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Germany
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The French join the American and British zones of administration in Germany and form a joined Western zone.
The German currency is abolished in the Western zone and the deutsche mark is established in its place.
The Soviet Union tries to force the Western powers out of Berlin by imposing blockades on all highways, river and rail traffic into Western-controlled Berlin.
In the first direct military confrontation between the Soviet Union and the Western powers, the West responds to the
Berlin Blockade
by airlifting supplies to West Berlin. They also counter-blockading East Germany. The Soviet blockade ends after 321 days, in May 1949.
The Federal Republic of Germany, or West Germany, is established in the Western zone. The Western powers grant the new state internal self-government. A new capital is established in Bonn.
The German Democratic Republic, or East Germany, is established in the Soviet zone by the ruling party - the Socialist Unity Party (SED).
Read a few chapters from the book
Ten years of the German Democratic Republic
published in 1959 by the government of the GDR.
Pictures of
East Germany.
The Western powers and West Germany sign the Bonn Convention. This officially ends military occupation in Germany. However Western troops still remain in Germany as allies.
East Germany becomes a member of the Warsaw Treaty Organization.
Read the text of the
Warsaw Pact.
West Germany is granted full independence and membership in the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
defense system.
East Germany is operated under a strict Stalinist regime. This causes many dissatisfied East Germans to cross the border into West Germany. To prevent East Germans from leaving, the Communist government builds a barrier around West Berlin. Within a year the wire fence is replaced by a stone wall known as the Berlin Wall.
More information on the Berlin Wall.
Both East and West Germany are admitted to the United Nations.
Erich Honecker, the first secretary of the ruling party in East Germany, resigns. This comes after a series of antigovernment demonstrations led by the newly formed independent group - New Forum. Honecker is taken over by Egon Krenz, who legalises and begins dialogue with New Forum.
The entire membership of the council of ministers in East Germany resign. This follows after large-scale demonstrations in East Berlin. The new government promises to introduce political and economic reforms, and to hold free elections in 1990.
The wall that divided East and West Germany falls down. Hundreds of thousands of East Germans stream into West Berlin to visit without restrictions. The West German government provides aid to the people in East Germany.
The two Germanies reunify into one nation, the Federal Republic of Germany.
More information on the reunification of Germany from CNN.
Read the text of the speech by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder on the Tenth Anniversary of German Unification, October 3, 2000
The first elections of a united Germany, since 1933, is held. The CDU (Christian Democratic Party) wins popular support. On the 20th of June, 1991, the new government, led by Helmut Kohl names Berlin the new capital of Germany. The last Soviet troops leave Berlin in 1994.
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