West And East Germany Essay

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West Germany, a common name of a former republic of central Europe, bordered on the north by the North Sea. West Germany had an area of 248,577 sq. km (95,976 sq. miles). It was established officially as the Federal Republic of Germany on May 23, 1949, as one of two successor states East Germany (officially the German Democratic Republic, or GDR) being the other to the nation of Germany after its defeat in World War II (1939-1945). West Germany ceased to exist in 1990 when it merged with East Germany into a single nation known as Germany (officially called the Federal Republic of Germany).

When World War II ended in 1945, leaders from the United States, Great Britain, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) met at the Potsdam Conference. They decided to temporarily divide Germany into four occupation zones French in the southwest, British in the northwest, American in the south, and Soviet in the east. The city of Berlin, located inside the Soviet zone, was also divided among the four powers. When the USSR began to establish Communist governments in Eastern Europe, the Allies alliance suffered a breakdown. With western powers opposed to Soviet expansion, the Cold War began and tensions in Germany increased. The Soviets increased the isolation of the zones of Germany and Berlin under their control, distancing these zones from the democratic development being encouraged by the Western powers in the rest of Germany. Unable to agree with the Western powers on a policy for Germany, the Soviets set up a Communist government in the eastern part of Germany (East Germany). The United States, France, and Great Britain supported the free market democracy in the west (West Germany).

West Germany included the states of Baden-W rttemberg, Bavaria, Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, and Schleswig-Holstein. Bonn, an old University City on the Rhine River, served as the West German capital and continues to host much of the government of the new Germany. The official capital of Germany, Berlin, is scheduled to take over some of the federal government functions by the year 2000. At the time of reunification in 1990 West Germany had about 62 million inhabitants.

From 1949 to 1963 the Christian Democratic Union dominated the government of West Germany. Its leader, Konrad Adenauer, was elected the republic's chancellor in 1949. As West Germany's first leader, Adenauer sought to transform the country from a postwar occupied zone to an independent nation accepted as an equal by other countries. The goal of independence became more attainable after the United States, Great Britain, and France recognized that Western Europe could not withstand Soviet pressure without the aid of a strong West Germany. Accordingly, military occupation of West Germany was ended with the Bonn Convention of 1952.

In 1955 West Germany was internationally recognized as an independent nation. Allowed to rearm, it joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which had been established in 1949 for the defense of Europe. West Germany also cooperated with the European Coal and Steel Community, the European Atomic Energy Community, and the Council of Europe. As partial reparation for war crimes and out of gratitude for postwar aid from the United States, West Germany assumed aid obligations to Israel and developing nations. Although not a member...

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