost coinciding with the territory of the future FRG. The power in this territory again belonged to the German authorities. |
| "Trick with ears" | The first action taken by the German administration was monetary reform. She had to solve two main problems:
On the territory of Trizonia, their own brand was introduced, which did not have circulation in the Soviet occupation zone. Now Trizonia has become completely independent financially. The monetary reform led to two main results:
The USSR regarded the reform as an attempt to proclaim an independent German state and reacted extremely negatively to it. This event predetermined the subsequent development of Germany. |
| "Berlin Crisis" | Monetary reform (which the USSR called " separate”) did not like the Soviet administration. As a response, they chose, however, primitive tactics " hitting the head with a sledgehammer”(True, as it turned out - in its own way ...). June 24, 1948 Soviet troops completely interrupted the communication of West Berlin with the rest of the world, organizing its blockade. The USSR hoped that this would force the allies to make concessions in the negotiations. However, the number did not pass - the United States organized the delivery of the necessary goods to the blockaded city by air ("air bridge") - within 11 months everything needed was delivered to the city. The USSR did not have the audacity to shoot down American planes (that would mean war). The blockade had to be ended. The incident became known as the "Berlin Crisis". He finally determined the split of Germany. The positions of the USSR were undermined - after an attempt at forceful pressure, the Germans no longer believed in " good intentions» of this country. The flow of refugees from east to west increased. |
| "Yoshkin cat" | After failed attempts to agree, Western Germany had no choice but to start developing its own constitution, to postpone the issue of unification for the future. By 1949, the development of their own constitutions began in both German states - in fact, the split of the country into two parts became a reality. |
Despite the failure of the London Conference (cf.
chapter " Wasted Effort”), she nevertheless gave certain results. The most important of these was the achievement of agreement between the Western states (USA, Great Britain, France) on the creation of a separate West German state. The formation of such a state was to be enshrined in a new constitution. At the same time, German politicians were asked to convene a Constituent Assembly ( for its adoption) no later than September 1, 1948.
Such a proposal, although it was quite obvious to the Germans themselves, did not arouse much enthusiasm - it was a clear step towards the split of the country.
At the same time, it was also impossible to leave the situation unchanged.
This issue had to be resolved at a meeting of the prime ministers of the German lands (in the lands there were already Landtags And governments).
In the end, a compromise solution was reached:
The decisions of the heads of the lands were approved by the allies ( let at least such a constitution than none).
The main goal of the formation of the Western European state- the creation of a kind of "core", which would then be joined by the eastern lands. So the West Germans tried to find at least some solution to the existing problems. There were probably no other options.
Parliamentary Council ( 65 members elected by the Landtags, thus a body formed by indirect elections) began work on September 1, 1948.
(Bonn). K. Adenauer (SPD) became chairman. The bill did not cause much debate - it was assumed that it would soon be replaced by the "real" Constitution ( fuck you replace it- because of the USSR, the country was divided for half a century!).
On May 8, 1949, the Basic Law (OZ) was adopted by a majority vote. Landtags quickly ratified it (approved). Problems arose only with Bavaria ( Well, she always had her own opinion...) who considered the OZ "too centralist" ( limiting its "precious" powers in favor of the center).
However, she also pledged to abide by his norms.
On May 23, 1949, the OZ entered into force. This was the birth date of the new German state. It got the name Federal Republic of Germany.
| Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany 1949 | |
| general characteristics | Adopted following the results of the Second World War, the elimination of the fascist regime in Germany, and the post-war conditions in the country. It is the most democratic constitution in the history of Germany, and is sustained in line with most post-war European constitutions ( France, Italy, etc.). He took in himself the best features of the Constitution of 1919, adding new ones to them. Main feature - the basic law was seen as temporary, before the unification of the country ( This, however, was only possible after 50 years ...). Adopted by the Parliamentary Council, consisting of representatives of the states, entered into force on May 23, 1949. |
| Basic principles |
|
| Structure | It is generally traditional - a preamble, 11 sections, 146 articles. No other acts are included in the constitution, the preamble does not contain legal norms and has no legal force. |
| Legal status of the individual | The main advantage of the new constitution. The section containing the norms on the rights and freedoms of citizens is in an "honorable" place, starting the constitution ( first section). |
| Form of government | Parliamentary republic in its purest form. The head of state (president) and the head of the executive branch (federal chancellor) are separated, the government is formed by parliamentary means and is responsible to parliament. Significant powers are concentrated in the personal federal chancellor (the Federal Republic of Germany is sometimes called " chancellor republic») |
| Order of change | Constitution rigid type(although not especially) - a qualified majority of votes of the Bundestag and the Bundesrat is required for the change. Ratification of the amendments by the Länder is not required ( this is not the USA for you - you will change the hell there ...). |
The formation of the West German state and the adoption of the Basic Law, essentially meant the final division of the country.
