vania-janet/multiturn-rag-retrieval-data huggingface dataset:
History of Germany (1945–90)
In October 1962 , the weekly news magazine Der Spiegel published an analysis of the West German military defense . The conclusion was that there were several weaknesses in the system . Ten days after publication , the offices of Der Spiegel in Hamburg were raided by the police and quantities of documents were seized under the orders of the CSU Defense Minister Franz Josef Strauss . Chancellor Adenauer proclaimed in the Bundestag that the article was tantamount to high treason and that the authors would be prosecuted . The editor / owner of the magazine , Rudolf Augstein spent some time in jail before the public outcry over the breaking of laws on freedom of the press became too loud to be ignored . The FDP members of Adenauer 's cabinet resigned from the government , demanding the resignation of Franz Josef Strauss , Defence Minister , who had decidedly overstepped his competence during the crisis by his heavy - handed attempt to silence Der Spiegel for essentially running a story that was unflattering to him ( which incidentally was true ) . The British historian Frederick Taylor argued that the Federal Republic under Adenauer retained many of the characteristics of the authoritarian `` deep state '' that existed under the Weimar Republic , and that the Der Spiegel affair marked an important turning point in German values as ordinary people rejected the old authoritarian values in favor of the more democratic values that are today seen as the bedrock of the Federal Republic . Adenauer 's own reputation was impaired by Spiegel affair and he announced that he would step down in the Fall of 1963 . His successor was to be the Economics Minister Ludwig Erhard , who was the man widely credited as the father of the `` economic miracle '' of the 1950s and of whom great things were expected .
Operation Barbarossa
On 29 June , Hitler , through the Commander - in - Chief of the German Army Walther von Brauchitsch , instructed the commander of Army Group Center Fedor von Bock to halt the advance of his panzers until the infantry formations liquidating the pockets catch up . But the commander of the 2nd Panzer Group Heinz Guderian , with the tacit support of Fedor von Bock and the chief of OKH Franz Halder , ignored the instruction and attacked on eastward towards Bobruisk , albeit reporting the advance as a reconnaissance - in - force . He also personally conducted an aerial inspection of the Minsk - Białystok pocket on 30 June and concluded that his panzer group was not needed to contain it , since Hermann Hoth 's 3rd Panzer Group was already involved in the Minsk pocket . On the same day , some of the infantry corps of the 9th and 4th Armies , having sufficiently liquidated the Białystok pocket , resumed their march eastward to catch up with the panzer groups . On 1 July , Fedor von Bock ordered the panzer groups to resume their full offensive eastward on the morning of 3 July . But Brauchitsch , upholding Hitler 's instruction , and Halder , unwillingly going along with it , opposed Bock 's order . However , Bock insisted on the order by stating that it would be irresponsible to reverse orders already issued . The panzer groups , however , resumed their offensive on 2 July before the infantry formations had sufficiently caught up .
