Issue Date: May 14, 1949
Germany:Blockades End; Other Developments
· Blockades End
· Airlift
· West German Constitution
· TRIBUTE TO BERLINERS
· GERMAN UNITY
· BASIC INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS
· FEDERATION, STATES, POLITICAL PARTIES
· ON WARFARE, COLLECTIVE SECURITY
· PARLIAMENT
· PRESIDENT
· CABINET and FEDERAL GOVT
· DIVISION OF LEGISLATIVE RIGHTS
· TAXES
· COURTS
· NAZIS and NAZI VICTIMS
· BIZONE LAW
· RATIFICATION
· FLAG
· West Berlin Occupation Eased
· Correction
Blockades End
The Soviet rail and highway blockade of West Berlin, 328 days old, ended at 12:01 a.m. May 12, German time. With it went the Western counter-blockade against shipment of supplies from West Germany to the Soviet zone.
The Russians did away with barriers against land travel from West Berlin to West Germany through the Soviet zone and took down street barricades between Western and Soviet sectors of Berlin. The first post-blockade auto caravan to Berlin left Helmstedt, British zone, at 12:01 and its first member to complete the 102-mile trip was Walter G. Rundle, United Press manager in Germany. At 12:08 a.m. the first west-bound highway caravan, led by U.S., British and French military vehicles, left Berlin for Helmstedt. At 5:08 a.m. the first train from Helmstedt reached Berlin carrying news correspondents and British military personnel. Coal and food trains followed.
Crowds of Allied nationals and Germans hailed the departures and arrivals of the trailblazers in Helmstedt and West Berlin but the Russians remained aloof from celebrations. All the Moscow press had to say May 12 about the end of the Berlin siege was that the West had removed its counter-blockade.
Russia stipulated at the last minute, and the Allies reluctantly agreed, that Russian locomotives must pull all Helmstedt-Berlin trains--16 freight and one passenger a day--until detailed agreements on trade and communications between Berlin and the west were worked out. Big 4 representatives opened negotiations for an agreement in Berlin May 13. Russia meanwhile continued to enforce a restriction dating from January 1948 against truck freight shipments from Berlin to West Germany. [See 1949 Germany: Berlin 'Peace' Negotiations; Other Developments]
The U.S. and Russia also lifted May 12 their reciprocal bans against interzonal exchange of publications. The British zone continued to bar Soviet-licensed publications. Western Deutschemarks were still prohibited from Soviet Berlin pending a Big 4 solution of the German currency dispute. [See 1949 Germany: Blockade to End, Big Four to Meet; Other Developments]
Airlift
The Anglo-U.S. airlift to Berlin kept going full scale despite the end of the blockade. No letup was in prospect for at least 30 days as the Allies intended to build up a 200,000-ton reserve of living necessities for West Berlin.
Airlift officials said May 12 that 60,000 men were then engaged in "Operation Vittles" and that expenditures on it through March were $150,000,000 for the U.S., $50,000,000 for Britain. On May 12 the airlift casualty toll since June 26, 1948 was 55 killed (25 USAF, one U.S. naval and one U.S. civilian flier in 10 American plane crashes; 16 RAF men, 6 British civilians and 6 German civilians in 7 British crashes). [See 1949 Germany: Blockade to End, Big Four to Meet; Other Developments; 1949 Germany: Nazi Leaders Sentenced; Other Developments]
West German Constitution
The Parliamentary Council (constituent assembly) in Bonn approved, 53-12, May 8 a draft constitution for a West German state. The Germans waited until May 8, VE-Day anniversary, to pass the constitution so that date could acquire a "favorable" connotation in German history.
The U.S., British and French Military Governors approved the draft May 12--with reservations as to the extent of federal power proposed by the Germans and their inclusion of West Berlin in the new state. General Lucius D. Clay predicted that the new state would be set up by July 15.
The Bonn Council produced after 8 months of work a 13,000-word charter for a federal republic patterned after the post-World War I Weimar Republic. It borrowed from the U.S. and British systems of government, contained safeguards against the rise of another German dictator and outlawed preparation for aggressive war.