At the same time, in the eastern lands, the formation of a socialist German state - the GDR.
In many ways, the processes that took place during 1949 could still be regarded as temporary, and the hope for the unification of the country still remained. As noted above, the German constitution was of the nature temporal- it was assumed that the eastern lands would soon be included in the unified German state.
However, in the next few years, the last illusions were dispelled - both German states became the arena of political confrontation between the socialist and capitalist worlds.
Under such conditions, the unification had to be forgotten for a long time - it seemed forever.
Previous16171819202122232425262728293031Next
State and political development of Germany after World War II
Second World War(1939-1945) ended for Germany with a complete military and political defeat. After the military surrender (May 8, 1945), the former German state both nominally and practically ceased to exist. Power in the country and all management functions were transferred to the military administration of the powers that occupied Germany.
21.1.1 The Potsdam agreements and the creation of a military control office in occupied Germany.
The principles of the post-war structure of Germany were determined by the decisions of the Crimean (January 1945) and, most importantly, Potsdam conferences (July-August 1945) of the allied states (USSR, USA and Great Britain).
They were supported by France and a number of other countries that were at war with Germany. According to these decisions, the totalitarian state in Germany was to be completely destroyed: the NSDAP and all organizations associated with it were banned, most of the punitive institutions of the Reich (including the SA, SS and SD services) were declared criminal, the army was disbanded, racial laws and acts of political significance were abolished .
The country should have been consistently carried out decartelization, denazification, demilitarization and democratization. The further solution of the "German question", including the preparation of a peace treaty, was placed in the hands of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Allied States.
June 5, 1945 the Allied states promulgated the Declaration on the defeat of Germany and on the organization of a new order of government.
The country was divided into 4 occupation zones, which were given under the administration of Great Britain (the largest zone in terms of territory), the USA, the USSR and France; the capital, Berlin, was subject to joint administration. To resolve common issues, an allied Control Council was formed from the commanders-in-chief of the four occupying armies, decisions in which would be made on the principle of unanimity. Each zone created its own administration similar to a military governorship.
The governors were entrusted with all issues of restoring civilian life, implementing the policy of denazification and demilitarization, as well as the prosecution of Nazi criminals, the return of previously forcibly displaced persons and prisoners of war of all nationalities.
After the establishment of military administration in all zones, activities were allowed political parties democratic direction. The new parties were to play a major role in rebuilding state structures and in political organization population (albeit for different purposes from the positions of the USSR and the Western powers).
In the eastern zone of occupation (USSR), the resurgent Social Democratic and Communist parties became the dominant political force. Under pressure from the Soviet administration and under the leadership of leaders who were in the USSR during the war years, they merged into Socialist Unity Party of Germany(April 1946), which set the goal of establishing a socialist state in the country in the spirit of revolutionary Marxism and with a complete social reorganization of the country according to the Soviet model.
In the occupation zones of the Western powers, the newly formed party - Christian Democratic Union(June 1945); in Bavaria, the association became similar in direction Christian Social Union(January 1946). These parties stood on the platform of democratic republicanism, the creation of a social market economy society based on private property.
At the same time, the Social Democratic Party of Germany was revived in the western zones (June 1946). In the autumn of 1946, in an atmosphere of political pluralism, the first elections were held for local bodies and Landtags.
The divergence of political courses of the parties of the eastern and western zones led to a civil confrontation in the country, which was exacerbated by a sharp divergence of the military-political goals of the USSR and the USA in Europe, their positions on the fate of Germany (the USA assumed the political fragmentation of the country into several independent lands, the USSR - the creation united state"People's Democracy").
