- The establishment of the FRG (German Federal Republic) - GDR (German Democratic Republic) took place during the Cold War, which opposed the two victorious superpowers of the Second World War:the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
- Germany, at the end of the Second World War, was divided into four zones at the Potsdam conference (from July 17, 1945 to August 2, 1945). They are administered by the Allied powers:there is therefore the American zone, the British zone, the French zone and the Soviet zone. The capital, Berlin, is also divided.
- In 1947, George Marshall, Secretary of State, announced a far-reaching economic and social aid plan for the reconstruction of Europe:it was called the Marshall Plan, European Recovery Program.
October 7, 1949 - October 3, 1990
Characters
Konrad Adenauer
Walter Ulbricht
Ludwig Erhard
Willy Brandt
Helmut Schmidt
Erich Honecker
Helmut Kohl
Procedure
In December 1946, the Americans and the British decided to merge their zones of occupation, France joined them in 1948. This unified territory was to benefit from a monetary reform, within the framework of the Marshall plan. He then took the German mark as his currency, also introduced in West Berlin. This "trizone" is considered by Stalin as a violation of treaties. In response, the Soviets set up the blockade of Berlin, cutting land links between West Berlin and West Germany:for 11 months, the city was supplied by air, until the lifting of the blockade in 1949.
On May 23, 1949, the text establishing the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) was promulgated, with the city of Bonn as its capital. On October 7, 1949, the Democratic Republic of Germany (GDR) was created, with East Berlin as its capital. Germany was therefore divided in two, until its reunification more than forty years later.
Consequences
- The prosperity of West Germany is rapid. Benefiting from the aid of the Marshall Plan and thanks to the establishment of the new currency, the FRG entered a period of strong economic growth.
- Conversely, the GDR experienced economic difficulties that led to protest mobilizations (including the East Berlin uprising in 1953, for example) or significant migration to the FRG. The direct consequence is the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961.
- From the 1960s, the Germans freed themselves from the influences of the two blocs to manage the division of the country between them. The coming to power in 1969 of Willy Brandt in the FRG will allow an opening towards the East (towards Europe and the GDR):this policy is called Ostpolitik . On December 21, 1972, the two Germanys signed a treaty in which they recognized each other.
- The collapse of communism and the demolition of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 led to German reunification on October 3, 1990.
- The events unfolding during the Cold War in Germany and Berlin bear witness to the evolution of the bipolarization of the world.