From Division to De-Nazification: the History of East and West Germany
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From Division to De-Nazification: The History of East and West Germany Roland Boer 2012 Division How and why were the two Germanies divided after the Second World War? Was it because of Stalin’s a ressive !olicy to !ut under the Soviet yo"e as much of #urope as !ossible? Was it a defensive act on the !art of the occu!yin !owers in western Germany a ainst communist world domination$ all of which was embodied in the %Berlin blockade’ of 1&'()'&? *ot +uite. -et us o back to the .otsdam and /alta conferences$ where Stalin$ 0hurchill and Roosevelt had a reed to three "ey items1 1. 2he four Ds: disarmament, demilitarisation, dena4i5ication and democratisation of Germany, 2. Re!arations$ vital for 7SSR’s recovery, 3. German unity, 9nd Stalin had even a reed to three occu!ation 4ones, with each symbolically re!resented in Berlin, des!ite it bein dee! in the Soviet 4one. :How the ;rench ever mana ed to et a shoe in was beyond many, since they had embraced the *a4is a little too enthusiastically,< 2his was des!ite the fact that the 7SSR had e=erted by far the major effort and lost the most in winnin the war, How did these three items fare after the end of the war? 1. The four Ds. @nly in the eastern$ Soviet sector was there any si ni5icant !ro ress on these items, 2he occu!yin forces in the western areas were too "een to rearm Germany, which already be an by the early 1&A0s, 2hey found %e=-’ *a4is willin !artici!ants in the anti)communist stru le$ and they fostered !liant overnments, @f course$ Stalin too favoured a overnment sym!athetic to the 7SSR’s concerns$ but he believed this would ha!!en throu h !opular roundswell, 2. Reparations. Soon enou h$ the occu!yin forces in the western 4ones rene ed on the earlier a reements. 2he last thin the 9n lo)9mericans wanted was for si ni5icant resources, technology and money oin to the 7SSR, so they stalled and blocked re!arations from the west of Germany, 3. Unity. Stalin favoured !olitical unity$ the 9n lo)9mericans did not – this is !erfectly clear from the increasin ly rancorous discussions over what was to be done with Germany. Whenever Stalin or Colotov or other Soviet re!resentatives !ushed for a uni56ed German overnment, the 9n lo)9mericans countered by ar uin that the economic situation had to be addressed 5irst. Dn other words$ they wanted to a=e re!arations and "ee! Germany divided. 1 Why? 2he 9mericans and British could see that communist !arties were becomin e=tremely !opular, not only in Germany but across #urope. ;or his !art, Stalin hoped that this %new democratic’ wave would continue in a united Germany and lead to a overnment favourably dis!osed to the 7SSR. Dn Carch 1&48, Stalin ur ed the east German communists to draft a constitution for the whole of Germany as a be innin !oint for discussion with western !oliticians, He was even !re!ared for a non)socialist overnment as lon as it was %democratic and !eace-lovin ’. /et he was realistic enou h to see that the 9mericans in !articular would not a ree since it would threaten their desire to control western #urope. @n that !oint he was correct: the 9n lo)9mericans were certainly not interested in such a united Germany, for then it would ris" fallin out of their control. So they !referred a divided Germany, #vents unfolded. Dn Eune 1&48, the 7K, ;rance and 7S9 issued a communi+uG statin their intention to form a western German state. 9 few days later a new currency was introduced in the western 4ones, By the end of Eune, Stalin ordered restrictions on access to West Berlin. Des!ite all the western !ropa anda concernin the %Berlin bloc"ade’, it was not a bloc"ade. 9ir access was !ermitted the whole time, for the !ur!ose of su!!lies. Stalin’s reason for the restrictions was sim!le: he wanted to et the former allies back to the ne otiatin table, 9s soon as they a reed, the restrictions were lifted in Cay 1&'&, Des!ite clear Soviet desires for unity, the fours 3s and re!arations, the 9n lo)9mericans were sim!ly buyin time, By this time *92@ had already been formed. Dn Se!tember 1&'&, the ;ederal Re!ublic of Germany was declared and the 5irst formal meetin s of overnment held. 2he east had no option but to res!ond with its own state soon afterwards, De-Nazification, East and West @ne of the standard lines you hear out these days is that #ast Germany never went throu h a !roper !rocess of Hdena4i5icationH :Entnazifizierung<$ unli"e the ood !eople in the West. Dnstead, oes the narrative$ nearly all the e=-na4is in the east sim!ly joined the new communist overnment, which e=!lains the Htotalitarian re imeH, the dreaded Stasi and now the su!!osed bur eonin of neo-na4i rou!s in the east. 2his dodgy narrative indicates that the stru le of the two Germanies is far from over, 2o be in with$ it i nores a rather inconvenient fact: communism was and is im!lacably anti-fascist. 2he Soviet Red 9rmyHs victory over HitlerHs Germany :for which the western front was a diversionary tactic of limited success< was e=!licitly celebrated as a victory over fascism. 9s soon as the war over, virtually all the na4is in the east were arrested, banned from any involvement whatsoever and !ut in Hre)education cam!sH. 9nd in ood old Stalinist fashion$ a oodly number of them were ranted an early funeral, Ceanwhile in the western occu!ation 4ones$ the 9mericans made a show of dena4i5ication$ with a massive censorshi! !ro ram that s!ent most of its time censorin criticism of the occu!ation, 9t the same time$ the 9mericans shi!!ed out most of the 2hird ReichHs leadin nuclear scientists, Hintelli enceH officers and whatnot, in order to bolster their anti)communist stru le. *ot a few of them were awarded !resti ious 7S medals, 2he British and ;rench didnHt even bother with the show of dena4i5ication. 2hey wanted !eo!le to run the civil service and since a si ni5icant number of the intelli entsia and the civil 2 service had been na4is not lon before, they were sim!ly rea!!ointed. 2he British and ;rench made a few token arrests of a few elite members of the *a4i !arty, But even the 9mericans ave u! on their efforts by the early 1&A0s, under !ressure from 0hancellor Fonrad 9denauer. Dn one measure after another, HformerH *a4is were released from !risons and !ardoned. 2hese included those res!onsible for dra in !eo!le off to !rison, for shootin s, e=ecutions$ causin bodily in>ury and so on. 9bove all, Harticle 31H removed restrictions on !ersons Hincriminated' with the 2hird Reich$ since they had suffered so much since the end of the war. Dn an early e=am!le of anti) discrimination laws$ they were iven favoured treatment for overnment, educational, medical and many other !ositions. Why? 2he new enemy was communism and who better to hel! in the 56 ht a ainst communism than unreconstructed fascists, So maybe there was some truth in the #ast German decision to call the wall they built the Antifaschistischer Schutzwall, the 9nti);acist Security Wall, 8.