Summary of Germany as a Source of Tension

The two Germanys

• Germany became two separate political spheres by 1949, divided by the Western and Eastern powers.

Economic differences between West Germany and East Germany

• West Germany had a larger industrial output, larger population, and was larger geographically.
• West Germany received Marshall aid and underwent an 'economic miracle' and had good living standards.
• East Germany's leader was Walter Ulbricht.
  • He adopted a forced collectivisation of farms and of socialisation.
  • This was disastrous for the economy.

Political differences between West Germany and East Germany

• West Germany had democracy.
• East Germany had no free elections from 1946 onwards and was Stalinist and authoritarian.
• East Germany not only protested but fled to the Wast. Some where contained.
• As a result, there were no efforts by either side to unite Germany.
• Khrushchev described Berlin as 'a fishbone in East Germany's gullet.'

Why did the Berlin Crisis develop?

Khrushchev and the crisis of 1958

• West Berlin had political freedom and an open lifestyle which encouraged East Germans to migrate, leaving the hardship of the East, via Berlin.
• It was mainly young and skilled East Germans that escaped, one-sixth of the German population.
• The West used Berlin as propaganda and as an espionage hotspot, inside Eastern territory.
• 1956 Khrushchev proposed a peace treaty.
• 27 November 1957, Khrushchev demanded Berlin be demilitarised and Western troops withdrawal.
• Clever diplomacy: If the West did not decide in six months he would surrender access routes to Western sectors to the GDR.