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Cold War: German political mileau 1945-48 German people
Cold War: Early German Political Mileau--The German People (1945-53)
Figure 1.--This little East German boy is watching a Freie Deutsche Jugend (FDJ--Free German Youth) demostration in East Berlin, demonsreating his support with a mock hammar. The way he is dressed, we sospect is father is a well off Party member involved in imposing a Marrxist system on the oeople of East Germany. They were not nearly as successful as the NAZIs. Jews and political duisents fled the NAZIs. People of all descriptions, ikncluding workerrs, fled the Communists in huge numbers seeking a better life in West Germany.
While the Soviets and Western Allies confronted each other, the key arbiter as to how the future of Germany would be resolved was the German people. Namely how would the Germans would assess the two systems that were now occupying their country. And here the assessment would not be theoretical, it would be their actual life experiences. Here the Soviets had not helped the cause by permitting the Red Army to conduct the mass rape of German women, including girls. But there was considerable support for socialism before the NAZIs seized power. There was a sizeable German Communist Party, one of the most important Communist parties in the world at the time. Marxist doctrine held that the Revolution would take place in highly industrial countries with the largest proletariat. It was, however, the Socialists who after World War I which dominated the Weimar Republic before the NAZIs seized power (1933). And the NAZI system was a type of socialism. It is no accident that Socialist and Worker appear in the name of the NAZI Party. And it was the Western Allies that had turned German cities into vast mounds of rubble. It should not be thought that Communism was something introduced into Germany by the Soviets and that there were no Communists in Germany prepared to accept the new system. Germany before Hitler had Europe's largest Communist Party outside the Soviet Union and before World War I it was much larger that the Russians. In fact the fear of a Communist take over was very real and a major reason for the rise of the NAZIs. A German reader writes, "After World War I, violent struggles and virtual political wars between Communists and NAZIs played out on German streets. People were beaten on the streets. There were political murders. The German people were appalled. The Treaty of Versailles was uniformly unpopular. The "N" in the NSDAP/NAZI name appealed to many people." Our German reader is absolutely correct about this. But often unsaid is the simple fact that the German people did not really object to harsh peace treaties. The treaties they opposed upon others were just as harsh, if not more harsh (Poland-18th century, Denmark-1864, France-1871, Romania-1917, and Russia-1918, not to mention France-1940). What the German people objected to was having a harsh treaty imposed upon Germany. Another important factor is that there were substantial elements in the NAZI Party which shared ideas with the Communist. The "S/Z" in the NSDAP?NAZI also was there for a reason. A German reader explains, "The largest political party during most of the Weimar Republic was the Socialists (SPD). They also shared many economic ideas with the Communists. The NAZIs used this word to attract worker support." Socialist sentiments were especially pronounced in the SA and many wanted more radical action, just like the Communists. Stalin hoped to use this orientation to convert Germany to Communism. And given the American-British Strategic Bombing Campaign, it was unclear if normal relations could be buit with the Germans.
