The formation of the Minister Presidents of the German states conferences institution after the end of World War II until the end of 1947 is traced. For the fi time in Russian and post-Soviet historiography, the importance of interzonal meetings of heads of regional governments for the political development of Germany in the fi post-war years is shown. The results of the conferences in Stuttgart (February 6, April 3, 1946), Bremen (February 28 — March 1, 1946), Munich (June 6—7, 1947) and Wiesbaden (February 17, June 15—16, October 22, 1947 of the year) are considered. It is concluded that the experience of these meetings and, at the same time, the weak effectiveness of the inter-party dialogue persuaded the Western allies in December 1947 to choose the conference of Minister Presidents as the main negotiating platform with German politicians on the future constitution of West Germany. On the basis of published and archival documentary sources, the transformation of the conferences of Minister Presidents from consultative appendages of military administrations into an infl political structure claiming national representation is shown. At the same time, this infl according to the author of the article, was subject to serious restrictions from not only military administrations, but also party leaders.
Рассматривается советская и постсоветская историография региональной политики Германии в годы Веймарской республики. Отмечается, что, несмотря на эпизодическое обращение к этой тематике и зачастую обзорный и фрагментар
The paper deals with the organization and decisions of the conference of the Minister-Presidents of German lands in Munich on June 6-7, 1947, which became the one and only meeting of the heads of the state governments of the western and eastern occupation zones before the division of Germany. The conference was the first experience of national positioning of the regional elite and clearly demonstrated that by the middle of 1947, not only between the allies, but also among German politicians, the incompatibility of perspectives of further constitutional development was existent and all the basic conditions for the division of Germany became ripe. Munich was the last significant demonstration of this disunity and the moment of the final turn towards the three-zone orientation of the West German elite.
The activity and political significance of the conferences of the Minister Presidents of the German states during the years of the institutionalization of the Federal Republic of Germany (1948—1949) are considered. It is concluded that in the absence of a number of significant central authorities, it was the conferences of the heads of state governments that played a coordinating role to fill them up on the German side. It is noted that the Minister Presidents also served as a converging point between the allies, the regional elite, political parties and bizone authorities. It is shown that various formats of work of heads of state governments at the interzonal level allowed them to take part in the discussion of almost all key problems of the western zones of occupation. It is emphasized that the two-zone meetings of the Minister Presidents with the military governors and the three-zone conferences of the Minister Presidents themselves, which in fact became the main instruments for reaching political compromises, had a particular impact. It is pointed out that this was especially clearly manifested during the discussion of the “Frankfurt Documents”. It is concluded that, at the same time, the dependence on the military administrations of the allies, the party elite and bizone authorities at the same time did not allow these conferences to evolve into something more than a platform for building consensus, and thereby pursue a full-fledged independent policy.
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