What is the FRG and the GDR? Ours in the GDR: A group of Soviet troops in Germany Vremya GDR

The years 1945-1948 became a thorough preparation, which led to the split of Germany and the appearance on the map of Europe of two countries formed instead of it - the FRG and the GDR. The decoding of the names of states is interesting in itself and serves as a good illustration of their different social vector.

Postwar Germany

After the end of World War II, Germany was divided between two occupation camps. The eastern part of this country was occupied by the troops of the Soviet Army, the western part was occupied by the allies. The western sector was gradually consolidated, the territories were divided into historical lands, which were managed by local self-government bodies. In December 1946, a decision was made to unite the British and American occupation zones - the so-called. bison. It became possible to create a single body of land management. This is how the Economic Council was created - a selective body authorized to make economic and financial decisions.

Background of the split

First of all, these decisions concerned the implementation of the "Marshall Plan" - a large-scale American financial project aimed at restoring the economies of European countries destroyed during the war. The "Marshall Plan" contributed to the separation of the eastern zone of occupation, since the government of the USSR did not accept the proposed assistance. Subsequently, the different visions of the future of Germany by the allies and the USSR led to a split in the country and predetermined the formation of the FRG and the GDR.

Education Germany

Western zones needed full unification and official state status. In 1948, consultations were held between the Western Allied countries. The meeting resulted in the idea of ​​creating a West German state. In the same year, the French occupation zone joined Bizonia - thus the so-called Trizonia was formed. In the western lands, a monetary reform was carried out with the introduction of their own monetary unit into circulation. The military governors of the united lands proclaimed the principles and conditions for the creation of a new state, with particular emphasis on its federalism. In May 1949, the preparation and discussion of its Constitution ended. The state was named Germany. The decoding of the name sounds like Germany. Thus, the proposals of the land self-government bodies were taken into account, and the republican principles of governing the country were outlined.

Geographically, the new country was located on 3/4 of the land occupied by the former Germany. Germany had its capital - the city of Bonn. The governments of the anti-Hitler coalition, through their governors, exercised control over the observance of the rights and norms of the constitutional system, controlled its foreign policy, and had the right to interfere in all spheres of the economic and scientific activities of the state. Over time, the status of the lands was revised in favor of greater independence of the lands of Germany.

Formation of the GDR

The process of creating a state also went on in the eastern German lands occupied by the troops of the Soviet Union. The controlling body in the east was SVAG - the Soviet military administration. Under the control of the SVAG, local self-government bodies, the lantdags, were created. Marshal Zhukov was appointed commander-in-chief of the SVAG, and in fact - the owner of East Germany. Elections to the new authorities were held according to the laws of the USSR, that is, on a class basis. By a special order of February 25, 1947, the Prussian state was liquidated. Its territory was divided among the new lands. Part of the territory went to the newly formed Kaliningrad region, all the settlements of the former Prussia were Russified and renamed, and the territory was settled by Russian settlers.

Officially, the SVAG maintained military control over the territory of East Germany. Administrative control was carried out by the central committee of the SED, which was completely controlled by the military administration. The first step was the nationalization of enterprises and lands, the confiscation of property and its distribution on a socialist basis. In the process of redistribution, an administrative apparatus was formed, which assumed the functions of state control. In December 1947, the German People's Congress began to function. In theory, the Congress was supposed to unite the interests of West and East Germans, but in fact its influence on the western lands was negligible. After the isolation of the western lands, the NOC began to perform the functions of the parliament exclusively in the eastern territories. The Second National Congress, formed in March 1948, carried out the main activities related to the upcoming Constitution of the nascent country. By special order, the issue of the German mark was carried out - thus, five German lands located in the zone of Soviet occupation switched to a single monetary unit. In May 1949, the Socialist Constitution was adopted and the Inter-Party Socio-Political National Front was formed. The preparation of the eastern lands for the formation of a new state was completed. On October 7, 1949, at a meeting of the German Supreme Council, it was announced the creation of a new body of supreme state power, which was called the Provisional People's Chamber. In fact, this day can be considered the date of birth of a new state created in opposition to the FRG. Deciphering the name of the new state in East Germany - the German Democratic Republic, East Berlin became the capital of the GDR. The status was negotiated separately. For many years, the ancient one was divided into two parts by the Berlin Wall.