Axis powers
Germany 's invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 involved issues of lebensraum , anti-communism , and Soviet foreign policy . Hitler in his early years as Nazi leader had claimed that he would be willing to accept friendly relations with Russia on the tactical condition that Russia agree to return to the borders established by the German -- Russian peace agreement of the Treaty of Brest - Litovsk signed by Vladimir Lenin of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic in 1918 which gave large territories held by Russia to German control in exchange for peace . Hitler in 1921 had commended the Treaty of Brest Litovsk as opening the possibility for restoration of relations between Germany and Russia , saying :
Modern history
The Cold War drew to a close in the late 1980s and the early 1990s . The United States under President Ronald Reagan increased diplomatic , military , and economic pressure on the Soviet Union , which was already suffering from severe economic stagnation . In the second half of the 1980s , newly appointed Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced the perestroika and glasnost reforms . The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 , leaving the United States as the dominant military power , though Russia retained much of the massive Soviet nuclear arsenal . Latin
Munich Agreement
Before the Munich Agreement Hitler 's determination to invade Czechoslovakia on 1 October 1938 had provoked a major crisis in the German command structure . The Chief of the General Staff , General Ludwig Beck , protested in a lengthy series of memos that it would start a world war that Germany would lose , and urged Hitler to put off the projected war . Hitler called Beck 's arguments against war `` kindische Kräfteberechnungen '' ( `` childish force calculations '' ) . On 4 August 1938 , a secret Army meeting was held . Beck read his lengthy report to the assembled officers . They all agreed something had to be done to prevent certain disaster . Beck hoped they would all resign together but no one resigned except Beck . However his replacement , General Franz Halder , sympathised with Beck and they both conspired with several top generals , Admiral Wilhelm Canaris ( Chief of German Intelligence ) , and Graf von Helldorf ( Berlin 's Police Chief ) to arrest Hitler the moment he gave the invasion order . However , the plan would only work if Britain issued a strong warning and a letter to the effect that they would fight to preserve Czechoslovakia . This would help to convince the German people that certain defeat awaited Germany . Agents were therefore sent to England to tell Chamberlain that an attack on Czechoslovakia was planned , and of their intention to overthrow Hitler if this occurred . However , the proposal was rejected by the British Cabinet and no such letter was issued . Accordingly , the proposed removal of Hitler did not go ahead . On this basis it has been argued that the Munich Agreement kept Hitler in power , although whether it would have been any more successful than the 1944 plot is doubtful . Map
Central Powers
The Ukrainian State was a client state of Germany led by Pavlo Skoropadskyi , who overthrew the government of the Ukrainian People 's Republic .
Operation Barbarossa
The German forces in the rear ( mostly Waffen - SS and Einsatzgruppen units ) were to operate in conquered territories to counter any partisan activity in areas they controlled , as well as to execute captured Soviet political commissars and Jews . On 17 June , Reich Main Security Office ( RSHA ) chief Reinhard Heydrich briefed around thirty to fifty Einsatzgruppen commanders on `` the policy of eliminating Jews in Soviet territories , at least in general terms '' . While the Einsatzgruppen were assigned to the Wehrmacht 's units , which provided them with supplies such as gasoline and food , they were controlled by the RSHA . The official plan for Barbarossa assumed that the army groups would be able to advance freely to their primary objectives simultaneously , without spreading thin , once they had won the border battles and destroyed the Red Army 's forces in the border area .
France–United Kingdom relations
Following D - Day , relations between the two peoples were at a high , as the British were greeted as liberators . Following the surrender of Germany in 1945 , the UK and France became close as both feared the Americans would withdraw from Europe leaving them vulnerable to the Soviet Union 's expanding communist bloc . The UK strongly advocated that France be given a zone of occupied Germany . Both states were amongst the five Permanent Members of the new UN Security Council , where they commonly collaborated .
Marshall Plan
Initial criticism of the Marshall Plan came from a number of economists . Wilhelm Röpke , who influenced German Minister for Economy Ludwig Erhard in his economic recovery program , believed recovery would be found in eliminating central planning and restoring a market economy in Europe , especially in those countries which had adopted more fascist and corporatist economic policies . Röpke criticized the Marshall Plan for forestalling the transition to the free market by subsidizing the current , failing systems . Erhard put Röpke 's theory into practice and would later credit Röpke 's influence for West Germany 's preeminent success .
Operation Barbarossa
With the failure of the Battle of Moscow , all German plans for a quick defeat of the Soviet Union had to be revised . The Soviet counteroffensives in December 1941 caused heavy casualties on both sides , but ultimately eliminated the German threat to Moscow . Attempting to explain matters , Hitler issued Directive N. 39 , which cited the early onset of winter and the severe cold for the German failure , whereas the main reason was the German military unpreparedness for such a giant enterprise . On 22 June 1941 , the Wehrmacht as a whole had 209 divisions at its disposal , 163 of which were offensively capable . On 31 March 1942 , less than one year after the invasion of the Soviet Union , the Wehrmacht was reduced to fielding 58 offensively capable divisions . The Red Army 's tenacity and ability to counter-attack effectively took the Germans as much by surprise as their own initial attack had the Soviets . Spurred on by the successful defense and in an effort to imitate the Germans , Stalin wanted to begin his own blitzkrieg campaign , not just against the German forces around Moscow , but against their armies in the north and south . Anger over the failed German offensives caused Hitler to relieve Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch of command and in his place , Hitler assumed personal control of the German Army on 19 December 1941 .
