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The history of Germany from 1945 to 1990 comprises the period following World War II. The period began with the Berlin Declaration, marking the abolition of the German Reich and Allied-occupied period in Germany on 5 June 1945, and ended with the German reunification on 3 October 1990.
- Four Allies, Four Occupation Zones
- Rifts Between Soviet and Other Occupied Zones
- Tensions Lead to The Berlin Blockade
- Berlin Airlift Breaks Blockade
In July of 1945, the “Big Three” met again at the Potsdam Conference. At Yalta, the Allies had agreed to a broad framework that included the demilitarization, democratization and denazification of Germany. With the war officially over, it was time to initiate a “nuts and bolts” action plan for an Allied occupation of Germany. Instead of administeri...
From the start, the Soviets ran their occupation zone very differently than the British, French and Americans. “The Soviet army and Russian civilians had suffered terribly at the hands of the Nazis during the war,” says Boghardt. “So when it came to carrying out the joint directive of denazification, for example, they not only arrested Nazi officia...
In 1947, Great Britain and the United States decided to merge their two occupation zones in order to foster more economic cooperation between the regions. The large new territory was called “Bizonia” referring to the two zones that made up its borders. Then the western Allies took things a step further by stepping up economic aid to Bizonia and the...
The Americans, British and French responded with the Berlin Airlift, a months-long air campaign to drop food and fuel into West Berlin that ultimately broke the Soviet blockade in 1949. Later that same year, France officially merged its occupied territory with Bizonia, creating the Federal Republic of Germany, or what became known as West Germany. ...
- Dave Roos
- 3 min
The first date is when Germany was recognized as a region, on February 2nd, 962 AD. The second date is January 18th, 1871 when Germany became a unified state. Finally, October 3rd, 1990 was when East Germany and West Germany were united to form the present Federal Republic of Germany.
Germany spent the entirety of the Cold War era divided into the NATO-aligned West Germany and Warsaw Pact-aligned East Germany. Germans also fled from Communist areas into West Germany, which experienced rapid economic expansion , and became the dominant economy in Western Europe.
Germany in 1939 before the start of World War II. On 13 March 1939, Nazi armies entered Prague and proceeded to occupy the remainder of Bohemia and Moravia, which was transformed into a protectorate of the Reich. The eastern half of the country, Slovakia, became a separate pro-Nazi state, the Slovak Republic.
Jul 3, 2024 · World War II is appropriately called “Hitler’s war.” Germany was so extraordinarily successful in the first two years that Hitler came close to realizing his aim of establishing hegemony in Europe. But his triumphs were not part of a strategic conception that secured victory in the long run.
West Germany, or the Federal Republic of Germany, was officially established in May 1949. East Germany, or the German Democratic Republic, was established in October 1949. Under their occupying governments, the two Germanys followed very different paths.