Development of Germany

The development of such countries as the FRG and the GDR was carried out according to different economic systems. The "Marshall Plan" and the effective economic policy of Ludwig Erhrad made it possible to quickly raise the economy in West Germany. Big GDP growth was announced Guest workers coming from the Middle East provided an influx of cheap labor. In the 1950s, the ruling CDU party passed a number of important laws. Among them - a ban on the activities of the Communist Party, the elimination of all the consequences of Nazi activities, a ban on certain professions. In 1955, the Federal Republic of Germany joined NATO.

Development of the GDR

The self-government bodies of the GDR, which were in charge of the administration of the German lands, ceased to exist in 1956, when a decision was made to liquidate local self-government bodies. The lands began to be called districts, and the district councils began to represent the executive branch. At the same time, the personality cult of advanced communist ideologists began to be implanted. The policy of sovietization and nationalization led to the fact that the process of restoring the post-war country was greatly delayed, especially against the backdrop of the economic successes of the FRG.

Settlement of relations between the GDR and the FRG

Deciphering the contradictions between the two fragments of one state gradually normalized relations between countries. In 1973, the Treaty entered into force. He regulated relations between the FRG and the GDR. In November of the same year, the FRG recognized the GDR as an independent state, and the countries established diplomatic relations. The idea of ​​creating a single German nation was introduced into the Constitution of the GDR.

End of the GDR

In 1989, a powerful New Forum political movement emerged in the GDR, which provoked a series of indignations and demonstrations in all major cities of East Germany. As a result of the resignation of the government, one of the activists of the "New Norum" G. Gizi became the chairman of the SED. The mass rally held on November 4, 1989 in Berlin, at which the demands for freedom of speech, assembly and expression of will were proclaimed, had already been agreed with the authorities. The answer was a law allowing citizens of the GDR to cross without good reason. This decision caused Germany to divide the capital for many years.

In 1990, the Christian Democratic Union came to power in the GDR, which immediately began to consult with the government of the FRG on the issue of uniting countries and creating a single state. On September 12, an agreement was signed in Moscow between representatives of the former allies of the anti-Hitler coalition on the final settlement of the German question.

The unification of the FRG and the GDR would have been impossible without the introduction of a single currency. An important step in this process was the recognition of the German mark of Germany as a common currency throughout Germany. On August 23, 1990, the People's Chamber of the GDR decided to annex the eastern lands to the FRG. After that, a number of transformations were carried out that eliminated the socialist institutions of power and reorganized state bodies according to the West German model. On October 3, the army and navy of the GDR were abolished, and instead of them, the Bundesmarine and the Bundeswehr, the armed forces of the FRG, were deployed in the eastern territories. The deciphering of the names is based on the word "bundes", which means "federal". The official recognition of the eastern lands as part of the FRG was secured by the adoption of new subjects of state law by the Constitutions.

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:

1. The Soviet zone included Thuringia, Brandenburg and Mecklenburg;
2. The American zone consisted of Bavaria, Bremen, Hesse and Württemberg-Hohenzollern;
3. The British zone covered Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia;
4. 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

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).

In the period from 1949 to 1990, two separate states existed on the territory of modern Germany - the communist GDR and the capitalist West Germany. The formation of these states was associated with one of the first serious crises of the Cold War, and the unification of Germany with the final fall of the communist regime in Europe.

Reasons for separation

The main and, perhaps, the only reason for the division of Germany was the lack of consensus among the victorious countries regarding the post-war structure of the state. Already in the second half of 1945, the former allies became rivals, and the territory of Germany became a point of collision between two conflicting political systems.