Cuba–Soviet Union relations
The Soviet Union faced a varying array of problems when Gorbachev took power after the death of former General Secretary , Konstantin Chernenko , in 1985 . However , Gorbachev 's attempts at reforms not only provoked the strengthening of a vocal opposition frustrated over the pace of reforms , but it also placed the Soviets at odds with Cuba . The transition during perestroika towards market reforms weakened Soviet currency , resulting in a reduction of basic subsidies and widespread shortages of basic goods , a loss of jobs , and decreased productivity . These economic difficulties spread to other areas of Eastern Europe and other Soviet satellites , such as Cuba . In essence , perestroika progressively undermined the Soviet Union 's ability to live up to its economic commitments to Cuba .
Axis powers
There was substantial internal opposition within the German military to the Nazi regime 's aggressive strategy of rearmament and foreign policy in the 1930s . From 1936 to 1938 , Germany 's top four military leaders , Ludwig Beck , Werner von Blomberg , Werner von Fritsch , Walther von Reichenau , were all in opposition to the rearmament strategy and foreign policy . They criticized the hurried nature of rearmament , the lack of planning , Germany 's insufficient resources to carry out a war , the dangerous implications of Hitler 's foreign policy , and the increasing subordination of the army to the Nazi Party 's rules . These four military leaders were outspoken and public in their opposition to these tendencies . The Nazi regime responded with contempt to the four military leaders ' opposition , and Nazi members brewed a false crass scandal that alleged that the two top army leaders von Blomberg and von Fritsch were homosexual lovers , in order to pressure them to resign . Though started by lower - ranking Nazi members , Hitler took advantage of the scandal by forcing von Blomberg and von Fritsch to resign and replaced them with opportunists who were subservient to him . Shortly afterwards Hitler announced on 4 February 1938 that he was taking personal command over Germany 's military with the new High Command of the Armed Forces with the Führer as its head .
Gerontocracy
In the Soviet Union , gerontocracy became increasingly entrenched starting in the 1970s , at least until March 1985 , when a more dynamic and younger , ambitious leadership headed by Mikhail Gorbachev took power . Leonid Brezhnev , its foremost representative , died in 1982 aged 75 , but had suffered a heart attack in 1975 , after which generalized arteriosclerosis set in , so that he was progressively infirm and had trouble speaking . During his last two years he was essentially a figurehead .
Foreign relations of the Soviet Union
In 1978 , a revolution in Afghanistan brought to power a socialist government which , amid internal power struggles and foreign intervention , requested the neighboring Soviet Union to send military aid . Soviet intervention was seen as a hostile invasion by the United States and its allies , who funded the counter-revolutionary Mujahadeen , and thus led to a return to hostilities which were greatly exacerbated in the following years . When Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union in 1985 , he sought to restructure the Soviet Union to resemble the Scandinavian model of western social democracy and thus create a private sector economy . He removed Soviet troops from Afghanistan and began a hands - off approach in the USSR 's relations with its European allies . This was well received by the United States , which led to an end of the Cold War and , inadvertently , the collapse of the Soviet economy and , in 1991 , the dissolution of the USSR .
Cold War
Further Allied negotiations concerning the post-war balance took place at the Yalta Conference in February 1945 , albeit this conference also failed to reach a firm consensus on the framework for a post-war settlement in Europe . In April 1945 , President Roosevelt died and was succeeded by Harry S. Truman , who distrusted Stalin and turned for advice to an elite group of foreign policy intellectuals . Both Churchill and Truman opposed , among other things , the Soviets ' decision to prop up the Lublin government , the Soviet - controlled rival to the Polish government - in - exile in London , whose relations with the Soviets had been severed .
