* •Central Europe after WWII •The Soviet Red Army •Since March 1943 to May 1944 – the territories in the Ukraine were liberated •August 1944 – Nazi regime in Romania was overthrown •September 1944 – also Bulgaria became a member of anti-Nazi alliance •Yugoslavia – strong resistance movement – communists (Partisans) under the leadership of Josip Broz Tito, in October 1944 – Belgrade was liberated with the help of Red Army, the rest of Yugoslavia liberated mostly by Partisans • From October 1944 till February 1945 – fights in Hungary, siege of Budapest • •In April 1945 German-Hungarian forces finaly pushed from Hungary to Austria •February 1945 Poland (17th February – liberation of Warsaw) •In January 1945 – the Provisional Governement in Poland – with Soviet support •Members of anti-German resistance movement that remained loyal to London exile government were arrested by the Soviets, many of them exiled •The conflict in Poland continued – since 1943 – Polish-Ukrainian War * * •From 29th August 1944 till the end of October 1944 – the Slovak National Uprising – Partizans and members of so called First Czechoslovak Army against German occupation •September to November 1944 – Red Army crossed border mountains after cruel fights and entered Slovakia (Battle of the Dukla Pass – 22,000 soldiers of Red Army were killed) •Then the Red Army advanced throw Slovakia towards Vienna, during this advance Bratislava was liberated (4th April 1945), then Brno (26th April) and Ostrava (30th April) * Legie_-_slavnostní_nástup.jpg •Western part of Bohemia was liberated by American troops (Western Allied Army) under the command of general George S. Patton but the Soviets asked Americans to stop in Pilsen and not to continue to Prague •5th May 1945 – the May Uprising of Bohemian People in Prague and then in the whole country •Soviet Generals refused an offer of General Eisehower – he wanted to send American troops to help the uprising but the Soviets wanted to liberate Prague themselves •8th May 1945 – liberation of Prague and the end of the WW II in Europe • •States of Central and Southeast Europe were liberalized mainly by Red Army •From Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia Red Army left immediately, but in Romania, Hungary, Poland, Finland and in occupied zones (Austria, Germany) stayed •30th April – Hitler committed suicide •2nd May – Fall of Berlin •7th May – capitulation of Germany – confirmed again at night from 8th to 9th May •July 1945 – the Allied leaders met in Potsdam, Germany – this conferrence confirmed earlier agreements about Germany – so called “Programme of four D“ (denazification, demilitarization, democratization and decartelization) •Also the resettlement of German minority from Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary and Yugoslavia •August 1945 – International Trial in Nüremberg – after almost one year of trial 12 prominent Nazis sentenced to death • • • • • • •J.V. Stalin, H. Truman, W. Churchill /C. Attlee •Main goals: unification of Germany – 4 occupation zones only temporary; Austria also divided into 4 occupattion zones •Plan 4 “D” demilitarization, democratization, denazification, decartelization (+dismantling and decartelization) • New boards – polish boards; German annexations in Europe were to be reversed, including Sudetenland, Alsace-Lorraine, Austria, and the westernmost parts of Poland •Expulsion of Germans from Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary •War reparations - products and raw materials •Punishment of war criminals * •Germany divided into four ocuppation zones – French in the southwest, British in the northwest, United States in the south, and Soviet in the east, also Berlin, which was situated in the Soviet zone, was divided into four occupation zones •All the territorries that Germany had occupied (Austria, Czechoslovakia …) were detached •Germany lost some territories: Poland and Russia, new Polish frontiers on the Oder-Niesse line •Millions of ethnic Germans: expelled from Czechoslovakia, Poland and Hungary and returned to Germany • * •Occupations zones in Berlin • •Occupations zones in Germany •August 1945 – transfer of German populatin from Czechoslovakia and Poland, expulsion of Hungarian population was not agreed •Related President´s Decrees - revoke citizenship, National Administration of firms, confiscation of land •Immovable property, valuables •Personal luggage 30 – 50 kilos •Organized transfer – 1946 - Allied Control council. 2, 256,000 •1947 – 48 - Additional transfer - family reunification – 80,000 •Expulsion of German population from Czechoslovakia •May 1945 – wild expulsion (15,000 – 30,000)!! - displacement and expulsion of German populations, Saxon, Austria – 660, 000 •http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6IFfQdM7EI&feature=related • •Expulsion of German population from Czechoslovakia • * •Paris Peace Conference (29 July - 15 October 1946) – Bulgaria, Finland, Italy, Hungary, Romania •Allied powers (UK, USSR, US,France) negotiated the details of peace treaties with Italy and minor Axis powers (Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria), and Finland •With Germany and Japan – problematic (conference in Moscow - contradictions between the powers – how should be Germany organized – centralized x federated, Treaty on the Final Settlement With Respect to Germany 1990) •The Treaty of San Francisco or San Francisco Peace