The plans of the victorious countries and the separation process

The first projects concerning the post-war structure of Germany appeared as early as 1943. This issue was raised at the Tehran Conference, where Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt met. Since the conference took place after the Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of Kursk, the leaders of the "Big Three" were well aware that the fall of the Nazi regime would take place over the next few years.

The most daring project was proposed by the American president. He believed that five separate states should be created on German territory. Churchill also believed that after the war, Germany should not exist within its former borders. Stalin, who was more worried about the opening of a second front in Europe, considered the question of the division of Germany premature and not the most important. He believed that nothing could further prevent Germany from becoming a single state again.

The question of the dismemberment of Germany was also raised at subsequent meetings of the leaders of the Big Three. During the Potsdam Conference (summer 1945), a system of four-sided occupation was established:

• England
• USSR,
• France.

It was decided that the Allies would consider Germany as a whole and encourage the emergence of democratic institutions on the territory of the state. The solution of most issues related to denazification, demilitarization, the restoration of the economy destroyed by the war, the revival of the pre-war political system, etc., required the cooperation of all the winners. However, immediately after the end of the war, it became increasingly difficult for the Soviet Union and its Western allies to find a common language.

The main reason for the split among the former allies was the reluctance of the Western powers to liquidate German military enterprises, which was contrary to the demilitarization plan. In 1946, the British, French and Americans united their zones of occupation, forming Trizonia. On this territory, they created a separate system of economic management, and in September 1949 it was announced the emergence of a new state - the Federal Republic of Germany. The leadership of the USSR immediately took retaliatory measures by creating the German Democratic Republic in its zone of occupation.

Education of the GDR. After capitulation in World War II, Germany was divided into 4 occupation zones: Soviet, American, British and French. Berlin, the capital of Germany, was divided in the same way. In the three western zones and the American-British-French West Berlin (it is surrounded on all sides by the territory of the Soviet zone of occupation), life was gradually established on the basis of democratic principles. In the Soviet zone of occupation, including East Berlin, a course was immediately taken to form a totalitarian communist system of power.

The Cold War began between the former allies in the anti-Hitler coalition, and this most tragically affected the fate of Germany and its people.

Blockade of West Berlin. I.V. Stalin used the introduction of a single German mark in the three western zones (currency reform on June 20, 1948) as a pretext for the Blockade of West Berlin in order to annex it to the Soviet zone of occupation. On the night of June 23-24, 1948, all land communications between the Western zones and West Berlin were blocked. The supply of the city with electricity and food products from the Soviet zone of occupation was cut off. August 3, 1948 I.V. Stalin directly demanded the inclusion of West Berlin in the Soviet zone, but was rebuffed by the former allies. The blockade lasted for almost a year, until May 12, 1949. However, blackmail did not achieve its goals. The supply of West Berlin was provided by an air bridge organized by the Western Allies. Moreover, the flight altitude of their aircraft was beyond the reach of Soviet air defense systems.

Creation of NATO and the split of Germany. In response to the open hostility of the Soviet leadership, the blockade of West Berlin, the communist coup in Czechoslovakia in February 1948 and the build-up of the Soviet military presence in Eastern Europe in April 1949, the Western countries created the NATO military-political bloc (“North Atlantic Treaty Organization” ). The creation of NATO influenced Soviet policy towards Germany. In the same year, it split into two states. The Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) was created on the territory of the American, British and French zones of occupation, and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) was created on the territory of the Soviet zone of occupation. At the same time, Berlin was also split into two parts. East Berlin became the capital of the GDR. West Berlin became a separate administrative unit, receiving its own self-government under the tutelage of the occupying powers.

