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World War II over
The German surrender is ratified in Berlin and closes the European part of WWII. -
Period: to
Germany post WWII
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Germany gets divided
Germany is divided into four occupation zones for England, USA, USSR, and France.The division was intended to help Germany recover while watching to ensure they didn't rise up again. -
Marshall Plan is established
This plan was intended to help all European countries would accepted it. The Soviet and its allies didn't accept it, but W. Germany did. It gave economic support to the devastated European coutries. -
Beginning of the Berlin Blockade
The Soviets tried to take control of all of Berlin by blocking the Western train routes into the city. The West responded with the Berlin Airlift which brought food, fuel, and supplies into West Berlin on aircrafts. -
Price controls and rationing eliminated
Price controls and rationing system was abolished by Ludwig Erhard in order to improve the economy. -
Berlin Blockade and Airlift ends
The Soviets lifted their blockade of the railways after being embarassed by the Berlin Airlift. They had refused to believe it would help, but it ended up bringing in more than the trains. The blockade was lifted and two German states were created. -
W. Germany is created - the Federal Republic of Germany
Was made up of the areas previously under English, French, and American control. It included W. Berlin. It is officially declared sovereign in 1955, but was free of control from other countries in 1949 unlike E. Germany. -
Konrad Adenauer becomes chancellor of W.Germany
Germany is split into two countries and Adenauer takes over the W. German government. -
Ludwig Erhard is Minister of Finance in W. Germany
Erhard is appointed the minister of finance by Konrad Adenauer. He puts his recovery plan into action.
Recovery plan is often called the "economic miracle" -
E. Germany is created - the German Democratic Republic
Was made up of the Soviet controlled portion of Germany and Berlin. It remained under Soviet control. -
W. Germany joins NATO
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E. Germany joins Warsaw Pact
The Soviet Union creates the Warsaw Pact in response to W. Germany being added to NATO. E. Germany was automatically included as part of the Soviet control of Eastern Europe. -
EEC/Common Market created
France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg signed a treaty establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) a.k.a. the Common Market. The EEC was a major step in Europe's movement toward economic and political union. This later becomes the groundwork for the European Union -
Berlin Wall is constructed
E. Germany builds a barrier through the middle of Berlin to keep the W. German part confined. The Soviets used the excuse that they believed that W. Germany hadn't been fully de-Nazified in order to justify their actions. The wall included a no-man's-land between the two sides that made it impossible to cross from one side to the other. The wall often separated familes, friends, and workers from their jobs. It resulted in protest on both sides and from the governments of western Europe. -
Ludwig Erhard becomes chancellor of W. Germany
Erhard becomes chancellor of Germany after Adenauer retires. He was popular after coming up with and implementing the plan to save the German economy -
Kurt Georg Kiesinger becomes chancellor of W. Germany
Kiesinger takes over for Erhard. He was part of the CDU party. He led the republic's first Grand Coalition -
Willy Brandt becomes chancellor of W. Germany
Willy Brandt of the Social Democrat party wins election and states he is looking to better relations with E. Germany and the Soviets. He resigned in 1974 and was succeeded by Helmut Schmidt who continued his political plan. -
Germany finishes repaying Marshall Plan aid
Germany was required to repay $1.1 billion of the aid it received from the Marshall Plan -
Helmut Schmidt becomes chancellor of W. Germany
He took over for Brandt after Brandt stepped down mid-term. -
Helmut Kohl becomes chancellor of W. Germany
Kohl was from the Christian Democratic party. He would lead Germany to reunification in 1990. -
Berlin Wall begins to come down
Amid confusion, people began crossing from E. German Berlin into W. German Berlin after the Soviet government announced that visiting West Berlin would be allowed. The wall was destroyed/.torn down by the end of 1990. -
German reunification
West Germany and East Germany are re-united into one country. The new government is democratic. -
Berlin named the new capital
Parliament names Berlin the new capital of Germany
