After the fall of the Berlin wall: Transitional justice in Germany

Abstract

After the end of the Second World War, Germany was divided by the Allies into four zones of occupation, each of which was administered by one of the victorious powers. The eastern occupied zone was administered by the Soviet Union, which soon moved towards creating a Communist system. The establishment of a socialist state on eastern German territory had at this point, shortly after the end of the war, not yet been planned by the Soviets, at least not for the near future (Weber, 1993: 4; Zimmermann, 2000: 3). However, key positions in the government and judiciary were immediately filled by loyal members of the German Communist Party (Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands – KPD), and the KPD itself merged with the Social Democratic Party of Germany (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands – SPD) to form the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands – SED). Private industries were nationalized and a planned economy introduced. As the Cold War worsened, the interest of the western Allies in unifying their “trizone” into a West German state grew. Not the least important function of such a state was seen to be the creation of a “bulwark against communism”, that is, against the Soviet Union’s claims to power. The road to the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in 1949 was taken with the merging of the western zones of occupation; a few months later, the German Democratic Republic (GDR) was established in response. Further important stages on this road were, among other things, the currency reform in East and West Germany, the Berlin blockade by the Soviet Union in 1948–1949 and the drafting of a constitution for West Germany (Grundgesetz, or Basic Law) at the Herrenchiemsee Conference in 1948.