The Germans emphasized that the West German "basic law" would eventually give way to a constitution for a unified Germany. However, they scored Russia's refusal to let East Germany adhere now to the western constitution. West German political leaders May 9 rejected Communist appeals for an all-German unity conference in advance of the May 23 Big 4 Foreign Ministers meeting. [See 1949 Germany: Blockade to End, Big Four to Meet; Other Developments; 1949 Germany: Berlin 'Peace' Negotiations; Other Developments]
The 53-12 final vote on the constitution in Bonn May 8 found 2 Communists, 6 Bavarians and 4 others opposed. Communists tried to have final action postponed until after the Foreign Ministers conference. There was considerable opposition to the constitution in Bavaria on grounds that it did not protect states' rights, but the Bavarian Cabinet May 5 turned down a separatist-monarchist demand for a state plebiscite on whether Bavaria stayed out of the new West German federation.
Social Dem. leader Carlo Schmidt fought successfully in the Bonn council to have the "transitional" constitution ratified by state legislatures (Landtage) instead of by popular vote. He contended that there should be no constitutional plebiscite in Germany until both West and East could take part.
TRIBUTE TO BERLINERS
British and French flags raised over the Berlin Victory Monument when the Allies reached Berlin in May 1945 were lowered "forever" May 12 in tribute to West Berlin's resistance to the Soviet Blockade.
Bonn (British zone) was selected over Frankfort-on-the-Main (U.S. zone) as West German capital by a 33-29 vote of the Parliamentary Council May 10. Details of the constitution:
GERMAN UNITY
The preamble and last (146th) article both stress that the German goal is to reunite the western and eastern occupation spheres. The preamble says: "Conscious of its responsibility before God and mankind, filled with the resolve to preserve its national and political unity and to serve world peace as an equal partner in a united Europe, the [western] German people...enacted this basic law of the federal republic of Germany to give a new order to political life for a transitional period. It acted also on behalf of those [eastern] Germans to whom participation was denied. The entire German people is called upon to accomplish, by free self-determination, the unity and freedom of Germany."
Article 146 says the Western constitution "shall become invalid on the day when a constitution adopted in a free decision by the German people [including Soviet-zone Germans] comes into force."
BASIC INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS
Articles 1-19 state the precept that individual rights are "inviolable" with no one to be "prejudiced or privileged" because of "sex, descent, race, language, homeland and origin, faith, or his religious and political opinions." Freedoms guaranteed:
Worship and choice of work; peaceful assembly; formation of labor and other associations that do not conflict with criminal laws, "constitutional order" or "concept of international understanding"; free expression and "no censorship" of public information media, art, science research and teaching. No "war service as a combatant" will be required of conscientious objectors. The state must insure that illegitimate children have the same opportunities for "physical and spiritual development" and "position in society" as legitimate children. Parents may decide whether a child receives religious instruction. Church-operated schools must conform with Government-prescribed educational standards.
Private property rights are safeguarded. Expropriation must be "for the well-being of the general public." Socialization of land and natural resources may be carried out under specific laws. Private homes are inviolate to search without warrant, mails must be secret and every citizen may "address written requests or complaints" to officials and legislative bodies.
FEDERATION, STATES, POLITICAL PARTIES
Articles 20-37 call for a "democratic and social" federal republic which Soviet-zone states may join whenever they accede to the West German constitution. Original states (Laender) of the West German republic: Bavaria, Wuerttemberg-Baden, Hesse and Bremen (U.S. zone); North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein (British zone); Baden, Rhineland-Palatinate and Wuerttemberg-Hohenzollern (French zone); Greater (western) Berlin.
Federal law will supersede state (Land) law. The federal government may, with approval of the Bundesrat (upper house of Parliament), invoke measures to force a Land to enforce or obey federal law. High federal officials will be drawn from Laender in ratio to state population. The federal government will have charge of foreign affairs but will consult with a state especially affected by a prospective treaty. A state may conclude a foreign agreement affecting itself alone with the federal government's approval.
Each citizen's "civil rights and duties" must be the same in each state. Every state constitution must uphold basic rights granted in the federal constitution and "conform to the principles of a republican, democratic and social state."
New states may be created to improve administrative services. In an area shifted from one state to another since May 8, 1945, continued effectiveness of the shift may be put to a plebiscite by referendum. Baden, Wuerttemberg-Baden and Wuerttemberg-Hohenzollern, which want to readjust their boundaries, may do so by mutual agreement; if they can't agree, the federal government will work out a solution subject to referendum.
