Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
modernize and expand the program, but not until five years later did it
issue the Technical Guidelines, which in turn required implementation by
the state governments.
Brandt finally led his Socialist Party to victory in 1969, forming a coali-
tion with the small Free Democratic Party to gain a majority in parliament.
Brandt personally did not do much for the environment immediately,
but he did appoint Hans-Dietrich Genscher from his partner party to
become the minister of the Interior, in which capacity Genscher promoted
environ mental programs.
East Germany: After 1945 the Soviet occupation zone became a country
separate from West Germany. Only the Communist Party was allowed.
Devastation from the war had been severe, and the Soviets demanded
reparations in the form of money and machinery. Food was scarce. The
Communists seized most private property and established government
ownership of the means of production following the Soviet model. The
government built heavy industries like steel, and planned the total econ-
omy. An uprising in Berlin in June 1953 spread throughout the country,
causing the Soviet Red Army to suppress it. Afterward, the Soviets tried
to improve economic conditions, especially food and consumer products.
Nevertheless, four million people from the East fled to the West, which
was easy to do in Berlin where people routinely traveled between the east-
ern and western sectors. In 1961 the Soviets erected a wall through the
middle of the city to cut of the emigration. Besides forcibly retaining its
best workers in the East, the Communist regime tried to improve eco-
nomic conditions by easing up on the central planning, which was stifling
efficiency. Productivity improved during the 1960s.
The relations between the two halves of Germany were close to war.
The border was fortified with barbed wire, concrete tank barriers, and
explosive mines. NATO troops patrolled on one side and Soviet and East
German troops patrolled the other side. Both had nuclear weapons aimed
at the other. After the Wall was built, Berlin became totally divided. Both
sides spied on each other.
Environmental conditions were horrendous. Government heavy indus-
tries emitted tons of smoke and fumes into the air and chemicals into the
water, and the main fuel was coal. Communist economic theory gave no
place to protection. Worse still, the factories were not very efficient, and
their products were not attractive to consumers. The Trabant automobile
typified the backwardness of the country. Using obsolete engineering, these
cars drove badly, were uncomfortable, and spewed out pollution. When in
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