Treaty between the Allied Powers and Japan came into force 1952 •WW II lasted for 2.194 days •30 states, operations – 40 states •110 millions of men and women (army) •Neutral – Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Swiss •Soviet Union – 27 millions, China – 10 millions, Germany – 6 millions, Poland – 6 millions, Japan – 2.5 millions,… •Germany - the principle of collective guilt •New superpowers: US and Soviet Union (defeated Nazi Germany), in Asia – growing China •New trend in European policy – left •US – the strongest world economy •April 1945 – OSN - United Nations charter, Security Council, General Assembly (50 states, today more then 193, international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace, replaced the League of Nations, to stop wars between countries, and to provide a platform for dialogue. It contains multiple subsidiary organizations to carry out its missions) •After the common enemy was defeated – relation between US and USSR became worse and slowly the rivalry began • US – better economy, atomic bomb, technically better equipped army •USSR – huge material lost, but still very powerful army – aroused American respect •After Japan was defeated – H. Truman – stop supplying – first step: from alliance to enemies (Lend-Lease aid) • J.V. Stalin – new wave of terror, no criticism, labor camp •http://www.google.cz/search?q=soviet+working+camps&hl=cs&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=p R2ZUMrwCIjEswaM8oHIBA&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1008&bih=619 •Extreme poverty x extreme investment – army •Crises of agriculture, 1946 - crop failure •Soviet policy - Soviet-bloc countries were subordinate Moscow, Soviet advisers in Security forces •1949 - Council for Mutual Economic Assistance •1949 Council for Mutual Economic Assistance - Soviet Union – economical power – control over the national economies, members: Soviet Union, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, East Germany,…Cuba, Mongolia and Vietnam •Political (Show)trials – ag. Communist and non – communists - accused of subversive activities, effort to find the culprit responsible for economic problems and effort to discourage people from disagreeing with the regime •50´s Hungary, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia,… •Milada Horaková • * •1949 Council for Mutual Economic Assistance - Soviet Union – economical power – control over the national economies, members: Soviet Union, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, East Germany,…Cuba, Mongolia and Vietnam •Political (Show) trials – againts Communist and non – Communists - accused of subversive activities, effort to find the culprit responsible for economic problems and effort to discourage people from disagreeing with the régime (50´s Hungary, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia - Milada Horaková) •Nationalization of industry, prohibitions and restrictions on private enterprise and the peasants were forced to join the collective farm •Hardest enforcement - Soviet interests ended in 1953 •http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-EwVVm89og •Nationalization of industry, prohibitions and restrictions on private enterprise and the peasants were forced to join the collective farm •Hardest enforcement - Soviet interests ended in 1953 •http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-EwVVm89og • • • • •1947 - H. Truman – Doctrine against Communism •http://www.history.com/speeches/the-truman-doctrine •1946 – W. Churchill – Iron Curtain •http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvax5VUvjWQ •1946 – G. Marshall – Marshall Plan, Czechoslovakia and Poland had to refuse – definitive line between East and West •http://www.oecd.org/general/themarshallplanspeechatharvarduniversity5june1947.htm * * * •No open military conflict •Rivalry: policy, economy, science, culture and sport,…very dangerous phenomenon of was armaments * •1st phase: Berlin Blockade (1948–49) was the first major crisis of the Cold War; Chinese Civil War and the outbreak of the Korean War (1950–53). USSR and USA competed for influence in Latin America, and the decolonizing states of Africa and Asia. Meanwhile, the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was stopped by the Soviets. The expansion and escalation sparked more crises, such as the Suez Crisis (1956), the Berlin Crisis of 1961, and the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. •2nd phase: Sino-Soviet split. 1968 Prague Spring and Occupation of Czechoslovakia, and Vietnam War (1955–75). •3rd phase (period of détente - easing of strained relations, especially in political situation): - Strategic Arms Limitation Talks and the US opening relations with the People's Republic of China as a strategic counterweight to the Soviet Union. Détente collapsed with the beginning of the Soviet–Afghan War in 1979. •4th phase - elevated tension: Soviet downing of Korean Air Lines Flight 007 (1983), and the "Able Archer" NATO military exercises (1983). In the mid-1980s -Mikhail Gorbachev introduced the liberalizing reforms. 