Public Information Library - Centre Pompidou
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1945-1961: from WWII to the Wall
8 May 1945: Germany surrendered
Berlin was in ruins.
At first occupied entirely by the Russian troops, the city was then divided into four sectors (Russian, American, British and French).
West Berlin became an island in the middle of territory that was controlled by the Soviet Union.
Video: Les derniers jours de Berlin, 21/04/1965 (source: ina.fr)
1948-1949: the Berlin blockade
Three years after the end of the war, Berlin was the scene of the first major crisis between the USSR and the West. From 24 June 1948 until 12 May 1949, Stalin installed a blockade of the city: all the approaches, by land or water, between West Berlin and West Germany were cut. During that period the citizens of West Berlin were kept supplied in food and fuel by an airlift.
Video: Ravitaillement de Berlin par avion, 15/07/1948 (source: ina.fr).
After 1949
1949 was the year in which the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) in the zone under Soviet influence, were created.
West Germany had its first genuinely democratic regime since the Weimar Republic, and benefitted from the Marshall Plan proposed by the United States. This assistance greatly contributed to its economic recovery.
East Germany lived under the Soviet system: collectivisation of agriculture, strong ideological control of the population… Thousands of people left the GDR, "voting with their feet". Not only workers but also engineers, doctors, technicians. The East German authorities seemed powerless to stop this exodus of the country's elite. Then came the idea to do something to halt the exodus.
Focus on :
Books that can be consulted at the Bpi
in French
(Level 3 - 943-85 CA)
(Level 3 - 943.4 BU)
Un mur à Berlin / Anne-Marie Le Gloannec (Complexe, 1985)
(Level 3 - 943-85 LE)
... and an Internet site
On its website, the Berlin Municipality has a section presenting the history of Berlin after 1945.