Therefore, the situation predetermined the state division of Germany
21.1.2 The course towards the creation of a West German "welfare state". The role of the state in regulating the economy.
Allied management of the German economy at first was reduced to the introduction of a system of strict control over production and distribution in order to provide the Germans with essential products and reparation supplies to compensate for damage to countries affected by the war.
The first step towards the democratization of Germany was to be decartelization.
According to the Potsdam Accords, a plan was developed "for reparations and the level of the post-war German economy", providing for the dismantling of industrial enterprises and the introduction of restrictions and bans on the production of many types of products.
The production of any type of weapons was completely prohibited. However, the Allied Control Council was never able to develop general criteria for the concept of "monopolistic association". In this regard, decartelization began to be carried out according to the principle of denazification.
This was facilitated by the fact that a significant part of the major German industrialists were arrested for complicity in the crimes of the Reich, and their property was sequestered. With the exception of that part of it that went to reparation supplies, it was transferred to the disposal of the lands.
The destruction of a large economic potential in the course of decartelization in the Anglo-American zone ended by 1950, in the Soviet zone even earlier.
It also had certain positive consequences, expressed not only in the structural restructuring of industry, in the renewal of production technology, but also in the fundamental change in the entire state economic policy, directed from now on not to militarization, but to the restoration and growth of industrial production in peaceful purposes.
With the beginning of the Cold War in 1946-1947.
in the western zones, the policy of reviving the German economy began to be pursued more and more actively in the name of ensuring "security together with the Germans." The Germans themselves had to restore the economy and determine the strategic direction of its future development.
A series of reforms were carried out aimed at restoring the ruined financial system of the country (currency reform, tax reform, etc.)
The state resolutely refused to finance industrial development.
Only the fuel and energy, mining industry, ferrous metallurgy in 1948-1951. subsidized by the state. Direct state subsidies were subsequently limited to three areas: the introduction of scientific achievements, social assistance for the retraining of personnel, and the development of transport infrastructure.
In January 1948
the central bank was also recreated, called the Bank of German Lands (BNZ), which, according to the law, was supposed to pursue an independent monetary policy, not obeying the instructions of any party, public and state (except for the judiciary) bodies. Moreover, his activities, according to Art. 4 of the Law, was equated with the governing bodies of the united western economic zone.
In April 1948, the "Marshall Plan" came into effect. Billions of dollars were poured into the German economy.
The new currency was recognized by the population.
In the course of the referendum held back in 1945 on the question of property in both the Soviet and American zones, preference was given to public forms of property. In the American zone, this decision was not implemented. In the British zone, the "socialization" of property was vetoed by the occupation authorities. The majority of Germans were determined to choose some kind of centrist "third course", the creation of a "social market economy" and a "welfare state".
The discussions in the Parliamentary Council revolved around two models.
Bourgeois parties of a Christian persuasion proposed the creation of "social capitalism". The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) is the creation of "democratic socialism". There were many common points of contact between them.
In the elections of August 14, 1949, the Germans voted for the CDU/CSU, which, together with the small bourgeois parties, won a majority in the Reichstag. They thereby voted for the creation of a "social market economy", a "welfare state" in Germany.
Creation and maintenance of market competitive orders were defined as a strategic direction.
The state pursued a policy of deconcentration of production, introduced control over the activities of monopolies, over pricing, in every possible way encouraging the creation of new, primarily medium and small firms. To this end, the legal forms of their registration upon obtaining the status of a legal entity were simplified, preferential loans were provided, etc.
The implementation of the policy of a social market economy led to rapid economic growth, which was called the "economic miracle" in the West German press. The level of pre-war development was reached in West Germany as a whole by the end of 1950.
Division of Germany.
During 1945 - 1948.
the western zones consolidated. They carried out administrative reforms. In 1945, the division into historical lands was restored, and under the control of the military authorities, local representative bodies - Landtags and land governments - were revived. The unification of the British and American zones of occupation (in the so-called Bizonia) in December 1946 led to the formation of a unified body of power and administration.
