Stories: Germany During the Cold War

When the Second World War ended in 1945 with the defeat of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, the world did not experience long-lasting peace as the Western Allies and the Soviet Union prepared for yet another war, this time against each other. The end of the war resulted in Europe being divided into two, the West and the East. Both countries formed alliances to bolster their armies, as a result, the largest militaries ever formed posed to fight each other.

There were two major alliances during the Cold War. In 1949, the Western nations in Europe signed a cooperative, defense treaty called NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). In response to the development of NATO, in 1955 the Soviet Union and the rest of the Communist nations signed the Warsaw Pact.

As Europe was divided between the West and the East, so was Germany. Western Germany was split between the Americans, the British, and the French. The Americans-controlled south neighbored Czechoslovakia and Austria, the British-controlled north bordered Denmark and the Netherlands, and the French-controlled southwest alongside the France, Switzerland, and Luxemburg borders.

Eastern Germany, bordering Poland and Czechoslovakia, was entirely controlled by the Soviet Union. Germany was the focal point of attention between the opponents. Each side believed an invasion would occur along the seam that split East and West, specifically what is known as the Fulda Gap, as a result, each nation poured its military assets into Central Europe, waiting for the other side to make its move.

Map of Germany divided West and East.
United States Central Intelligence Agency. East Germany and West Germany
. [Washington, D.C.: Central Intelligence Agency, 1990] Map.
Obtained from Historical Maps of Germany (edmaps.com). Austria, located in grid 4B and 4C, was occupied by the Western allies until 1955. After this time, the Communists took over Austria.

Tensions on the Rise

The fears of yet another world war perforated people’s minds as the tensions between the East and the West rose. Amongst soldiers, the tensions flared the most as they interacted with the Russian soldiers the most. Sergeant Eugene Fynn of the U.S. 1st Armored Division confronted the Russians on multiple occasions along the Austrian border. In one incident, Flynn and his squad were called to a Displaced People’s camp somewhere in southern Germany which he called Castle. At the camp, the Russians attempted to take the people, claiming they were ethnic White Russians, a term used to describe the people living in modern-day Georgia (But also used to describe people from Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Moldova, and Latvia) and should be transported back east into Russia. When the Americans, through an interpreter, asked the people of the camp whether or not they wanted to go back, they unanimously said no. The people revealed that the Russians were looking for factory workers and manual laborers, the people of the camp had no desire to return.

Displaced Peoples Camp

Thats the only thing they understood anyways, force, and they are still the same way.

Sgt eugene flynn

After this interaction, Eugene Flynn and his squad guarded a section within the same vicinity of the Displaced peoples Camp. at their guard post, a number of Russians were spotted on a small hill, laughing at and mocking the Americans. One member of the squad spoke fluent Russian and translated to the Lieutenant that the Russians were calling them, “little boys.” In response, the lieutenant ordered the gunner on top of the M8 recon vehicle to shoot the machine gun at the foot of the hill, the short burst of machinegun fire made the Russians take off. Eugene Flynn recalled this as the best course of action as the only thing the Russians respected was the use of force, to show you were not to be pushed around.

Eugene Flynn in drivers seat of a M8 Greyhound.

Similar incidents happened throughout the U.S. sector. Other squads that were on border patrol were fired at by the Russians. Immediately, a platoon would be called in to reinforce the squad, but, no engagements occurred nor did any exchange of gunfire.

Russian Interactions

Mobilization

These incidents in the American Sector of Germany contributed to the increase of tensions between the East and West and resulted in the greatest militaries being on full alert of an invasion.

While tensions rose, the Americans, French, British, and the Germans withheld any retaliation. The Western allies considered their position against the Russians and came to the conclusion that they were greatly outnumbered. In anticipation of a Russian attack on Germany, the NATO forces drafted and trained for the future war. But with the high demand of soldiers needed as quickly as possible, training was speed up. For some soldiers arriving to Germany, they never had fired a rifle. Eugene Flynn was sent to train these men, who have been in the army for a mere 8 weeks, on how to fire their rifles, their pistols, and how to throw a grenade.

Training recruits

Without such training, accidents such as accidental discharge of the firearm could and have occurred.

Soldier accidently shoots himself.

Other than receiving more basic training and going on patrols, the military stationed within Western Germany prepared their forces with mass maneuvers. Specialist Lancelot Coulter of the 35th Combat Engineer Battalion recalls the mass maneuvers. These training drills were to prepare the army, rather than train small squads or companies, on how to work as a cohesive force, it consisted of road marches, practices of how to attack, live-fire exercises, how to work with other units, and how to work with tanks.

Despite the training, the western allies where still outnumbered. The units were expected to fight a delaying action, to buy time for reinforcements to get to Germany from the surrounding areas and from the United States.

Delaying action.

The Cold War ended without either the West or the East invading each other. While Germany never saw another world war waged on their lands, the tensions and the fears were real. The West and the East built up the largest militaries the world has ever seen with million of men and millions of guns on both sides, all waiting to be called upon when the powder keg ignited.

These interviews that are shown are only a trickle of the Cold War veterans and their stories, while this focus was on the veterans of Western Germany, there are many more Cold War veterans that served in the proxy wars of Korea and Vietnam, saw the fall of the Berlin Wall, on picket patrol in the Atlantic, intercepting Soviet messages, or preventing soviet submarines from going to Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Further Readings:

NATO vs Warsaw Pact

West Germany Rearmament

NATO and Warsaw Pact Force Comparison

Fulda Gap

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