Sovietization of the GDR and the growing crisis. In the early 1950s in the GDR, socialist transformations began, which exactly copied the Soviet experience. Nationalization of private property, industrialization and collectivization were carried out. All these transformations were accompanied by mass repressions, with the help of which the Socialist Unity Party of Germany strengthened its dominance in the country and society. A rigid totalitarian regime was established in the country, a command-administrative system for managing all spheres of public life. In 1953, the Sovietization policy of the GDR was still in full swing. However, at that time, economic chaos and a decline in production, a serious decline in the standard of living of the population, began to clearly manifest itself. All this caused a protest of the population, and serious dissatisfaction with the regime on the part of ordinary citizens was growing. The most serious form of protest was the exodus of the population of the GDR to the FRG. However, since the border between the GDR and the FRG was already closed, the only way left was to go to West Berlin (it was still possible) and from there to move to the FRG.

Forecasts of Western experts. From the spring of 1953, the socio-economic crisis began to develop into a political one. The Eastern Bureau of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, located in West Berlin, based on its observations, noted the wide scope of the population's dissatisfaction with the existing system, the growing readiness of East Germans to openly oppose the regime.

Unlike the German Social Democrats, the CIA, which monitored the situation in the GDR, made more cautious forecasts. They boiled down to the fact that the SED regime and the Soviet occupation authorities controlled the economic situation, and that the "will to resist" among the East German population was low. It is unlikely that “East Germans will be willing or able to make a revolution, even if called for it, unless such a call is accompanied by a declaration of war by the West or a firm promise of Western military assistance.”

The position of the Soviet leadership. The Soviet leadership also could not fail to see the aggravation of the socio-economic and political situation in the GDR, but they interpreted it in a very peculiar way. On May 9, 1953, at a meeting of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU, an analytical report prepared by the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs (headed by L.P. Beria) on the flight of the population from the GDR was considered. It admitted that the hype raised on this issue "in the press of the Anglo-American bloc" had good reasons. However, the main reasons for this phenomenon in the certificate are reduced to the fact that “West German industrial concerns are actively working to lure engineering and technical workers”, and the leadership of the SED was too carried away by the tasks of “improving their material well-being”, without at the same time paying due attention to nutrition and uniforms for the people's police. Most importantly, "the Central Committee of the SED and the responsible state bodies of the GDR are not conducting a sufficiently active struggle against the demoralizing work carried out by the West German authorities." The conclusion was clear: to strengthen the punitive organs and the indoctrination of the population of the GDR - although both of them already exceeded all reasonable limits, just becoming one of the causes of mass discontent. That is, the document did not contain any condemnation of the domestic policy of the leadership of the GDR.

Molotov's note. The note, which was prepared by V.M. on May 8, had a different character. Molotov and sent it to G.M. Malenkov and N.S. Khrushchev. The document contained a sharp criticism of the thesis about the GDR as a state of the "dictatorship of the proletariat", which was made on May 5 by the first secretary of the SED Central Committee W. Ulbricht, it was emphasized that he did not coordinate this speech with the Soviet side and that it contradicts the recommendations given to him earlier. This note was considered at a meeting of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU on May 14. The resolution condemned the statements of Walter Ulbricht and instructed the Soviet representatives in Berlin to talk with the leaders of the SED on the subject of stopping the campaign to create new agricultural cooperatives. If we compare the documents addressed to the Presidium of the Central Committee L.P. Beria and V.M. Molotov, one can, perhaps, come to the conclusion that the latter reacted to the situation in the GDR more quickly, sharply and meaningfully.

Order of the Council of Ministers. On June 2, 1953, Decree No. 7576 of the Council of Ministers of the USSR "On measures to improve the political situation in the GDR" was issued. It contained a condemnation of the course of the East German leadership towards "accelerated construction" or "forcing the construction" of socialism in East Germany. On the same day, a SED delegation headed by W. Ulbricht and O. Grotewohl arrived in Moscow. During the negotiations, the leaders of the GDR were told that the situation in their country was in a dangerous state, that they should immediately abandon the accelerated construction of socialism and pursue a more moderate policy. As an example of such a policy, the Soviet NEP, carried out in the 1920s, was cited. In response, W. Ulbricht tried to justify his activities. He stated that the fears of the "Soviet comrades" were exaggerated, but under their pressure he was forced to promise that the course of building socialism would become more moderate.