This was the Economic Council (May 1947), elected by the Landtags and empowered to make general financial and economic decisions. In connection with the extension of the American "Marshall Plan" (providing for financial and economic assistance to devastated Europe) to Germany, these decisions acquired an ever more unifying significance for the western zones.
(And at the same time, the implementation of the "Marshall Plan" contributed to the separation of the eastern zone, since the government of the USSR rejected it). The Council of Lands took shape in Bizony - a kind of second government chamber, as well as the Supreme Court; in fact, the functions of the central administration were performed by the Administrative Council, controlled by the Economic Council and the Council of the Lands.
Further differences between the Western allies and the USSR regarding the post-war structure of Germany, the difference between the first economic reforms in the East and West of Germany predetermined the course of the Western allies towards the state isolation of the western zones.
In February-March and April-June 1948, at the London conferences of 6 allied countries (USA, Great Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg), a political decision was made to create a special West German state.
In 1948, the French zone of occupation was attached to Bizony (the so-called "Trizonia" was formed). In June 1948
in the West German lands, their own monetary reform was carried out. On July 1, 1948, the military governors of the Western powers proclaimed the conditions for the formation of the West German state (according to special instructions to the group for the preparation of the constitution, which began work in August 1948, the Western state was to become federal).
In May 1949, the process of discussing and approving the developed West German constitution was completed. At the next session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the victorious states (May-June 1949), the split became, as it were, officially recognized.
Germany joined NATO. Relevant agreements were signed in Paris, ratified by the Bundestag on February 27, 1955, and entered into force at the beginning of May 1955. The Paris Agreements determined the sovereignty of Germany, on the basis of which the country received the right to create a half-million army (12 divisions), and in NATO headquarters Bundeswehr officers began to work.
In October 1949
In response to the creation of the Basic Law of the FRG (the Bonn Constitution), the GDR adopted a socialist Constitution. It had a certain resemblance to the Bonn Constitution.
However, the course towards the construction of socialism, taken by the leadership of the GDR from the beginning of the 50s. 20th century was accompanied by non-observance of many democratic principles. In 1952
the federal political and territorial structure became unitary: instead of five lands as subjects of the East German federation, 16 districts were formed. On August 19, 1961, the government of the GDR built a barrier along the entire border of West Berlin, and then a well-known wall.
In the GDR, a referendum was held on the adoption of a new constitution. Over 94% of the citizens of the GDR voted "for" the socialist norms and principles of the Constitution, in particular for the planned economy.
All this contributed to the further disunity of the German lands.
1949 German constitution
The development of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany was carried out by a special government commission on behalf of the conference of prime ministers of the lands of the western zones in August 1948.
One of the most important tasks was the revival of state federalism in full, as well as the creation of legal guarantees against presidential usurpation of power in comparison with what was established in the Weimar constitution. These internal political and legal tasks much was predetermined in the content of the basic law of the restored republic. To adopt the constitution, a special Parliamentary Council was formed - consisting of 65 councilors elected from 11 landtags on the basis of party representation (as well as another 5 delegates from Berlin).
As a result, all the main political parties of the then Germany were represented in the Parliamentary Council: the Christian Democratic Union, the Christian Social Union (Bavaria), the SPD, the Free Democratic Party, the KPD, etc. May 8, 1949 by a majority of votes (53:12) Council adopted the German constitution. Then it was approved by the landtags of the lands (except for Bavaria), the western military governors, and on May 23, 1949.
The German constitution came into force.
The German Basic Law of 1949 originally consisted of a preamble and 172 articles. Despite the “rigid” nature of the document (for the introduction of constitutional amendments, the consent of 2/3 of both houses of parliament is required), since 1951, changes have been made to it almost annually.
As a result, the Basic Law was enlarged: by now, 42 additional articles have been included in it (and only 5 have been excluded). Now it consists of 11 chapters and 146 articles. The basic law is preceded by a meaningful preamble.
The constitution proclaims the Federal Republic of Germany a democratic, legal and social state.
A significant place in it is given to the rights and freedoms of citizens (freedom of the individual, equality before the law, freedom of religion, freedom of opinion, press, assembly, etc.). Freedom and inviolability of property were guaranteed.