Erwin Rommel
Rommel has become a larger - than - life figure in both Allied and Nazi propaganda , and in postwar popular culture , with numerous authors considering him an apolitical , brilliant commander and a victim of the Third Reich although this assessment is contested by other authors as the Rommel myth . Rommel 's reputation for conducting a clean war was used in the interest of the West German rearmament and reconciliation between the former enemies -- the United Kingdom and the United States on one side and the new Federal Republic of Germany on the other . Several of Rommel 's former subordinates , notably his chief of staff Hans Speidel , played key roles in German rearmament and integration into NATO in the postwar era . The German Army 's largest military base , the Field Marshal Rommel Barracks , Augustdorf , is named in his honour .
Munich Agreement
After the meeting , French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier flew to London on 16 September to meet British officials to discuss a course of action . The situation in Czechoslovakia became more tense that day with the Czechoslovak government issuing an arrest warrant for the Sudeten German leader Henlein , who had arrived in Germany a day earlier to take part in the negotiations . The French proposals ranged from waging war against Germany to supporting the Sudetenland being ceded to Germany . The discussions ended with a firm British - French plan in place . Britain and France demanded that Czechoslovakia cede to Germany all those territories where the German population represented over fifty percent of the Sudetenland 's total population . In exchange for this concession , Britain and France would guarantee the independence of Czechoslovakia . The proposed solution was rejected by both Czechoslovakia and opponents of it in Britain and France . A
Modern history
After World War II , Europe was informally split into Western and Soviet spheres of influence . Western Europe later aligned as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO ) and Eastern Europe as the Warsaw Pact . There was a shift in power from Western Europe and the British Empire to the two new superpowers , the United States and the Soviet Union . These two rivals would later face off in the Cold War . In Asia , the defeat of Japan led to its democratization . China 's civil war continued through and after the war , resulting eventually in the establishment of the People 's Republic of China . The former colonies of the European powers began their road to independence . Post-1945
End of World War II in Europe
Jodl and Keitel surrender all German armed forces unconditionally : Thirty minutes after the fall of `` Festung Breslau '' ( Fortress Breslau ) , General Alfred Jodl arrived in Reims and , following Dönitz 's instructions , offered to surrender all forces fighting the Western Allies . This was exactly the same negotiating position that von Friedeburg had initially made to Montgomery , and like Montgomery the Supreme Allied Commander , General Dwight D. Eisenhower , threatened to break off all negotiations unless the Germans agreed to a complete unconditional surrender to all the Allies on all fronts . Eisenhower explicitly told Jodl that he would order western lines closed to German soldiers , thus forcing them to surrender to the Soviets . Jodl sent a signal to Dönitz , who was in Flensburg , informing him of Eisenhower 's declaration . Shortly after midnight , Dönitz , accepting the inevitable , sent a signal to Jodl authorizing the complete and total surrender of all German forces .
Cold War
After the death of Joseph Stalin , Nikita Khrushchev became the Soviet leader following the deposition and execution of Lavrentiy Beria and the pushing aside of rivals Georgy Malenkov and Vyacheslav Molotov . On 25 February 1956 , Khrushchev shocked delegates to the 20th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party by cataloguing and denouncing Stalin 's crimes . As part of a campaign of de-Stalinization , he declared that the only way to reform and move away from Stalin 's policies would be to acknowledge errors made in the past .
Surrender of Japan
The leaders of the major Allied powers met at the Potsdam Conference from July 16 to August 2 , 1945 . The participants were the Soviet Union , the United Kingdom , and the United States , represented by Stalin , Winston Churchill ( later Clement Attlee ) , and Truman respectively .
Marshall Plan
After Marshall 's appointment in January 1947 , administration officials met with Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov and others to press for an economically self - sufficient Germany , including a detailed accounting of the industrial plants , goods and infrastructure already removed by the Soviets in their occupied zone . Molotov refrained from supplying accounts of Soviet assets . The Soviets took a punitive approach , pressing for a delay rather than an acceleration in economic rehabilitation , demanding unconditional fulfillment of all prior reparation claims , and pressing for progress toward nationwide socioeconomic transformation .