Actions of the leadership of the GDR. On June 9, 1953, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED adopted a decision on the "new course", which corresponded to the "recommendations" of the USSR Council of Ministers, and published it two days later. It cannot be said that the leaders of the GDR were particularly hasty, but they did not consider it necessary to explain to either the rank-and-file party members or the leaders of their organizations the essence of the new program. As a result, the entire party and state apparatus of the GDR was paralyzed.

During the talks in Moscow, the Soviet leaders pointed out to the leaders of East Germany that it was necessary to carefully investigate the reasons for the transfer of workers from the GDR to West Germany, not excluding workers from private enterprises. They proposed to take measures to improve the situation of workers, their living conditions, to combat unemployment, violations of labor protection and safety regulations, especially in overpopulated industrial areas and on the Baltic coast. All these instructions remained empty.

As early as May 28, 1953, by order of the GDR authorities, a general increase in production standards at industrial enterprises was announced. In fact, this meant a sharp decrease in real wages. Thus, it turned out that the workers of the GDR turned out to be the only category of the population that did not gain anything from the “new course”, but only felt the deterioration of living conditions.

Provocation. Some foreign and Russian historians believe that such a strange feature of the "new course" proves a deliberate sabotage by the leadership of the GDR of Soviet recommendations. The course towards the rejection of "barracks socialism" in the GDR, towards rapprochement with the FRG, towards compromise and German unity threatened Walter Ulbricht and his entourage with the loss of power and withdrawal from political life. Therefore, they were apparently even ready to take the risk of far-reaching destabilization of the regime in order to compromise the New Deal and save their monopoly on power. The calculation was cynical and simple: to provoke mass discontent, unrest, then the Soviet troops would intervene, and certainly there would be no time for liberal experiments. In this sense, it can be said that the events of June 17, 1953 in the GDR were the result not only of the activities of “Western agents” (its role, of course, cannot be denied), but also of a deliberate provocation on the part of the then leadership of the GDR. As it turned out later, the scope of the popular movement went far beyond the planned anti-liberal blackmail and frightened the provocateurs themselves quite a bit.

By Masterweb

The German Democratic Republic, or GDR for short, is a country located in the Center of Europe and marked on maps for exactly 41 years. This is the westernmost country of the socialist camp that existed at that time, formed in 1949 and became part of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990.

German Democratic Republic

In the north, the border of the GDR ran along the Baltic Sea, on land it bordered on the FRG, Czechoslovakia and Poland. Its area was 108 thousand square kilometers. The population was 17 million people. The capital of the country was East Berlin. The entire territory of the GDR was divided into 15 districts. In the center of the country was the territory of West Berlin.

Location of the GDR

On a small territory of the GDR there was a sea, mountains and plains. The north was washed by the Baltic Sea, which forms several bays and shallow lagoons. They are connected to the sea by straits. She owned the islands, the largest of them - Rügen, Usedom and Pel. There are many rivers in the country. The largest are the Oder, Elbe, their tributaries Havel, Spree, Saale, as well as the Main - a tributary of the Rhine. Of the many lakes, the largest are Müritz, Schweriner See, Plauer See.

In the south, the country was framed by low mountains, significantly cut by rivers: from the west, the Harz, from the south-west, the Thuringian Forest, from the south, the Ore Mountains with the highest peak Fichtelberg (1212 meters). The north of the territory of the GDR was located on the Central European Plain, to the south lay the plain of the Macklenburg Lake District. South of Berlin stretches a strip of sandy plains.

East Berlin

It has been restored almost completely. The city was divided into occupation zones. After the creation of the FRG, its eastern part became part of the GDR, and the western part was an enclave surrounded on all sides by the territory of East Germany. According to the constitution of Berlin (Western), the land on which it was located belonged to the Federal Republic of Germany. The capital of the GDR was a major center of science and culture of the country.