But at the same time, it was declared that “property obliges, and the use of it should serve the common good” with the consolidation of the advantages of public property. It proclaimed party pluralism; the primacy of norms of international law over intranational norms was established.
The main state bodies of Germany are: the Bundestag, the Bundesrat, the federal president, the federal government headed by the chancellor, the federal constitutional court.
The Bundestag is the lower house of parliament, elected for 4 years by universal, direct and secret suffrage, according to a mixed electoral system.
The existing 5% barrier makes it possible to weed out the most radical groups of both the right and the left. The Bundestag is the main legislative body.
The Bundesrat (upper house of parliament) is formed from representatives of the lands, its consent is necessary for the adoption of laws that change the constitution, the boundaries and territory of the lands, the structure of land authorities, etc.
The federal president is elected for 5 years by the federal assembly.
It has limited powers: it represents the head of government for approval, appoints and dismisses federal judges and officials, and represents the country in the international arena.
The real leadership of the executive power is exercised by the federal government headed by the chancellor. The chancellor presides over the government; has the right to form this government; selects candidates for ministers and puts forward a proposal binding on the federal president regarding their appointment and dismissal.
Has the right of legislative initiative. The Federal Chancellor is, moreover, the only government official elected by the Bundestag on the proposal of the Federal President. The president always proposes for the post of chancellor the candidate who is the leader of the coalition party bloc - and this means that the head of the German government combines party and state-political power.
Thus, in the Federal Republic of Germany there was a "regime of chancellor democracy."
In the system of separation of powers, the executive branch comes to the fore.
Introduction
After the Second World War, Germany ceased to exist as an independent state, it was occupied. Part of its territory is taken away. It was a country where, as one contemporary wrote, "amid hunger and cold, hope died."
At that time, the task of restoring the economy, reviving industrial production, agriculture, trade, financial and banking systems, returning the life of the people to a peaceful way of life and a new development of the state administration system was acutely facing Germany at that time.
The purpose of the work: To identify the state of the German economy in the second half of the 20th century.
Based on the purpose of the work, we define the tasks:
- Consider the economic situation in Germany in the first post-war years.
- Consider Marshall's plan.
- Consider L. Erhard's reforms. "Economic miracle"
The economic situation in Germany in the first post-war years.
If after World War I the territory of Germany practically did not suffer from hostilities, then after World War II the country lay practically in ruins. Industrial production was at the level of a third of the pre-war level, the housing problem was acute, most of the housing stock was violated during the war, at the same time, more than 9 million Germans were deported to Germany from East Prussia and lands along the Oder and Neisse.
The standard of living fell by 1/3. Money depreciated, the money supply did not have a commodity cover, barter trade was spreading. According to the then calculations of the occupying authorities, the average German's income allowed him to buy a pair of shoes every twelve years, and a suit once every fifty years.
Moreover, the occupation authorities began dismantling and exporting industrial equipment at the expense of reparations. Among the goals of the occupation of Germany declared by the Potsdam Conference, which had priority economic consequences, were: the complete disarmament and demilitarization of Germany, including the liquidation of its entire military industry or the establishment of control over it, as well as the right of the peoples affected by German aggression to receive reparations, in particular, the dismantling of industrial enterprises and the division of the entire German fleet between the USSR, the USA and Great Britain.
The Soviet occupation command considered, first of all, the possibility of obtaining maximum compensation to the Soviet Union for the losses incurred during the war. The share of surviving industrial enterprises dismantled and exported to the USSR amounted to 45% in the Soviet zone (in the zones of other victorious states it did not reach 10%).
At the same time, the USSR supported political transformations aimed at orienting Germany towards the communist (socialist) path of development. The original plan of the US administration was to weaken Germany as much as possible economically while maintaining it as an agricultural country. Thus, by 1948, Germany was politically divided and economically bankrupt. Goods, the supply of which was already scarce, mostly ended up in warehouses and only a small part of them made it to the market.
Incredibly swollen (by a factor of 5) money supply - a consequence mainly of the unbridled financing of military projects - did not give any opportunity to pursue a reasonable monetary and financial policy.
