Dzień: 2024-07-20

Based on sources follow the questions. Make conclusion.

a. Look at the photo. Who was the person in the picture?

b. Read the quote. Explain why it is considered to be the beginning of the Cold War. Name the economic implications of the Iron Curtain.

c. Read a fragment of the Truman Doctrine. Explain why the programme is a manifestation of the Cold War?

d. Watch the film and answer the question below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra6FeVwAQeo

Why did the USSR begin the Berlin Blockade?
How did the West react to the Blockade.
What was the Berlin Airlift?
Discuss the impact of the Berlin Crisis on political situation.

Source 1

Source 2 Quote – „The Sinews of Peace” („Iron Curtain Speech).

“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia, all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and, in many cases, increasing measure of control from Moscow. Police rules come from Moscow […]”

Source 3 Thruman doctrine (fragment)

Today nearly every nation must choose between two options.One way of life is based on the will of the majority, with […] free elections, […] freedom of speech and belief, and freedom from political oppression. The other option is based […] terror and oppression,[…] the lack of free elections, and limited personal freedom. […] U.S. policy must help the free nations that oppose the oppression of armed minorities or aggression from outside.

(https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/trudoc.asp)

Source 4 The Berlin Blockade and Airlift

Based on sources follow the questions. Make conclusion.

a. Look at the maps. Consider the situation of Germany after WWII. How Germany and Berlin was divided?

b. Look at the picture, recognize people in the photo. Who were they?

c. Read parts of the Potsdam Conference resolution, talk about the political and economic changes which were agreed to be implemented in Germany.

d. Which paragraphs of the quoted passages can be associated with changes of borders in post-war Europe? In which way?

SOURCE 1. The division of Germany into the Occupation Zones

Source 2. The Big Three

Source 3 The Potsdam Conference resolution (fragments)

THE PRINCIPLES TO GOVERN THE TREATMENT OF GERMANY IN THE INITIAL CONTROL PERIOD

A.POLITICAL PRINCIPLES […]

3. The purposes of the occupation of Germany by which the Control Council shall be guided are:

(i) The complete disarmament and demilitarization of Germany and the elimination or control of all German industry that could be used for military production. […]

(a) All German land, naval and air forces, the SS., SA., SD., and Gestapo […] shall be completely and finally abolished […]

(b) All arms, ammunition and implements of war and all specialized facilities for their production shall be held at the disposal of the Allies or destroyed […] all aircraft and all arms. ammunition and implements of war shall be prevented.

(ii) To convince the German people that they have suffered a total military defeat and that they cannot escape responsibility for what […] the fanatical Nazi resistance have destroyed German economy and made chaos and suffering […]

(iii) To destroy the National Socialist Party and its affiliated and supervised organizations, to dissolve all Nazi institutions, to ensure that they are not revived […]

4. All Nazi laws which provided the basis of the Hitler regime or established discriminations on grounds of race, creed, or political opinion shall be abolished. No such discriminations, whether legal, administrative or otherwise, shall be tolerated. […]

B. ECONOMIC PRINCIPLES.

12. […] the German economy shall be decentralized for the purpose of eliminating the present excessive concentration of economic power as exemplified in particular by cartels, syndicates, trusts and other monopolistic arrangements.

13. In organizing the German Economy, primary emphasis shall be given to the development of agriculture and peaceful domestic industries.

[…] The Three Governments, having considered the question in all its aspects, recognize that the transfer to Germany of German populations, […] Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, will have to be undertaken. They agree that any transfers that take place should be effected in an orderly and humane manner.

[…]The Czechoslovak Government, the Polish Provisional Government and the Control Council in Hungary are at the same time being informed […]

https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/decade17.asp

LESSON 1

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YOUR GOALS:

-The Post – War Agreement in Germany 
-The Berlin Crisis and the Creation of the FRG and GDR
-The economic, political and social situation in the FRG and in the GDR
-The Autumn of Nations in Germany and fall of the Wall

Before the lesson:

Ask your family members about the Berlin Wall and division of Germany (personal stories of parents/grandparents, memories about The East and The West Germany).

Go to https://www.1989.centropa.org Get a look, do some research.

The World War II and bipolar world.

Look at the maps.
Do you remember the agreements of the Potsdam Conference?
What was a situation of Germany after the WWII?
Why Berlin was 'the island in the red Sea’?

WORKING GROUPS:

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

Present your answers and conclusions during the next lesson.

LESSON 2

SHORT REVIEW

POST-ITS!
Write short information related to life in Germany States and put them in right places. Discuss.

LET’S PRESENT YOUR TASKS

CONCLUSION

Is the division of Germany a symbol of Cold War?

Why wall is the symbol?

What does it symbolize?

The wall:
-separated families, friends, and lovers.
-was built to prevent people from the Eastern Bloc from escaping to the West.
-was not only a physical barrier but also a psychological one (people lost their homes and their jobs) .
-was a result of political tensions between the Soviet Union and the Western powers, which had been growing since the end of World War II.

For this reasons, the wall became a symbol of the Cold War and the division of Europe. The fall of the wall was a significant moment in history and marked the end of the Cold War. The fall of the wall also led to the reunification of Germany, which had been divided for almost thirty years.

HOMEWORK

Write an essay on one of the following topics:

1. Did the Berlin wall divide or unite the inhabitants of Berlin? Take a side on the problem. Give political, social and economic arguments.
2. Why could the division of Germany be considered as a manifestation of the Cold War? Justify your answer. Give political, social and economic arguments.