Political parties may be "freely formed" but must not "seek to impair or abolish free and democratic order" nor "jeopardize the existence of the federal republic." Article 143 prescribes 10 years to life imprisonment for "whoever by force or the threat of force changes the constitutional order of the federation or a Land" or deprives the federal president of his power through revolt or coercion.
ON WARFARE, COLLECTIVE SECURITY
Article 26 says that "weapons designed for warfare may be manufactured, transported and marketed only with the permission of the Government" (The new Allied occupation statute will place all such manufacture under Allied control for the duration of the occupation.) Outlawed: Activities that disturb or are intended to disturb "peaceful relations between nations and especially preparing for aggressive war." The constitution provides that the German republic may "transfer its sovereign powers to international institutions" (such as a U.S. of Europe) and join in "a system of mutual collective security." It promises that Germany will recognize "general rules of international law."
PARLIAMENT
The Bundestag, lower house of Parliament (the Bund), will be elected at least every 4 years by direct popular vote. Minimum age for a deputy: 25. (Minimum voting age in the republic: 21.) Besides its legislative powers it may set up investigating committees whose work will be immune from judicial review.
The Bundesrat (federal council, or upper house of Parliament) will consist of members appointed and subject to recall by state (Land) governments. Each state will have at least 3 Bundesrat votes; states with more than 2,000,000 inhabitants will have 4; states of more than 6,000,000 will have 5. Members of the Federal Government may demand hearing or be required to participate in Bundesrat debate, and the Bundesrat must be kept informed on conduct of federal affairs.
PRESIDENT
The federation's chief of state will be a president. His powers will be confined to accrediting and receiving foreign envoys, serving as the republic's figurehead representative in other international matters, exercising right of pardon and appointing and dismissing judges under a system to be defined by law. Most presidential orders must be countersigned by the chancellor.
The president will be elected every 5 years by a federal convention consisting of the Bundestag and an equal number of delegates named by state legislatures. He may hold no other federal, state or private job or company directorship nor practice a private profession while president; may be reelected only once; may be impeached by either house of Parliament before a federal constitutional court for willful violation of federal law.
CABINET and FEDERAL GOVT
The chancellor (premier) will normally be nominated by the president and elected by the Bundestag, but the Bundestag may reject the president's nominee and elect a chancellor of its own preference by majority vote. Parliament may force the president to dismiss an old chancellor simply by electing a new one. If a majority of the Bundestag cannot agree on a chancellor the president must dissolve the Bundestag for new parliamentary elections.
Cabinet ministers will be appointed and dismissed by the president on the chancellor's advice. The chancellor, actual executive head of the Federal Government in practice, will be answerable to the Bund for his Cabinet's administrative record. If the chancellor asks for and fails to receive a Parliamentary vote of confidence he may have the president dissolve the Bundestag for new elections. Cabinet members may perform no other work for profit nor hold directorships in profit-making organizations.
DIVISION OF LEGISLATIVE RIGHTS
The federal Parliament will have prior rights to legislate on matters in which state interests conflict or effective state regulation is impossible. It will have exclusive rights to legislate on foreign affairs, citizenship, customs and international travel, currency, time and calendar standards, mail, communications and federal transport services, trademarks and copyrights, legal status of federal employes and interstate police operations. Federal and state parliaments will share authority to legislate on other matters, including criminal law, welfare measures and regulation of private and publicly-owned businesses.
Either Cabinet members or members of Parliament may introduce legislation. Financing measures must originate in the lower house. Both houses must approve legislation on criminal law, refugees, war damages, labor and taxes to be shared with the states. The Bundesrat (upper house) may pass a veto against other kinds of legislation sent up from the Bundestag, but the Bundestag may override a veto by a simple majority--by 2/3 if the Bundesrat passed its veto by 2/3.
TAXES
All customs and monopoly taxes will go to the Federal Government Federal and state governments will share consumer, transport, income and property taxes. States will levy beer taxes.
The Federal Government will pay occupation costs levied by the Allies.
COURTS
A "federal constitutional court" will interpret questions of constitutional law and rule on conflicts between federal and state law. Each house of the federal Parliament will elect half the court.