Although total rationing, freezing prices and wages somehow managed to maintain external order, all attempts to curb inflation (600% of the pre-war level) with frozen prices were doomed to failure and the economy fell into a primitive state of barter. The black market and barter exchange flourished. The deterioration of the economic situation was facilitated by the influx of refugees into the western zones of occupation from the eastern zone and countries of Eastern Europe.1
Marshall Plan.
As part of the emerging Western orientation towards the restoration of the German economy, a plan was developed, which George Catlett Marshall, then US Secretary of State, announced on June 5, 1947. The program for the restoration of Europe, later called the Marshall Plan, was adopted by the US Congress in 1948.
This plan provided for assistance to European countries affected by the war in the form of loans, equipment and technology. The plan was designed for 4 years, the total amount of appropriations allocated in the framework of economic assistance to European countries amounted to about 12.4 billion rubles from April 1948 to December 1951.
dollars, of which the main part fell on the UK (2.8 billion dollars), France (2.5 billion dollars), Spain (1.3 billion dollars), West Germany (1.3 billion dollars), Holland (1.0 billion . dollars).
It should be noted that the implementation of the Marshall Plan faced some opposition in the United States. Even a year after the Program began, Marshall criticized his staff for being too slow and not even getting started.
In order to get the Marshall Plan through Congress, the government had to do a tremendous amount of work. Many deputies, like the people, were against financial aid to Europe. Marshall's employees gave lectures, showed films about the destruction in Europe.
Arranged a kind of excursion overseas for congressmen from among the doubters. Curiously, one of these deputies was Richard Nixon. After a trip to Europe, he turned 180 degrees and became an ardent supporter of Marshall's idea.
Although the Marshall Plan was not the only driving force behind the post-war reconstruction, it nevertheless provided an important incentive to accomplish what at first seemed impossible.
Only a few years passed, and the production of agricultural and industrial products exceeded the pre-war level.
An important feature of the Marshall Plan was a fundamentally new scheme for calculating loans, which led to a multiple increase in the funds involved.
For example, a German factory ordered some parts from the USA. However, the American manufacturer of these parts received dollars for them not from the customer, but from the government's Marshall Plan fund. The customer, on the other hand, contributed the equivalent in German marks to a specially created European fund.
In turn, this fund financed long-term concessional loans to enterprises for new investments. Ultimately, as enterprises repaid their debts, the fund's funds allowed European states to pay off the United States as well.
The Marshall Plan had three main objectives: first, it encouraged European countries resume political and economic cooperation and strengthen their integration into the world economy. Second, he allowed them to purchase raw materials and equipment from countries with hard currencies.
Thirdly, this plan was also a program of state support for the economy of the United States itself, since it stimulated American exports. Germany officially became one of the countries participating in the Marshall Plan on December 15, 1949, that is, shortly after its founding, and its participation continued until the end of the plan.
George Marshall's contribution to the reconstruction of the European economy after the Second World War became the basis for awarding him Nobel Prize peace in 1953.2
3. Reforms L. Erhard. "Economic miracle".
Ludwig Erhard (1897-1977) was the most important figure traditionally associated with the economic side of the success of the post-war reconstruction of Germany.
The main elements of the development model proposed by Erhard for the "social market economy" were:
- the target setting is a high level of well-being of all segments of the population;
- the way to achieve the goal is free market competition and private enterprise;
- the key condition for achieving the goal is the active participation of the state in ensuring the prerequisites and conditions for competition.
At the end of 1949, the first, most dangerous phase in the development of the economic situation ended, which was characterized by tension between the volume of goods and the volume of the money supply and manifested itself in an almost chaotic rise in prices.
In the first half of 1950, German production grew monthly by 3-5 percent, setting an absolute record - 114% compared to 1936, during foreign trade in half a year it was even possible to achieve a doubling of exports, mechanical engineering, optics, and electricity generation developed at an accelerated pace. In the same 1950, the card system was abolished in Germany. By the mid-1950s, after some slowdown in economic growth, a new upsurge began, caused by an influx of capital, a significant renewal of technical production, and government measures to revive heavy industry.
