Division of Germany, Bizonia and developments in the Soviet Zone

Division of Germany

After the war, Allied nations were cautious on how to punish Germany for their acts which had violated international peace agreements. The Yalta and Potsdam Conferences both resulted in agreements which were later defied by the Soviet Union. Germany was then divided under the Allied occupation. Germany and Austria would be divided into four zones under Russia, Britain, France and the US. Berlin had special arrangements and would be controlled by all the Allies.

In May 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany was established with the occupation of the US, UK and France, which became known as West Germany. After a few months, the German Democratic Republic, known as East Germany, was founded by the Soviet Union. When the Cold War broke out between the US and USSR, divided Germany was at the centre, which created different experiences for people from the two German states.

Bizonia and the Soviet Zone

Bizonia or Bizone was the combination of British and American occupation of German zones following the end of WWII. It became Trizone when the French agreed to merge its zone in August 1948. By 1949, it became the Federal Republic of Germany, commonly known as West Germany.

On 1 January 1947, the American and British occupied zones of Germany were united, creating the Bizone. The Bizone included the Länder of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Bremen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse, Bavaria and Württemberg-Baden, the home of about 39 million people. The main aim for the American-British fusion was to revive and advance the economy of northwestern, western and southern Germany. This economic unification later led to division of Germany into an East and a West.

On 29 May 1947, an agreement was signed by the American and British military governments in occupied Germany which created the Economic Council for the Bizone.

Map of Bizonia

In the same year, occupying powers in the West approved the formation of Länder through a democratic election of regional assemblies. The central institution of Bizonia was located in the city of Frankfurt am Main. The political field was dominated by Social Democrats and Christian Democrats. In the spring of 1948, the Western powers decided to accept the Marshall Plan, an American economic aid initially instituted in western Europe.

Marshall Plan

In mid-1947, most countries in western Europe received financial support from the US through the Marshall Plan. It was spearheaded by US Secretary of State, George Marshall, and it made funds available to countries in western Europe to help rebuild their economy. US President Harry S. Truman believed that European countries would be at less risk of Communism if they were able to rebuild their economies quickly.

About $1.4 billion of the Marshall Plan was primarily used for investment. The aid was simultaneously used in West Germany along with the new Deutsche Mark.

The aid was offered to all countries in Europe but most in the Eastern bloc, including Czechoslovakia, were banned by Stalin from receiving funds.

Image of US Secretary of State George Marshall

Known as the Ostzone, the Soviet-occupied zone of Germany was administered by the Soviet Military Administration or SMAD. In 1949, the territory was turned into the German Democratic Republic (GDR), commonly known as East Germany. The zone was primarily composed of central Prussia, which was later divided into the Länder of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia.

Under the inter-Allied agreements, the Soviet-occupied zone, which covered much of Germany's agricultural land, agreed to supply the rest of Germany with foodstuffs as part of reparations. However, when the Soviets failed to deliver the expected requisite food, the Americans and the British decided to support and revive the German economy for them to be able to feed the local population.

This move by the Western powers was disliked by Joseph Stalin, leader of the USSR. In retaliation, the Soviets insisted on claiming reparations from their zones in 1946, which was rejected.

In 1945, occupation authorities allowed the revival of political parties in preparation for the elections of local and regional representative assemblies as agreed at Potsdam. In 1946, the Soviet authorities forced the merger of the Social Democratic Party and the Communist Party, which resulted in the Socialist Unity Party or SED. This merger was denounced by Social Democrats in the Western zones. Soon after the election, the SED was dominated by Communists, following the purging of SDP leaders. When the Americans and British realised that the USSR would not permit free multiparty elections in Germany, they formed the Bizonia in 1947.

Image of Soviet soldiers in Berlin, May 1945

Stalin began breaking agreements made at Yalta because he believed that both British PM Clement Attlee and US President Harry Truman were weaker leaders. Armed with his ambition to spread Communism, Stalin broke the Declaration of Liberated Europe and forced the King of Romania to adopt a Communist government.

The Deutsche Mark and the Berlin Blockade

Following the institution of the Marshall Plan in occupied Western zones, the American, British and French authorities introduced a currency reform. The badly inflated Reichsmark was replaced by the Deutsche Mark or DM. This action immediately opened occupied Western zones to goods that were previously unavailable in the market due to inflation. In response to this reform, the Soviets angrily boycotted the Allied Control Council in Berlin. In June 1948, Stalin ordered the blocking of land routes going to Western zones, particularly Berlin. Canals, railways and highways were sealed and guarded by the Red Army.

The Deutsche Mark was officially introduced by Ludwig Erhard on 20 June 1948. At a rate of DM 1 = RM 1 for wages and payment of rent, the old Reichsmark and Rentenmark were exchanged. While private non-bank credits were exchanged at a rate of DM 1 = RM 10. In addition to combatting hyperinflation, the introduction of a new currency also gave way to the following:

• Halting the expansion of black market trade
• About 90% of government and private debt was wiped out
• Labour unions agreed to accept a 15% wage increase despite the 25% increase in prices of goods
• German exports were revived

The Berlin Blockade lasted for 323 days and became one of the major crises during the Cold War. The Soviet Union blocked Allied access to West Berlin, which resulted in shortages of commodities including food, medicine and fuel. In order to avoid another war, the Western powers responded through an airlift.

A United States cargo aeroplane as it flies over the Western section of Berlin

The Allies made 278,000 flights carrying about 2.3 tons of supplies worth $200 million.

Stalin underestimated the resources of the Allies and believed that an airlift was impossible. They set up three air corridors in Berlin but did not shoot any planes down in the time period, fearing that it would lead to another war. The Berlin Blockade was the first serious conflict encountered by the leaders of the Grand Alliance.

Beginning of the Cold War

Historians believed that the differing ideologies between the Allies sparked post war tensions. The US and Great Britain in particular believed in democracy and capitalism to revive German politics and economy, while the USSR pushed for the proliferation of Communism in Europe. The outcomes of the conferences held in Yalta and Potsdam were violated by Stalin.

Communist governments, led by one political party, began to form in Eastern Europe between 1945 and 1947. This was the manifestation of Joseph Stalin's motives during the Yalta conference to have Eastern Europe (Eastern bloc) serve as buffer states against the capitalist West.

The Soviet expansion in Eastern Europe was portrayed as a threat throughout the West. In March 1946, in a publicised speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, Winston Churchill stated that an 'Iron Curtain' had descended across the European continent. Stalin interpreted this as a war cry but Truman countered it through US policies.

The 'Iron Curtain' as depicted by the black line.

Glossary of Terms

RATIONING

A policy employed by the Nazi regime to answer shortages in food, fuel and clothing which allowed a person to have a fixed amount of commodities.

TOTAL WAR

Mobilisation of the whole of society and the economy for war efforts, including armament production.

BLITZKRIEG

A military tactic of both air and tank attacks used by German troops against France and Great Britain.

FINAL SOLUTION

A Nazi policy of exterminating the Jewish population in Europe.

HOLOCAUST

The systematic execution operated by the Nazis, which killed millions of minorities, including Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, people with disabilities, Poles, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc.

CAPITALISM

An economic ideology that promotes the significance of private property and free market.