1989 was a wave of revolutions that peacefully (with the exception of the Romanian Revolution) overthrew all of the communist regimes of Central and Eastern Europe. Dissolution of the USSR in December 1991 and the collapse of communist regimes in other countries such as Mongolia, Cambodia and South Yemen. The United Statas remained as the world's only superpower. •Extreme poverty •Allied Control Council •The black market - American cigarettes •Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, or services. Rationing controls the size of the ration, one's allotted portion of the resources being distributed on a particular day or at a particular time •US and GB – 1. 1. 1947 – Bizone and April 1948 Trizone •June 1948 – decision to establish Germany (3 zones) – Soviet reaction – occupation of western ways to Berlin - collapse in supplying the city- Berlin Crises •Common control of Germany was finished •J.V. Stalin – to oust western army from Berlin – centre of the soviet zone •June 1948 Soviet army started to block Berlin • • • •Interest: USSR x West Bloc •In western occupation zones – 4 political parties, election, institutions under the occupation power gave the political power to new local governments •In soviet zone – one party (communists and social democrats), land reform, nationalization of some factories and denacification (schools, offices) •June 1948 - 3 zones – monetary reform, reparation was cancelled, Marshall Plan •US and GB – 1. 1. 1947 – Bizone and 1948 Trizone (France) •23 May 1949, the Trizone became the Federal Republic of Germany, commonly known as West Germany •Berlin Blockade – Berlin Airlift (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War: June 1948 – decision to establish Germany (3 zones) → Soviet reaction – occupation of western ways to Berlin - collapse in supplying the city- Berlin Crises (https://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/BERLIN_A/INDEX.HTM) * * •Common control of Germany was finished •September 1949 – Federal Republic of Germany, Konrad Adenauer, Independent position – West Berlin •October 1949 – German Democratic Republic, Wilhelm Pieck • * •1949 – 1990 •Communist party, known as the Socialist Unity Party of Germany •President W. Pieck and General Secretary Walter Ulbricht •After 1950, political power in East Germany was held by the First Secretary of the SED •Soviet control •Establishing - two German states - completed struggling for the post-war order in Europe * vEconomy •Lack of food •1947 - disastrous drought •Prerequisite for economic recovery •Monetary reform •Payroll reform üChild benefit üXmas benefits üExtension of paid leave * *X •Volume of industry ½ compare to before WWII •URNA - •United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), organization founded (1943) during World War II to give aid to areas liberated from the Axis powers. 52 participating countries, each of which contributed funds amounting to 2% of its national income in 1943. A sum of nearly $4 billion was expended on various types of emergency aid, including distribution of food and medicine and restoration of public services and of agriculture and industry. China, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, Poland, the Ukrainian SSR, and Yugoslavia were the chief beneficiaries. UNRRA returned some 7 million displaced persons to their countries of origin and provided camps for about 1 million refugees unwilling to be repatriated. More than half the funds were provided by the United States. •3. 4. 1945 - President Beneš returned from exile • National Front government - the first Czechoslovak government declared in Košice 4th April 1945, prime minister Zdeněk Fierlinger • Composition of the goverment was agreed in advance – representatives of: London's resistance, Moscow´s resistance (communists) and the representatives of Slovak National Uprising • The most powerfull - Communist • Right-wing parties forbidden! • 5 April – Košice Govermant Program: punishment of war criminals, nationalization, land reform, Czechs and Slovaks, two equal nations ... •August 1945 – transfer of German populatin from Czechoslovakia and Poland, expulsion of Hungarian Population was not agreed •Related President´s Decrees - revoke citizenship, National Administration of firms, confiscation of land •Immovable property, valuables •Personal luggage 30 – 50 kilos •http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6IFfQdM7EI&feature=related • •In Slovakia 600, 000 Hungarians •Expulsion of Hungarians from Slovakia was not realized •West powers did not agree with the transfer but 1946 - Czechoslovakian - Hungarian Agreement on exchange of populations (limited population Exchange) •Persecution of the Hungarian minority, denationalization Hungarians • *(The legal basis for the expulsion of the Germans and the intended explusion of the Hungarians were Beneš Decrees) •Loss Ruthenia (Czechoslovak Government in June 1945 signed in Moscow contract with USSR) •Expulsion of Germans -expulsion Wild (May-August 1945) - Revenge - Germans expelled about 660.000 + murdered: from 15.000 to 30.000 -organized evacuation (August 1945 - November 1946) - based on the Potsdam Conference – 2.250.000 Germans -additional evacuation (1947-1948) - about 80.000 *Overall displaced about 3 million Germans, left in Czechoslovakia 300.000 •The Decrees of the President of the Republic and the Constitutional Decrees of the President of the Republic known as the Beneš decrees •Series of laws drafted by the Czechoslovak government-in-exile in the absence of the Czechoslovak parliament during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in World War II •Issued by President Edvard Beneš from 21 July 1940 to 27 October 1945 and retroactively