In 1953-56, the annual increase in industrial output was 10-15%. In terms of industrial production, Germany ranked third in the world after the United States and Great Britain, and surpassed Great Britain in some types of production. At the same time, small and medium-sized businesses formed the basis of the rapidly growing economy: in 1953, enterprises with less than 500 employees provided more than half of all jobs in the economy, and unemployment had a steady downward trend (from 10.3% in 1950 to 1.2% in 1960).
By the early 1960s, Germany was second only to the United States in terms of production and exports. The rapid development of the German economy in the fifties and sixties was called the "economic miracle".
Among the factors that contributed to the development of the economy, it should be noted the renewal of fixed capital, the intensification of labor, the high level of investment, including foreign ones.
Also of great importance was the direction of budgetary funds for the development of civilian industries by reducing military spending, as well as an increase in taxes on corporate profits.
A special mention deserves the agrarian reform, which betrayed the main part of the land to small average owners. Developing in an intensive way, German agriculture was characterized by the rapid introduction of the latest achievements. agricultural science into practice, which ensured an increase in agricultural productivity and productivity.
As production intensified, small-scale farming yielded to larger farming. The post-war recovery of Germany laid the foundation for the "economic miracle" - the rapid growth of the German economy in the fifties and sixties, secured the position of Germany in the European economy throughout the second half of the twentieth century, and became the economic basis for the unification of Germany at the end of the twentieth century.3
Conclusion
Thus, the history of the economic revival of Germany after the Second World War is one of the examples of the successful implementation of the ideas of economic liberalization with a balanced participation of the state in the economic life of the country and ensuring the social nature of economic transformations.
The necessary conditions for the success of the post-war reconstruction of Germany were external (Marshall Plan) and internal (political stability, political support for reforms, monetary reform, liberalization of prices and trade, including external, directed and limited state intervention in economic life) factors.
Determine to which country the characteristic of its development in the second half of the 19th century belongs.
1. Capitalist development begins after the revolution of 1868 (the introduction of a monetary unit, the abolition of internal customs, monetary compensation to feudal lords)
2. Gradual loss of leadership in the world economy while maintaining the role of the "world driver" active export of capital to the colonies.
Parcel private ownership of land, the outflow of capital from their industry to the credit and banking sector.
4. Slow solution of the agrarian issue in the 60-70s. gg. 19th century restrained economic development, a sharp rise in the 90s; significant role of foreign capital; high concentration of production
Increasing the pace of development after the unification in 1871, the predominant growth of heavy industry and the latest science-intensive industries; a significant role of the state in stimulating the development of heavy industry and the military-industrial complex.
A. Germany.
B. Japan.
V. England.
G. Russia.
D. France.
Answer:
A. Germany. - five
B. Japan. - one
V. England. -2
G. Russia. - 3
France. - 4
Bibliography
- History of the world economy. Textbook for universities / Ed. Polyaka G.B., Markova A.N. – M.: UNITI, 2004.- 727 p.
- Bor M.Z. / History of the world economy, 2nd ed., M., -2000. – 496 p.
- Russian history. Textbook manual for universities / Markova A.N., Skvortsova E.M.
- Erhard L. Welfare for all: Per. with him. - M .: Beginnings-press, 1991
- History of the economy.
Textbook for universities / Konotopov M.V., Smetanin S.I., - M., 2007 - p.352
The first post-war years in Germany were called "zero". As the “father” of the German miracle, Ludwig Erhard, later wrote: “That was the time when we in Germany were engaged in calculations, according to which per capita had one plate every five years, every twelve years - a pair of shoes, once every fifty years - one suit each.
The well-known "Marshall Plan" was the first step towards Germany's exit from this crisis.
In addition to preparing the ground for the ensuing Cold War, he had clear economic objectives. Western Europe has always been the most important market for American capitalism. Even during the Great Depression, the United States was able to get out of the crisis by conquering the European market.
The "mechanism" is simple - the greater the demand in Europe, the greater the supply from the United States, the more jobs there, the higher the purchasing power of American citizens.
IN postwar period Europe needed American goods more than ever. There was only one problem - there was nothing to buy them, national currencies depreciated. Therefore, in 1947, the United States found itself at a crossroads - either to abandon promising markets and slow down the growth of its own economy, or to provide material support to post-war Europe and receive not only a "regular customer and client", but also an ally. The United States put on the second and did not lose.
