The 1950s
The 1950s introduced a period of astonishingly stable development in Central Europe, although the catastrophe of Nazi rule and the Second World War left behind problems far exceeding those after the First World War.
With the eastern territories, Germany lost about one fourth of its national territory; in addition, there followed the division of the country in 1949, and in 1955 both German states attained their sovereignty: the western-orientated Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the eastern-orientated German Democratic Republic (GDR). The social, political and moral burdens to be dealt with were impossible to gauge. The cities and economic infrastructure were largely destroyed. At the same time, the eight million refugees, expellees and forced emigrants had to be received and integrated. The disclosure of the unimaginable German genocides, especially of Jews, left behind a demoralising, irredeemable guilt.