World War II
In April 1940 , Germany invaded Denmark and Norway to protect shipments of iron ore from Sweden , which the Allies were attempting to cut off by unilaterally mining neutral Norwegian waters . Denmark capitulated after a few hours , and despite Allied support , during which the important harbour of Narvik temporarily was recaptured from the Germans , Norway was conquered within two months . British discontent over the Norwegian campaign led to the replacement of the British Prime Minister , Neville Chamberlain , with Winston Churchill on 10 May 1940 .
Erwin Rommel
Maurice Remy concludes that , unwillingly and probably without ever realising , Rommel was part of a murderous regime , although he never actually grasped the core of National Socialism . Peter Lieb sees Rommel as a person who could not be put into a single drawer , although problematic by modern moral standards , and suggests people to personally decide for themselves whether Rommel should remain a role model or not . Historian Cornelia Hecht remarks `` It is really hard to know who the man behind the myth was , '' noting that in numerous letters he wrote to his wife during their almost 30 - year marriage , he commented little on political issues as well as his personal life as a husband and a father .
Erwin Rommel
Curiously , a recent research by Norman Ohler claims that Rommel 's behaviours were heavily influenced by Pervitin which he reportedly took in heavy doses , to such an extent that Ohler referred to him as `` the Crystal Fox '' ( `` Kristallfuchs '' ) playing off the nickname `` the Desert Fox '' ( a nickname famously given to him by the British , as reported by other sources ) .
Reichstag fire
Dimitrov : Herr Prime Minister Göring stated on February 28 that , when arrested , the `` Dutch Communist Van der Lubbe had on his person his passport and a membership card of the Communist Party '' . From whom was this information taken ?
Reichstag fire
Göring : I shall tell you what the German people already know . They know that you are behaving in a disgraceful manner ! They know that you are a Communist crook who came to Germany to set the Reichstag on fire ! In my eyes you are nothing , but a scoundrel , a crook who belongs on the gallows ! `` .
Erwin Rommel
The Field Marshal was the German commander most frequently covered in the German media , and the only one to be given a press conference , which took place in October 1942 . The press conference was moderated by Goebbels and was attended by both domestic and foreign media . Rommel declared : `` Today we ( ... ) have the gates of Egypt in hand , and with the intent to act ! '' Keeping the focus on Rommel distracted the German public from Wehrmacht losses elsewhere as the tide of the war began to turn . He became a symbol that was used to reinforce the German public 's faith in an ultimate Axis victory .
Erwin Rommel
After the failed bomb attack of 20 July , many conspirators were arrested and the dragnet expanded to thousands . Rommel was first implicated when Stülpnagel , after his failed suicide attempt , repeatedly muttered `` Rommel '' in delirium . Under torture , Hofacker named Rommel as one of the participants . Additionally , Goerdeler had written down Rommel 's name on a list as potential Reich President ( according to Stroelin , they had not managed to announce this intention to Rommel yet and he probably never heard of it until the end of his life ) . On 27 September , Martin Bormann submitted to Hitler a memorandum which claimed that `` the late General Stülpnagel , Colonel von Hofacker , Kluge 's nephew who has been executed , Lieutenant Colonel Rathgens , and several ... living defendants have testified that Field Marshal Rommel was perfectly in the picture about the assassination plan and has promised to be at the disposal of the New Government . '' Gestapo agents were sent to Rommel 's house in Ulm and placed him under surveillance .
Erwin Rommel
Rommel supported the Nazi seizure of power and Adolf Hitler , although his reluctant stance towards antisemitism , Nazi ideology and level of knowledge of The Holocaust remain a matter of debate among scholars . In 1944 , Rommel was implicated in the 20 July plot to assassinate Hitler . Due to Rommel 's status as a national hero , Hitler desired to eliminate him quietly instead of immediately executing him , as many other plotters were . Rommel was given a choice between committing suicide , in return for assurances that his reputation would remain intact and that his family would not be persecuted following his death , or facing a trial that would result in his disgrace and execution ; he chose the former and committed suicide using a cyanide pill . Rommel was given a state funeral , and it was announced that he had succumbed to his injuries from the strafing of his staff car in Normandy .