At the meetings in Tehran (1943), Yalta (1945) and Potsdam (1945), the three major wartime powers USA, USSR and Great Britain agreed on the format to punish those responsible for war-crimes during World War II. France was also awarded a place on the tribunal. The legal basis for the trial was established by the 'London Charter', issued on August 8, 1945, which restricted the trial to "punishment of the major war criminals of the European Axis countries". Thus, accusations of Allied war crimes could not be tried. Some 200 German war cr ...

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Nuremberg Trials, Nuremberg Trials - Origin of the trials, Nuremberg Trials - Creation of the court, Nuremberg Trials - Location, Nuremberg Trials - Participants, Nuremberg Trials - The validity of the court, Nuremberg Trials - The main trial, Nuremberg Trials - Influence on the development of international criminal law, Nuremberg Trials - Endnotes, Nuremberg Trials - Notes

Read more here: » Nuremberg Trials: Encyclopedia II - Nuremberg Trials - Creation of the court

After the fall of the Communist states in the Eastern Bloc, the communist movement arguably became more fragmented than ever, and certainly weaker than it has ever been since 1917. Communist groups and parties all across the world went their separate paths. However, Communism has survived the fall of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc. Out of the five remaining communist states, China, Vietnam, and Laos have moved toward market economies but without major privatization of the state sector; and Cuba has recently emerged from the cri ...

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History of communism, History of communism - Early Communism, History of communism - Karl Marx and The Communist Manifesto, History of communism - The October Revolution, History of communism - The Stalin Era, History of communism - The Cold War, History of communism - Eastern Europe, History of communism - China, History of communism - North Korea, History of communism - Cuba, History of communism - Vietnam, History of communism - Laos, History of communism - Ethiopia, History of communism - South Yemen, History of communism - Angola, History of communism - The collapse of the Soviet Union, History of communism - Communism Today

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When Mikhail Gorbachev, the youngest member of the Soviet Politburo, was elected General-Secretary in March 1985, it signalled a generational change in the Eastern bloc. In an attempt to revitalize the stagnating Communist Party and the state economy, Gorbachev introduced reforms such as glasnost ("openness") and perestroika ("restructuring"). Gorbachev believed that democratization would remove corrupt and incompetent apparatchiks from the Soviet system, but instead, a significant number of Communist Party opponents rose to pr ...

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History of communism, History of communism - Early Communism, History of communism - Karl Marx and The Communist Manifesto, History of communism - The October Revolution, History of communism - The Stalin Era, History of communism - The Cold War, History of communism - Eastern Europe, History of communism - China, History of communism - North Korea, History of communism - Cuba, History of communism - Vietnam, History of communism - Laos, History of communism - Ethiopia, History of communism - South Yemen, History of communism - Angola, History of communism - The collapse of the Soviet Union, History of communism - Communism Today

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The International Military Tribunal was opened on October 18, 1945, in the Supreme Court Building in Berlin. The first session was presided over by the Soviet judge, Nikitchenko. The prosecution entered indictments against 24 major war criminals and six criminal organizations - the leadership of the Nazi party, the SS and SD, the Gestapo, the SA and the High Command of the German army (OKW). The indictments were for: participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of crime against peace planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression and other crime against peace

The Nuremberg trials had a great influence on the development of international criminal law. The International Law Commission, acting on the request of the United Nations General Assembly, produced in 1950 the report Principles of International Law Recognized in the Charter of the Nürnberg Tribunal and in the Judgment of the Tribunal (Yearbook of the International Law Commission, 1950, vol. III). The influence of the tribunal can also be seen in the proposals for a permanent international criminal court, and th ...

See also:

Nuremberg Trials, Nuremberg Trials - Origin of the trials, Nuremberg Trials - Creation of the court, Nuremberg Trials - Location, Nuremberg Trials - Participants, Nuremberg Trials - The validity of the court, Nuremberg Trials - The main trial, Nuremberg Trials - Influence on the development of international criminal law, Nuremberg Trials - Endnotes, Nuremberg Trials - Notes

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The cost of reunification has been a heavy burden to the German economy and has contributed to Germany’s slowed economic growth in recent years. The costs of reunification are estimated to amount to over 1.5 trillion Euro (statement of Freie Universität Berlin) (1.9 trillion U.S. Dollars). This is more than the national debt of the German state [1]. The primary cause of this was the severe weakness of the East German economy, especially vis-à-vis the West German economy, combined with (politically motivated) conversion rates from the Eas ...