The Academies of Sciences and Arts, many higher educational institutions were located here. Concert halls and theaters hosted outstanding musicians and artists from all over the world. Many parks and alleys served as decoration for the capital of the GDR. Sports facilities were erected in the city: stadiums, swimming pools, courts, competition grounds. The most famous park for the inhabitants of the USSR was Treptow Park, in which a monument to the liberator soldier was erected.

Big cities

The majority of the country's population was urban dwellers. In a small country, there were several cities with a population of more than half a million people. The large cities of the former German Democratic Republic, as a rule, had a rather ancient history. These are the cultural and economic centers of the country. The largest cities include Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig. The cities of East Germany were badly damaged. But Berlin suffered the most, where the fighting went literally for every house.

The largest cities were located in the south of the country: Karl-Marx-Stadt (Meissen), Dresden and Leipzig. Every city in the GDR was famous for something. Rostock, located in northern Germany, is a modern port city. The world-famous porcelain was produced in Karl-Marx-Stadt (Meissen). In Jena, there was the famous Carl Zeiss factory, which produced lenses, including for telescopes, famous binoculars and microscopes were produced here. This city was also famous for its universities and scientific institutions. This is a city of students. Schiller and Goethe once lived in Weimar.

Karl-Marx-Stadt (1953-1990)

This city, founded in the 12th century in the land of Saxony, now bears its original name - Chemnitz. It is the center of textile engineering and textile industry, machine tool building and mechanical engineering. The city was completely destroyed by British and American bombers and rebuilt after the war. There are small islands of old buildings left.

Leipzig

The city of Leipzig, located in Saxony, before the unification of the GDR and the FRG was one of the largest cities in the German Democratic Republic. At 32 kilometers from it is another large city in Germany - Halle, which is located in the land of Saxony-Anhalt. Together, the two cities form an urban agglomeration with a population of 1,100,000 people.

The city has long been the cultural and scientific center of Central Germany. It is known for its universities as well as fairs. Leipzig is one of the most developed industrial regions in East Germany. Since the late Middle Ages, Leipzig has been a recognized center of printing and bookselling in Germany.

The greatest composer Johann Sebastian Bach lived and worked in this city, as well as the famous Felix Mendelssohn. The city is still famous for its musical traditions. Since ancient times, Leipzig has been a major trading center; until the last war, the famous fur trades were held here.

Dresden

The pearl among German cities is Dresden. The Germans themselves call it Florence on the Elbe, as there are many baroque architectural monuments here. The first mention of it was recorded in 1206. Dresden has always been the capital: since 1485 - the Margraviate of Meissen, since 1547 - the Electorate of Saxony.

It is located on the Elbe River. The border with the Czech Republic passes 40 kilometers from it. It is the administrative center of Saxony. Its population is about 600,000 inhabitants.

The city suffered greatly from the bombing of US and British aircraft. Up to 30,000 residents and refugees perished, most of them elderly, women and children. During the bombardment, the castle-residence, the Zwinger complex, and the Semperoper were badly destroyed. Almost the entire historical center lay in ruins.

In order to restore architectural monuments, after the war, all the surviving parts of the buildings were dismantled, rewritten, numbered and taken out of the city. Everything that could not be restored was cleared away.

The old city was a flat area on which most of the monuments were gradually restored. The government of the GDR came up with a proposal to revive the old city, which lasted almost forty years. For residents, new quarters and avenues were built around the old city.

Coat of arms of the GDR

Like any country, the GDR had its own coat of arms, described in Chapter 1 of the constitution. The coat of arms of the German Democratic Republic consisted of a golden hammer superimposed on each other, embodying the working class, and a compass, personifying the intelligentsia. They were surrounded by a golden wreath of wheat, representing the peasantry, intertwined with ribbons of the national flag.