In accordance with the Marshall Plan, a total of 3.12 billion dollars was provided to Germany in the form of loans, equipment and technologies over 4 years. And although the "plan" was not the main active force in the post-war reconstruction of Germany, it made it possible to carry out later what will be called the "German miracle." In a few years, the production of both agricultural and industrial products will exceed the pre-war level.
"Prosperity for all"
The main creator of the "new Germany" was not the American Secretary of State, but the first Minister of Economics of the Federal Republic of Germany, later the Federal Chancellor - Ludwig Erhard. Erhard's main concept was contained in the postulate that the economy is not a soulless mechanism, it rests on living people with their desires, aspirations and needs.
Thus, the foundation for the economic revival of Germany was to be free enterprise. Erhard wrote: “I see the ideal situation where an ordinary person can say: I have enough strength to stand up for myself, I want to be responsible for my own destiny. You, the state, do not worry about my affairs, but give me so much freedom and leave me so much from the result of my work that I myself and at my own discretion provide for the existence of myself and my family.
In Erhard's policy, the state was assigned the role of a "night guard", which "protected" entrepreneurial activity from monopoly, external competition, high taxes and other factors that stood in the way of the liberal market.
The introduction of a free market economy in post-war Germany was not simple solution. It was Erhard's only initiative, the "anti-law", which contradicted the policy of the occupying authorities and nullified all previous attempts to pull Germany out of the crisis, through a planned economy and state regulation.
And it worked. Some time later, two Frenchmen Jacques Rueff and Andre Pietre, who were then in Germany, wrote: “Only eyewitnesses can tell about the instantaneous effect that the currency reform had on filling warehouses and richness of shop windows. From day to day, shops began to be filled with goods and factories resumed work. The day before, hopelessness was written on the faces of the Germans, the next day the whole nation looked to the future with hope.
New brand
But for free enterprise, another important condition was necessary - currency stability. In the post-war period, the Reichsmark was valued no more than once the "Kerenki" in the RSFSR.
On June 21, 1948, a monetary reform was carried out, aimed at the confiscation of depreciated money and the creation of a hard currency. This is how the Deutschmark appeared, which later became famous as one of the most stable currencies of the 20th century.
The monetary reform was prepared in the strictest secrecy. Firstly, in order not to provoke the intervention of the USSR, and secondly, in order to avoid panic getting rid of the old Reichsmarks.
But on the eve of the reform, rumors still leaked to the masses, causing a real "shopping hysteria" - the Germans tried to buy everything that money could still buy. As a result, black market prices have shot up to astronomical heights.
The exchange rate of the old currency for the new one was purely confiscatory. Firstly, for 10 old marks they gave one new one, with the same paying capacity. Secondly, each adult could change on June 21 at a time only 400 Reichsmarks for 40 Deutschmarks, and then another 200 Reichsmarks for new 20 within a few days. At the end of the term, all remaining Reichsmarks were either partially kept in banks or depreciated.
Through such tough measures, Erhard managed to ensure a stable exchange rate for the new currency, as well as to achieve an even distribution of funds among different segments of the population, while before that most of the country's currency was concentrated in the hands of a small but very wealthy group of people. Now a broad and stable middle class was emerging.
Literally a few days after the monetary reform, prices were "set free". From now on, the pricing policy was based on the principle of liberalization, with only one proviso that the state retained the right of partial control over them. So he compiled a list of "appropriate prices" for some consumer products, and also adopted a ban on arbitrary price increases in order to avoid the greed of entrepreneurs.
It was followed by antitrust decrees, according to which the share of one company in the market could not exceed 33%, two or three - 50%, and four or five - no more than 65%.
Tax incentives were introduced, which discouraged companies from the "shadow business". In short, numbers speak louder than words. By 1950, Germany had reached the pre-war level of production, and by 1962 it was three times higher.
Once, after the recovery of the German economy, its entry into the first positions of the world market, Erhard was asked what is the key to the successful development of the economy. To this he replied: "the resourcefulness of the entrepreneurs, the discipline and diligence of the workers, and the skillful policy of the government."