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German reunification, German reunification - Background, German reunification - The end of the division “Wende”, German reunification - Effects of reunification

Read more here: » German reunification: Encyclopedia II - German reunification - Effects of reunification

1 Conquest, Robert The Great Terror A Reassessment London: Oxford University Press page 92. 2 Bauer, Eddy The Marshall Cavendish Illustrated Encyclopedia of World War II Volume 22 New York: Marshall Cavendish Corporation 1972 page 3071. ...

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Nuremberg Trials, Nuremberg Trials - Origin of the trials, Nuremberg Trials - Creation of the court, Nuremberg Trials - Location, Nuremberg Trials - Participants, Nuremberg Trials - The validity of the court, Nuremberg Trials - The main trial, Nuremberg Trials - Influence on the development of international criminal law, Nuremberg Trials - Endnotes, Nuremberg Trials - Notes

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At the Fifteenth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in December 1927, Stalin attacked the left by expelling Trotsky and his supporters from the party and then moving against the right by abandoning Lenin's New Economic Policy which had been championed by Nikolai Bukharin and Alexei Ivanovich Rykov. Warning delegates of an impending capitalist encirclement, he stressed that survival and development could only occur by pursuing the rapid development of heavy industry. Stalin remarked that the Soviet Union was "fifty to a hundr ...

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History of communism, History of communism - Early Communism, History of communism - Karl Marx and The Communist Manifesto, History of communism - The October Revolution, History of communism - The Stalin Era, History of communism - The Cold War, History of communism - Eastern Europe, History of communism - China, History of communism - North Korea, History of communism - Cuba, History of communism - Vietnam, History of communism - Laos, History of communism - Ethiopia, History of communism - South Yemen, History of communism - Angola, History of communism - The collapse of the Soviet Union, History of communism - Communism Today

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The 1917 October Revolution, led by Vladimir Lenin was the first large scale attempt to put Marxist ideas about a workers' state into practice. The new government faced counter-revolution, civil war and foreign intervention. Socialist revolution in Germany and other western countries failed and the Soviet Union was on its own. An intense period of debate and stopgap solutions ensued, war communism and the New Economic Policy (NEP). Lenin died and Joseph Stalin gradually assumed control, eliminating rivals for power. He instituted a ruthless program of industrialisation which, whi ...

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History of communism, History of communism - Early Communism, History of communism - Karl Marx and The Communist Manifesto, History of communism - The October Revolution, History of communism - The Stalin Era, History of communism - The Cold War, History of communism - Eastern Europe, History of communism - China, History of communism - North Korea, History of communism - Cuba, History of communism - Vietnam, History of communism - Laos, History of communism - Ethiopia, History of communism - South Yemen, History of communism - Angola, History of communism - The collapse of the Soviet Union, History of communism - Communism Today

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East Germany - Music. Rock bands were expected to sing in German only. This seemed a logical constraint by Party leaders but it was somewhat unpopular amongst young people. Another problem for the authorities was having to check song texts very carefully for anti-socialist tendencies. The band Renft, for example, was prone to political misbehaviour, which eventually led to its breakdown. The Puhdys and Karat were popular mainstream bands, managing to hint at critical thoughts in their lyrics without being explicit. Like most mainstream acts, they appeared in popular youth magazines such a ...

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East Germany, East Germany - History, East Germany - Politics, East Germany - In General, East Germany - Persons of note in East Germany, East Germany - Subdivisions, East Germany - Economy, East Germany - Culture, East Germany - Music, East Germany - Theater, East Germany - Cinema, East Germany - Miscellaneous topics

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Main article: Subdivisions of East Germany In 1952, the Länder of East Germany were abolished, and East Germany was divided into fifteen Bezirke (districts), each named after the largest city: Rostock; Schwerin; Neubrandenburg; Magdeburg; Potsdam; Berlin; Frankfurt (Oder); Cottbus; Halle; Erfurt; Leipzig; Dresden; Karl-Marx-Stadt (now again Chemnitz); Gera; Suhl ...

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East Germany, East Germany - History, East Germany - Politics, East Germany - In General, East Germany - Persons of note in East Germany, East Germany - Subdivisions, East Germany - Economy, East Germany - Culture, East Germany - Music, East Germany - Theater, East Germany - Cinema, East Germany - Miscellaneous topics

Read more here: » East Germany: Encyclopedia II - East Germany - Subdivisions

Main article: Politics of East Germany East Germany - In General. The equivalent of the Communist Party in East Germany was the Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (Socialist Unity Party of Germany, SED), which along with other parties, was part of the National Front of Democratic Germany. It was created in 1946 through the merger of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in the Soviet controlled zone. Following reunification, the SED was renamed ...

