Читать книгу Where in the World is the Berlin Wall?. 170 Sites around the World онлайн
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A communist one-party dictatorship was quickly put in place and the economy became a planned economy through communisation of property.
In the western occupation zones, in contrast, economical and political structures were put in place which reflected traditional western democracy and a private system of ownership took shape. The relationship between the Allies deteriorated due to these conflicting positions. In March 1948 the Soviets left the Allied Control Council and plans for the Four Powers to govern Germany together failed. The two sides of Germany developed into increasingly independent states.
After the War, the German people reacted to the situation in occupied Germany in their own way, and millions of people flocked over the demarcation line. They were in search of home, family members or simply looking for ways and means to survive. Migration from the Soviet occupied zone to the western zones was, from the beginning, greater than that from the western zones to the East. The majority of the refugees were displaced from the former eastern territories of Germany which once belonged to Poland. The continued economical and political sovietisation in the East was also a reason for the increasing numbers of people fleeing west. The final break between the Allies was caused by introducing a new currency in the western zones.4 The Deutsche Mark was introduced in the Western occupation zones on June 20th, 1948 in place of the Reichsmark and declared the official means of payment. This was done in order to initiate a stable financial and economic policy in the face of the difficult supply situation and the flourishing black market, and thus also to strengthen economic development in the Western European context. A reaction from the Soviet zone was inevitable – otherwise the SBZ economy would have crashed – the old currency flowed where it was still worth something, in particular to East Berlin. The Soviet Military Administration in Germany (SMAD) retaliated by introducing the East Mark within its zone on 24th June. The SMAD requested the Mayor of Berlin to make this currency compulsory for the western sectors in Berlin – this was deemed to be inoperative and the Deutsche Mark became the official currency for West Berlin. In Berlin, there were now two currencies in circulation.5