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	Podcast:		Cold War Cast
	Episode:		The Formation of “West Germany”
	Category:		Society & Culture
	Duration:		00:28:32
	Publish Date:		2018-04-28 10:40:46
	Description:		Today (well, May 23, 1949) we welcome the Federal Republic of Germany to the community of nations! The writing had been on the wall for a while on the western sectors of occupied Germany going her own way, much to the dismay of the Soviet Union. Although the Western allies had reservations about revamping Germany, it was deemed necessary to build Europe back up the way they wanted it. I’d say the gamble paid off as the Bundesrepublik quickly became one of the world’s largest economies and and a solid partner of the Western allies. Immediately following the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Soviets responded in kind by declaring the “Democratic Republic of Germany” or DDR. In this episode we cover why the Soviet Union didn’t want to see a Western German state and why the Western allies were for it – so we’ll be talking about “buffer zones”. We’ll also cover why they never officially called it “West Germany”, some of the internal political dilemmas of the new German state and introduce Konrad Adenauer, one of the key figures of this period of history. See also: The Division of Germany, The Marshall Plan The Berlin Airlift
	Total Play:		0