Flag of the GDR

The flag of the German Democratic Republic was an elongated panel consisting of four equal width stripes painted in the national colors of Germany: black, red and gold. In the middle of the flag was the coat of arms of the GDR, which distinguished it from the flag of the FRG.

Prerequisites for the formation of the GDR

The history of the GDR covers a very short period of time, but it is still being studied with great attention by German scientists. The country was in strict isolation from the FRG and the entire Western world. After the surrender of Germany in May 1945, there were occupation zones, there were four of them, since the former state ceased to exist. All power in the country, with all management functions, formally passed to the military administrations.

The transitional period was complicated by the fact that Germany, especially its eastern part, where the German resistance was desperate, lay in ruins. The barbaric bombardments of the British and American aircraft aimed to intimidate the civilian population of the cities that were liberated by the Soviet army, to turn them into a heap of ruins.

In addition, there was no agreement between the former allies regarding the vision of the future of the country, and this is what subsequently led to the creation of two countries - the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic.

Basic Principles for the Reconstruction of Germany

Even at the Yalta Conference, the basic principles for the restoration of Germany were considered, which were later fully agreed upon and approved at the conference in Potsdam by the victorious countries: the USSR, Great Britain and the USA. They were also approved by the countries that participated in the war against Germany, in particular France, and contained the following provisions:

• Complete destruction of the totalitarian state.
• Complete ban on the NSDAP and all organizations associated with it.
• The complete liquidation of the punitive organizations of the Reich, such as the SA, SS, SD services, as they were recognized as criminal.
• The army was completely liquidated.
• Racial and political laws were abolished.
• Gradual and consistent implementation of denazification, demilitarization and democratization.

The decision of the German question, which included a peace treaty, was entrusted to the Council of Ministers of the victorious countries. On June 5, 1945, the victorious states promulgated the Declaration of the Defeat of Germany, according to which the country was divided into four occupation zones controlled by the administrations of Great Britain (the largest zone), the USSR, the USA and France. The capital of Germany, Berlin, was also divided into zones. The decision of all issues was entrusted to the Control Council, it included representatives of the victorious countries.

Party of Germany

In Germany, in order to restore statehood, the formation of new political parties that would be democratic in nature was allowed. In the eastern sector, emphasis was placed on the revival of the Communist and Social Democratic Party of Germany, which soon merged into the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (1946). Its goal was to build a socialist state. It was the ruling party in the German Democratic Republic.

In the western sectors, the CDU (Christian Democratic Union) party formed in June 1945 became the main political force. In 1946, the CSU (Christian-Social Union) was formed in Bavaria according to this principle. Their main principle is a democratic republic based on market economy on the rights of private property.

Political confrontations on the issue of the post-war structure of Germany between the USSR and the rest of the coalition countries were so serious that their further aggravation would lead either to a split of the state or to a new war.

Formation of the German Democratic Republic

In December 1946, Great Britain and the United States, ignoring numerous proposals from the USSR, announced the merger of their two zones. She was abbreviated as "Bizonia". This was preceded by the refusal of the Soviet administration to supply agricultural products to the western zones. In response to this, transit shipments of equipment exported from factories and plants in East Germany and located in the Ruhr region to the USSR zone were stopped.

At the beginning of April 1949, France also joined the Bizonia, as a result of which Trizonia was formed, from which the Federal Republic of Germany was subsequently formed. Thus, the Western powers, having entered into an agreement with the big German bourgeoisie, created a new state. In response to this, at the end of 1949, the German Democratic Republic was created. Berlin, or rather its Soviet zone, became its center and capital.

The People's Council was temporarily reorganized into the People's Chamber, which adopted the Constitution of the GDR, which passed a nationwide discussion. 09/11/1949 the first president of the GDR was elected. It was the legendary Wilhelm Pick. At the same time, the government of the GDR was temporarily created, headed by O. Grotewohl. The military administration of the USSR transferred all functions of governing the country to the government of the GDR.

