Germany Divided

 "I love Germany so dearly that I hope there will always be two of them."

~François Mauriac

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After World War II came to a close, Germany was divided into four separate zones in 1945, according to the agreements made by the allies at the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences. One zone occupied and administrated by the British, one by the United States, one by the French, and one by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The British, American and French zones were collectively know as Western Germany and the Soviet administrated zone was know as East Germany. Similarly the capital of Germany was divided in four zones between the British, Americans, French, and Soviets. East Berlin was given to the Soviet Union and West Berlin to the British, French, and American  and divided into three zones. Austria was divided in this way as well. By 1949, France and Britain united their zones with the zone controlled by United States for them to administrate and occupy breifly while West Germany formed a Democratic Government. West Germany renamed themselves after the merger and came to be known as the Federal Republic of Germany, while its eastern counter part formed a Communist Government under the name of the Democratic German Republic.

Berlin, divided four ways like the country, resided in the Soviet zone. By 1948 the Soviets and Americans were thoroughly distrustful of each other's actions and on June 24, 1948 to May 11, 1949 The Soviets attempted to block allies transportation of supplies to West Berlin and force the Allies to leave West Berlin to them. However, the Berlin Airlift was used by the United States to undermine the blockade and by May 11, 1949, 41 days shy of a year, the Soviets abandoned their plans and removed the blockade. The tension between the USSR and the USA grew until in 1961, Nikita Khrushchev had the Berlin Wall constructed to keep East Berliners from escaping into West Berlin and to freedom. Germany and Berlin remained divided by Democracy and Communism for 45 years, from 1945 to 1990, until the Democratic German Republic's communist government collapsed, like many other Eastern European Communist nations and eventually the USSR as well, taking with it the Berlin Wall in 1989. Reunification has left Modern day Germany with the difficult task of reuiniting both halves of Germany economically, politically, socially, in addition to teaching people who for 45 years have lived and grown up under a communism idealogy as well as government system that completely controled their lives, how to live in a democratic nation. Also they have the task of rebuilding the former East Germany section up to the current standard of living enjoyed in the former West Germany as well as rebuilding that section's economy up to the level of the rest of Germany. 

Below is a map of Germany today, compare it to a map of Germany before World Wars I and II and post-World War II found Pre-World War I, Pre-World War II, and Post-World War II 

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