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East Germany, East Germany - History, East Germany - Politics, East Germany - In General, East Germany - Persons of note in East Germany, East Germany - Subdivisions, East Germany - Economy, East Germany - Culture, East Germany - Music, East Germany - Theater, East Germany - Cinema, East Germany - Miscellaneous topics

Read more here: » East Germany: Encyclopedia II - East Germany - Politics

Under the red-green government, the German Federal Government began an initiative to get a permanent seat in the Security Council of the United Nations, as part of the Reform of the United Nations. This would require approval of a two-thirds majority of the member states and approval of all five Security Council veto powers. This aspiration could be successful due to Germany's good relations with the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation. Furthermore, Germany's long-term relation to France may support this. Germany is ...

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Foreign relations of the Federal Republic of Germany, Foreign relations of the Federal Republic of Germany - Berlin, Foreign relations of the Federal Republic of Germany - International disputes, Foreign relations of the Federal Republic of Germany - Illicit drugs, Foreign relations of the Federal Republic of Germany - Germany's initiative for a permanent seat in the Security Council of the United Nations

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German Emergency Acts - Right to resist. To appease critics, a fourth paragraph was introduced in Article 20 of the Grundgesetz, giving the people of Germany the right, if no other remedy was possible, to resist anyone trying to go against the constitutional laws. German Emergency Acts - States of defence states of tension internal states of emergency disasters. The law contains legislation on what happens in case of a state of defence, a state of tension, or an internal state of emergency or disaster comes abou ...

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German Emergency Acts, German Emergency Acts - Development, German Emergency Acts - Contents of the law, German Emergency Acts - Right to resist, German Emergency Acts - States of defence states of tension internal states of emergency disasters, German Emergency Acts - Emergency legislation, German Emergency Acts - Limitations of basic constitutional rights, German Emergency Acts - Compulsory military service, German Emergency Acts - Natural disasters

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Although Marx addressed a wide range of issues, he is most famous for his analysis of history in terms of class struggle, summed up in the famous line from the introduction to the Communist Manifesto: "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle". The Communist Manifesto, also known as The Manifesto of the Communist Party, first published on February 21, 1848 by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, is one of the world's most historically influential political tracts. Commissioned by th ...

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History of communism, History of communism - Early Communism, History of communism - Karl Marx and The Communist Manifesto, History of communism - The October Revolution, History of communism - The Stalin Era, History of communism - The Cold War, History of communism - Eastern Europe, History of communism - China, History of communism - North Korea, History of communism - Cuba, History of communism - Vietnam, History of communism - Laos, History of communism - Ethiopia, History of communism - South Yemen, History of communism - Angola, History of communism - The collapse of the Soviet Union, History of communism - Communism Today

Read more here: » History of communism: Encyclopedia II - History of communism - Karl Marx and The Communist Manifesto

The notion of communism - the idea of a classless, stateless society based on communal ownership of property and wealth, stretches far back in Western thought long predating The Communist Manifesto. Some have even traced communist ideas back to ancient times, such as in Plato's The Republic; or (perhaps with more justification) in the life of the early Christian Church, as described in the Acts of the Apostles (see Christian communism). Other attempts to establish communistic societies ...

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History of communism, History of communism - Early Communism, History of communism - Karl Marx and The Communist Manifesto, History of communism - The October Revolution, History of communism - The Stalin Era, History of communism - The Cold War, History of communism - Eastern Europe, History of communism - China, History of communism - North Korea, History of communism - Cuba, History of communism - Vietnam, History of communism - Laos, History of communism - Ethiopia, History of communism - South Yemen, History of communism - Angola, History of communism - The collapse of the Soviet Union, History of communism - Communism Today

Read more here: » History of communism: Encyclopedia II - History of communism - Early Communism

Main articles: History of the German Democratic Republic, History of Germany The territories of East Germany were settled by Germanic peoples during the last few centuries BC. During the post-Roman migration period, many of these populations left for other lands, and Slavic Wends settled in their wake. German imperial rulers reconquered the area during the Middle Ages. The newly acquired land was organised in margravates, German feudal states on the land of Slavs. Consequent waves of German settlements, which in subsequent cent ...