ratified by the Interim National Assembly of Czechoslovakia on 6 March 1946 •October 1945 Edvard Beneš decrees issued: -nationalization of key industries, banks and insurance companies -decrees of the punishment of Nazi war criminals → trials and executions -confiscation of property – based on Potsdam Conference -expulsion of the German population + confiscation of property traitors, collaborators and Germans •28 October 1945 first meeting •Unicameral (Senate was abolished) •Formed by presidential decree •Representatives of political parties and other organizations (non-elected) •Confirmed: Edvard Beneš as President of the Republic and •Zdeňka Fierlingera as Prime Minister •Validity of presidential decrees was confirmed •The National Assembly started to issue legal documents •Land reform - land confiscated (the Germans and collaborators; assigned to the landless and small peasants, especially in the border regions) •Continued ration management Monetary reform (November 1945) - War deposits in Banks were frozen ("linked deposit") •Introduced: obligation to work and child benefits •Ration repository, ended 1953 * •1939 – 118,310 x 1945 14,045 •Open asylum policy, pro – Jewish state policy •Anna Hanusová – Flachová * * •BRENNER, H.: The Girls of Room 28: Friendship, Hope, and Survival in Theresienstad. New York 2009. * * •1946 – last “ democratic“ election - National Assembly •Parties: ü- Communists (mass party. 1,000,000) ü- National Socialists ü - The People's Party ü - Social Democrats üDemocratic Party – Slovakia,… - - •Czech lands: üCommunists – 40% •X •Slovakia: ü- Democratic Party – 62% x Communists – 30% •May 1946 “half free“ elections - people can choose from several political parties but right-wing parties were not allowed •Elected National Assembly of Czechoslovakia •June 1946 Edvard Beneš re-elected – President •New Government: Prime Minister – Klement Gottwald – Communist Party • •1947 – catastrophic drought → crop crop failure - food imports from the USSR •Reduction of the supplying – growing black market •Slovakia – real poverty •1947 (June-July) - Marshall Plan - plan presented by US Secretary of State George Marshall – Economic Recovery of Europe; Soviets promptly rejected it. Czechoslovakia was interested, but J.V. Stalin did not agree •Soviet Union help – 600,000 tons of grain x propaganda – Soviets saved Czechoslovakia again… •Disputes: Communist Party x Democratic Party (non-communist) •Communist Party controled Ministry of Interior → organized provocations against Democratic Parties • •Ministry of Interior during Fall 1947 revealed a "conspiracy" in the Democratic Party •Communists managed to limit the influence of Democratic Party provocations, but still alive • "Millionaires" - Communists pushed through extraordinary tax - all propetry over 1 million •Communists – mass POPULARITY •Extra income to the Treasury •Government succumbed to pressure – state budget + 6,000,000,000 Czechoslovak crown (76 304 993 000 Kčs) * •Propaganda and publicity campaigns, mass protests, staged affair and assassination attempts, some of the policy component – provocation and espionage + close ties to the Soviet Union effort to influence opinion about situation in Czechoslovakia •Convergence process of democratic forces began late – lack of unifying personality vFebruary 1948 - two affairs at the National Security Corps: •Affair of Most - secret police agent tried to falsely accuse leaders Czechoslovak National Socialist Party of preparing a coup d'état •Case of Krčmaň - ministers of Czechoslovak National Socialist Party and minister Masaryk (all non – comunists) received boxes with explosives. Minister of Interior Minister Václav Nosek (KSC), it "is not able to investigate" → non-communist parties in government are demanding to investigate both affairs. V. Nosek responded by strengthening the positions of the Communist Party in the National Security Corps → Government decided to stop the implementation but Václav Nosek refused v 20th February – 12 non-communist Ministers resigned •They hoped that President E. Beneš will not accept it (new election or Communists retreat) but Communists started coercive actions to force E. Beneš to accept the resignation → manifestation,…and 24th February – General Strike vJ.V. Stalin encouraged → K. Gottwald necessary to ask the Soviet Union for military aid (Soviet Army was ready : Hungarian-Slovakian border) •K. Gottwald aid refused, apparently handle the situation himself •Action Committees of the National Front raise the power of the Communist Party, depriving political functions of their opponents vThe only one public opposition action to the Communist Party was a demonstration of University students on 25th February – suppressed manifestation v25.2.1948 - President E. Beneš accepted the resignations of the non-Communist ministers and appointed a new government in accordance with KSČ demands → Final Victory of Communist Party * *potato beetle •Feis, H.: Between War and Peace: The Potsdam Conference. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1983. •Roberts, G.: Stalin's Wars: From World War to Cold War, 1939-1953. Yale University Press, 2006. •Kaplan, K.: The Short March: The Communist Takeover in Czechoslovakia, 1945-1948. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 1987. •Zeman, Z.: The Life of Edvard Beneš, 1884-1948: Czechoslovakia in Peace and War. Clarendon Press, 1997. * * *