FRG summary
Creation of the FRG
- Potsdam July 1945 – demilitarisation, de-Nazification, de-centralisation, democratisation
- Trizonia created April 1949
- conditions facing post-war Germany = ¾ of industry shut down, ½ of schools destroyed
- 4.5 million returning soldiers and people from Nazi labour camps or concentration camps
- 20th June 1948 = DM new currency in all Western sectors
- Trizonia economy increased by 30% in 1948
Political Impact
- 1st Sep 1948 – parliamentary council established idea of FRG – came into effect 23 rd May 1949
- political parties needed 5% of vote to be allowed into parliament
- all over 18 could vote
- lower chamber – Bundestag – vote for party, votes sorted by PR, elected every 4 years
- upper chamber – individual states power over regional issues and at national level represented in Upper Chamber
- first elections 14th Aug 1949 – first chancellor = Adenauer – CDU/CSU 31%
- CDU and CSU merged in 1949
- 1947 = liberal groups formed Free Democratic Party (FDP)
- SPD and KPD reformed
De-Nazification
- Nuremberg Trials – 18th Oct 1945 – 22 leading Nazis = 12 deaths, 7 imprisoned and 3 acquitted
- May 1946 banned Nazi schoolbooks
- Questionnaires to determine the commitment to Nazis
- control of newspapers, books etc
- removal of Nazi symbols and signs
- many believed allies should be punished – Allies dropped the Hiroshima
- Year Zero – desire to move on
- 1947 = 85% of school teachers in Bavaria lost jobs with de-Nazification were back at work
- 1600 ex-Nazis scientists and doctors avoided prosecution by agreeing to work for USA
- young Germans annoyed at the idea of Year Zero and sloppy approach to de-Nazification
- Adenauer – believer in Year Zero – denazification stopped in 1949 and many ex-Nazis re-employed
Consolidation under Adenauer and Erhard
- 1951 Reinstatement Act allowed Nazis to join the civil service
- 1952/56 – 2 extremist parties declared illegal – SRP and KPD
- 1950 Construction Law – grants provided to Lander and cities to encourage large scale building projects and reduce
need for temporary accommodation – addressed devastation of war and 4 million dwellings by 1957
- 1952 Equalisation of Burdens Act – compensation to victims of wartime bombing, created negativity for rich, by 1938 =
DM126 billion raised by Burdens
- 1949 Collective Bargaining Law – participation of workers in decision making, reduces tensions with unions and
allowed govt to focus on economic issues, fewer strikes aid political stability
- 1955 joins NATO – accepted in wider community, firmly blinded to western alliance,
- Hallstein Doctrine - FRG speaks for Germany – no chance for reunion
Economic Recovery 1945-55
Creation of the FRG
- Potsdam July 1945 – demilitarisation, de-Nazification, de-centralisation, democratisation
- Trizonia created April 1949
- conditions facing post-war Germany = ¾ of industry shut down, ½ of schools destroyed
- 4.5 million returning soldiers and people from Nazi labour camps or concentration camps
- 20th June 1948 = DM new currency in all Western sectors
- Trizonia economy increased by 30% in 1948
Political Impact
- 1st Sep 1948 – parliamentary council established idea of FRG – came into effect 23 rd May 1949
- political parties needed 5% of vote to be allowed into parliament
- all over 18 could vote
- lower chamber – Bundestag – vote for party, votes sorted by PR, elected every 4 years
- upper chamber – individual states power over regional issues and at national level represented in Upper Chamber
- first elections 14th Aug 1949 – first chancellor = Adenauer – CDU/CSU 31%
- CDU and CSU merged in 1949
- 1947 = liberal groups formed Free Democratic Party (FDP)
- SPD and KPD reformed
De-Nazification
- Nuremberg Trials – 18th Oct 1945 – 22 leading Nazis = 12 deaths, 7 imprisoned and 3 acquitted
- May 1946 banned Nazi schoolbooks
- Questionnaires to determine the commitment to Nazis
- control of newspapers, books etc
- removal of Nazi symbols and signs
- many believed allies should be punished – Allies dropped the Hiroshima
- Year Zero – desire to move on
- 1947 = 85% of school teachers in Bavaria lost jobs with de-Nazification were back at work
- 1600 ex-Nazis scientists and doctors avoided prosecution by agreeing to work for USA
- young Germans annoyed at the idea of Year Zero and sloppy approach to de-Nazification
- Adenauer – believer in Year Zero – denazification stopped in 1949 and many ex-Nazis re-employed
Consolidation under Adenauer and Erhard
- 1951 Reinstatement Act allowed Nazis to join the civil service
- 1952/56 – 2 extremist parties declared illegal – SRP and KPD
- 1950 Construction Law – grants provided to Lander and cities to encourage large scale building projects and reduce
need for temporary accommodation – addressed devastation of war and 4 million dwellings by 1957
- 1952 Equalisation of Burdens Act – compensation to victims of wartime bombing, created negativity for rich, by 1938 =
DM126 billion raised by Burdens
- 1949 Collective Bargaining Law – participation of workers in decision making, reduces tensions with unions and
allowed govt to focus on economic issues, fewer strikes aid political stability
- 1955 joins NATO – accepted in wider community, firmly blinded to western alliance,
- Hallstein Doctrine - FRG speaks for Germany – no chance for reunion
Economic Recovery 1945-55
