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German History since 1945
Ex - WW 2
bombers bring food
to blockaded
Berlin 1948
The German parliament in the Reichstag, Berlin.
The Potsdam Conference 1945, Germany will be divided.
Die Freie Deutsche Jugend - East German youth organisation
East Berlin - Trabbis & TV tower
East German
Ampelmännchen
East Berlin West Berlin
das Brandenburger Tor
die Berliner Mauer - the Wall was lower here than normal
Observation tower
No man’s land - ‘Death Strip’
Post War Germany
• After World War 2, America, Britain, France and the Soviet Union could not agree on how to govern Germany.
• The four countries argued over money and investment and this time of great tension between them was known as the Cold War.
3 western zones
Eastern Soviet zone
Berlin, also divided into 4 zones but in the centre of the Soviet zone
Two Germanies• Germany became two countries in
1949.
• The 3 Western Zones became West Germany - the Federal Republic of Germany - die Bundesrepublik Deutschland (BRD).
• The Soviet Zone in the East became the East Germany - the German Democratic Republic - die Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR).
• West Germany was a democracy similar to the UK.
• East Germany was a Communist country like the Soviet Union and other ‘Eastern Bloc’ countries
1949 - 1961•From 1949, two Germanies existed side by side, with no real border between them. People could cross freely.
•America invested billions of dollars in West Germany and the standard of living rose. Houses were built and people began to have cars and household goods such a TVs and washing machines. Salaries were higher than in the East.
•In the East, the Soviet Union was still taking money from Germany, to pay for war damage.•It was understandable, that hundreds of thousands of East Germans came to live in the West. East German refugees
• The plan to build a wall surrounding West Berlin and to close the border between East and West Germany was top secret. In fact, Walter Ulbricht, leader of East Germany, had said on June 15 1961 “No one has any intention of building a wall!”
The Berlin Wall
• At midnight on the night of 12th-13 August 1961, Soviet and East German commanders ordered their armies out of their barracks. Soldiers and border police stood armed with machine guns while labourers laid concrete blocks and barbed wire. Escapes were still possible, although dangerous.
The Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall: a Germany divided1969 - 1989
Total length of Wall circumference surrounding West Berlin 113km
Height 4mAverage thickness 20-30 cm
302 observation towers, 69 bunkers, 259 dog installations, 105 km of car blocking trenches, 128km electric contact/signal fencing
• After Hungary opened the border to Austria in August 1989, more than 13,000 East Germans escaped within 3 days. This was the biggest escape since the wall was built.
• There were many protests against the East German government. Eventually a new government took over and allowed free travel again from East to West.
• The wall was knocked down on the 9th of November 1989 and Germany was later officially reunited in October 1990.
Summer & Autumn 1989
People climbed on the Wall here. The Brandenburg gate was behind them.
Germany reunited!
The 9th November 2009. The 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall
The 3rd October 2010Germany celebrates its 20th anniversary