The Soviet Union did not want the division of Germany. They were repeatedly made proposals for the unification and development of the country in accordance with the Potsdam decisions, but they were regularly rejected by Great Britain and the United States. Even after the division of Germany into two countries, Stalin made proposals for the unification of the GDR and the FRG, provided that the decisions of the Potsdam Conference were observed and that Germany was not drawn into any political and military blocs. But the Western states refused to do so, ignoring Potsdam's decisions.

The political system of the GDR

The form of government of the country was based on the principle of people's democracy, in which a bicameral parliament operated. The state system of the country was considered to be bourgeois-democratic, in which socialist transformations took place. The German Democratic Republic included the lands of the former Germany of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

The lower (people's) chamber was elected by universal secret ballot. The upper house was called the Land Chamber, the executive body was the government, which was composed of the prime minister and ministers. It was formed by appointment, which was carried out by the largest faction of the People's Chamber.

The administrative-territorial division consisted of lands, consisting of districts, divided into communities. The functions of the legislature were carried out by the Landtags, the executive bodies were the governments of the lands.

The People's Chamber - the highest body of the state - consisted of 500 deputies, who were elected by the people by secret ballot for a period of 4 years. It was represented by all parties and public organizations. The People's Chamber, acting on the basis of laws, made the most important decisions on the development of the country, dealt with relations between organizations, observing the rules for cooperation between citizens, state organizations and associations; adopted the main law - the Constitution and other laws of the country.

Economy of the GDR

After the partition of Germany, the economic situation of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) was very difficult. This part of Germany was very badly destroyed. The equipment of plants and factories was taken to the western sectors of Germany. The GDR was simply cut off from the historical raw material bases, most of which were in the FRG. There was a shortage of such natural resources as ore and coal. There were few specialists: engineers, executives who left for the FRG, frightened by the propaganda about the cruel reprisal of Russians.

With the help of the Union and other countries of the commonwealth, the economy of the GDR gradually began to gain momentum. Businesses were restored. It was believed that centralized leadership and a planned economy served as a deterrent to the development of the economy. It should be taken into account that the restoration of the country took place in isolation from the western part of Germany, in an atmosphere of tough confrontation between the two countries, open provocations.

Historically, the eastern regions of Germany were mostly agricultural, and in its western part, rich in coal and deposits of metal ores, heavy industry, metallurgy and engineering were concentrated.

Without the financial and material assistance of the Soviet Union, it would have been impossible to achieve an early restoration of industry. For the losses suffered by the USSR during the war years, the GDR paid him reparation payments. Since 1950, their volume has been halved, and in 1954 the USSR refused to receive them.

Foreign policy situation

The construction of the Berlin Wall by the German Democratic Republic became a symbol of the intransigence of the two blocs. The eastern and western blocs of Germany were building up their military forces, provocations from the western bloc became more frequent. It came to open sabotage and arson. The propaganda machine worked at full power, using economic and political difficulties. Germany, like many Western European countries, did not recognize the GDR. The peak of the aggravation of relations occurred in the early 1960s.

The so-called "German crisis" also arose thanks to West Berlin, which, legally being the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany, was located in the very center of the GDR. The border between the two zones was conditional. As a result of the confrontation between NATO blocs and the Warsaw bloc countries, the SED Politburo decides to build a border around West Berlin, which was a reinforced concrete wall 106 km long and 3.6 m high and a metal mesh fence 66 km long. She stood from August 1961 until November 1989.

After the merger of the GDR and the FRG, the wall was demolished, only a small section remained, which became the Berlin Wall memorial. In October 1990, the GDR became part of the FRG. The history of the German Democratic Republic, which existed for 41 years, is intensively studied and researched by scientists of modern Germany.

Despite the propaganda discrediting of this country, scientists are well aware that it gave Western Germany a lot. In a number of parameters, she surpassed her Western brother. Yes, the joy of reunification was genuine for the Germans, but it is not worth belittling the importance of the GDR, one of the most developed countries in Europe, and many in modern Germany understand this very well.

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