The establishment of 2 German states in 1949

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The formation of the FRG

  • The FRG was set up in May 1949 under the Basic Law which set out a temporary West German constitution.
  • This was seen as a temporary arrangement until, which woukd be replaced by a constitution that would cover a united Germany.
  • The BAsic law put constitutional controls in place to prevent some of the things which happened during the Weimar government. These were: - The President could not remove the Chancellor.                                                                                             - Political parties were required to secure a minimum of 5% of the vote to enter either federal or state parliaments. This was to prevent the entry of extreme parties.
  • The first federal elections took place in August 1949- the CDU won above the SPD with a narrow margin of 8 seats.
  • Konrad Adenauer bacame the first chancellor of the FRG.
  • Schumacher, leader of the SPD, believed that Adenauer would some become a puppet of the USA.
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The formation of the GDR

  • The USSR responded in October 1949 by making its own zone, the GDR.
  • Pieck was appointed President, Grotewohl Prime Minister and Ulbricht became First Secretary of the Politburo.
  • But, as the was the dominant party, power and decision making really lay with the SED First Secretary rather than the President or Prime Minister.
  • In the constitution there was freedom of speech, freedom of asembly and freedom to ractise religion, however, the situation became very different as freedoms were subordiate to Ulbricht's 'building of socialism'nand the development of a socialist state closely allied to the USSR.
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The formation of the GDR

  • The USSR responded in October 1949 by making its own zone, the GDR.
  • Pieck was appointed President, Grotewohl Prime Minister and Ulbricht became First Secretary of the Politburo.
  • But, as the was the dominant party, power and decision making really lay with the SED First Secretary rather than the President or Prime Minister.
  • In the constitution there was freedom of speech, freedom of asembly and freedom to ractise religion, however, the situation became very different as freedoms were subordiate to Ulbricht's 'building of socialism'nand the development of a socialist state closely allied to the USSR.
3 of 3

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