GDR and FRG: deciphering abbreviations. Formation and unification of the FRG and the GDR

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:55

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 deciphering of the names of the states is interesting in itself and serves as a good illustration of their different social vectors.

Post-war 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 - an elective body authorized to make economic and financial decisions.

Background for the split

First of all, these decisions concerned the implementation"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. In the future, 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 of 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, placing special 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 the Federal Republic of Germany. Thus, the proposals of the land self-government bodies were taken into account, and the republican principles of governing the country were identified.

The territorially 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 Western allies in the anti-Hitler coalition throughtheir governors exercised control over the observance of the rights and norms of the constitutional system, controlled its foreign policy, 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.

Establishment of the GDR

The process of creating a state was also 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 that took over the functions of the statecontrol. 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 Constitution of the socialist democratic state 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 of West Berlin was negotiated separately. For many years, the ancient capital of Germany 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 economicsystems. The "Marshall Plan" and the effective economic policy of Ludwig Erhrad made it possible to quickly raise the economy in West Germany. The large GDP growth was heralded as a German economic miracle. Guest workers arriving 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 background of the economic successes of Germany.

Settlement of relations between the GDR, Germany

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 GDR

In 1989, a powerful political movement "New Forum" 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 the state border without good reason. This decision was the reason for the fall of the Berlin Wall, which separated the German capital for many years.

Unification of Germany and East Germany

In 1990, the Christian Democratic Union came to power in the GDR, which immediately began to consult with the government of Germany 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 issue.

Unification of Germany and the GDR would be 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 andreformed 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 Federal Republic of Germany was secured by the adoption of the Constitutions of new subjects of state law.