West and East Germany founded

In 1949 defeated Germany was formally split in two. On May 23, the Basic Law took effect in the American, British and French occupation zones, creating the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) with its capital at Bonn and Konrad Adenauer as its first chancellor. On October 7, the Soviet zone answered by proclaiming the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), with its capital in East Berlin and a communist party, the SED, in control.¹³

The split grew out of World War II and the Cold War. After Germany surrendered in 1945, the Allies divided it into four occupation zones and Berlin into four sectors, planning to run the country jointly. Disputes over reparations, economic policy and the future of Germany quickly paralyzed that plan. In 1948 the Western powers merged their zones and introduced a new currency, the Deutsche Mark, and the Soviets responded by blockading West Berlin, which the Berlin Airlift defeated. By then, creating a Western German state looked to Washington, London and Paris like the safer course.¹

Each state tied itself to a rival bloc: West Germany joined NATO in 1955 and was a founding member of the European Economic Community in 1957, while East Germany joined the Warsaw Pact. The border became one of the most heavily guarded on Earth, and in 1961 East Germany built the Berlin Wall to stop its citizens from leaving. The division lasted until the East German state collapsed and Germany reunified on October 3, 1990, a span of 41 years.²