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East Germany, East Germany - History, East Germany - Politics, East Germany - In General, East Germany - Persons of note in East Germany, East Germany - Subdivisions, East Germany - Economy, East Germany - Culture, East Germany - Music, East Germany - Theater, East Germany - Cinema, East Germany - Miscellaneous topics

Read more here: » East Germany: Encyclopedia II - East Germany - History

The Nuremberg trials had a great influence on the development of international criminal law. The International Law Commission, acting on the request of the United Nations General Assembly, produced in 1950 the report Principles of International Law Recognized in the Charter of the Nürnberg Tribunal and in the Judgment of the Tribunal (Yearbook of the International Law Commission, 1950, vol. III). The influence of the tribunal can also be seen in the proposals for a permanent international criminal court, and th ...

See also:

Nuremberg Trials, Nuremberg Trials - Origin of the trials, Nuremberg Trials - Creation of the court, Nuremberg Trials - Location, Nuremberg Trials - Participants, Nuremberg Trials - The validity of the court, Nuremberg Trials - The main trial, Nuremberg Trials - Influence on the development of international criminal law, Nuremberg Trials - Notes

Read more here: » Nuremberg Trials: Encyclopedia II - Nuremberg Trials - Influence on the development of international criminal law

The Western Allies turned over increasing authority to German officials and moved to establish a nucleus for a future German government by creating a central Economic Council for their zones. The program later provided for a West German constituent assembly, an occupation statute governing relations between the Allies and the German authorities, and the political and economic merger of the French with the British and American zones. On May 23, 1949, the Grundgesetz (Basic Law), the constitution of the Federal Republic of German ...

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History of Germany since 1945, History of Germany since 1945 - The division of Germany, History of Germany since 1945 - Two Germanies, History of Germany since 1945 - West Germany, History of Germany since 1945 - East Germany, History of Germany since 1945 - East-West Relations, History of Germany since 1945 - The unification of East and West Germany, History of Germany since 1945 - Background, History of Germany since 1945 - Settlement, History of Germany since 1945 - Germany today

Read more here: » History of Germany since 1945: Encyclopedia II - History of Germany since 1945 - West Germany

The cost of reunification has been a heavy burden to the German economy and has contributed to Germany’s slowed economic growth in recent years. The costs of reunification are estimated to amount to over 1.5 trillion Euro (statement of Freie Universität Berlin) (1.9 trillion U.S. Dollars). This is more than the national debt of the German state [1]. The primary cause of this was the severe weakness of the East German economy, especially vis-à-vis the West German economy, combined with (politically motivated) conversion rates from East Ge ...

See also:

German reunification, German reunification - Background, German reunification - The end of the division “Wende”, German reunification - Effects of reunification

Read more here: » German reunification: Encyclopedia II - German reunification - Effects of reunification

After the end of World War II in Europe, Germany had been divided into four occupation zones. The old capital of Berlin, as the seat of the Allied Control Council, was itself subdivided into four occupation zones. Although the intent was for the occupying powers to govern Germany together in the borders from 1947, the advent of Cold War tension caused the French, British and American zones to be formed into the Federal Republic of Germany (and West Berlin) in 1949, excluding the Soviet zone which then formed the German Democratic Republic (i ...

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German reunification, German reunification - Background, German reunification - The end of the division “Wende”, German reunification - Effects of reunification

Read more here: » German reunification: Encyclopedia II - German reunification - Background

Main article: History of East Germany In the Soviet occupation zone, the Social Democratic Party was forced to merge with the Communist Party in April 1946 to form a new party, the Socialist Unity Party (SED). The October 1946 elections resulted in coalition governments in the five Land (state) parliaments with the SED as the undisputed leader. A series of people's congresses were called in 1948 and early 1949 by the SED. Under Soviet direction, a constitution was drafted on May 30, 1949, and adopted on October 7, ...

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History of Germany since 1945, History of Germany since 1945 - The division of Germany, History of Germany since 1945 - Two Germanies, History of Germany since 1945 - West Germany, History of Germany since 1945 - East Germany, History of Germany since 1945 - East-West Relations, History of Germany since 1945 - The unification of East and West Germany, History of Germany since 1945 - Background, History of Germany since 1945 - Settlement, History of Germany since 1945 - Germany today

Read more here: » History of Germany since 1945: Encyclopedia II - History of Germany since 1945 - East Germany