The west german reaction to elvis is best explained as resulting from which of the following?

Following the German surrender to the Allied powers on May 8, 1945, Germany was occupied and divided into four zones. Each of the main Allied powers (the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and France) was responsible for the administration of its zone. In 1947, the United States and Great Britain merged their zones. After tensions arose between Soviets and the Western powers, the German Federal Republic (FRG, commonly known as West Germany) was created out of the American, British, and French zones on September 21, 1949. The Soviets then oversaw the creation of the German Democratic Republic (GDR, commonly known as East Germany) out of their zone of occupation on October 7, 1949. The United States responded by stating its position that the GDR was “without any legal validity,” and that the United States would “continue to give full support to the Government of the German Federal Republic at Bonn in its efforts to restore a truly free and democratic Germany.” As prospects for early reunification of Germany dimmed, the United States established full diplomatic relations with the FRG on May 6, 1955.

In response to the improvement of relations between the two German governments, representatives of the United States and GDR negotiated arrangements for U.S. recognition of the GDR and the establishment of diplomatic relations, which occurred on September 4, 1974, when the United States and East Germany released a joint communiqué to that effect. Despite this step taken to deal with the reality of the German situation, the United States continued until German reunification in 1990 to view the FRG as the sole legitimate successor government of the historical German state and a future reunified Germany.

The American Embassy in Berlin was established on December 9, 1974, with Brandon H. Grove, Jr., as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim. John Sherman Cooper presented his credentials as the first U.S. Ambassador to the GDR on December 20, 1974.

Following the collapse of one-party rule in East Germany in late-1989, the signing of a Unification Treaty by East and West German Governments on August 31, 1990, and a series of meetings between the foreign ministers of East and West Germany, the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union in Bonn, Berlin, Paris, and Moscow, a Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany (the so-called “Two Plus Four Agreement”) was signed in Moscow on September 12, 1990.

On September 25, 1990, President George H.W. Bush submitted the treaty for ratification, and the U.S. Senate obliged unanimously on October 10. The treaty finally went into effect on March 15, 1991. Since the five constituent federal states of the German Democratic Republic were technically absorbed by the Federal Republic of Germany under the terms of Article 23 of the “Basic Law” (which was subsequently abolished under the terms of the Unification Treaty so as to limit any further changes to the borders of Germany), there was no reason for the United States to recognize the reunified Germany as a “new state.” The United States maintained its embassy in Bonn; however, it closed its embassy in Berlin on October 2, 1990.

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On June 16, 1953, workers in East Berlin rose in protest against government demands to increase productivity. Within days, nearly a million East Germans joined the protests and began rioting across hundreds of East German cities and towns. In order to prolong the uprising and win support for the West, the United States established an aid program to feed East Germans. The program, which continued until October 1953, proved very popular with East Germans and highlighted the repression and privations of life under communism.

The uprising was a product of Soviet and East German reaction to West Germany’s formal alignment to the West. In May 1952, Western powers signed the General (Bonn) and European Defense Community (EDC) treaties. These treaties were, in essence, a rejection of Stalin’s March 1952 offer to agree to a unified Germany on the condition that it remained unarmed. In response to West Germany’s absorption and rearmament by the Western powers, the Soviets and the regime of East German General Secretary Walter Ulbricht decided to unequivocally transform East Germany into a Soviet satellite state.

At the heart of East Germany’s transformation, a process dubbed “Constructing Socialism” enacted forced collectivization of agriculture, a campaign against private trade and Industry, and the development of heavy industry. Collectivization produced severe food shortages, which began in the winter and spring of 1953. Forced remilitarization, the suppression of churches, and the persecution of opposition also added to the strain on the population. East Germans emigrated en masse to West Germany via West Berlin, protest movements flourished, and expressions of general dissatisfaction characterized public life.

In April 1953, after the death of Stalin, Soviet authorities sought to rein in Ulbricht’s regime, which advocated even more collectivization. Moscow persuaded Ulbricht to relax or discontinue parts of the “Constructing Socialism” movement in a new campaign called the “New Course.” Because many people perceived the “New Course” as a capitulation to the West, and also because the treatment of manufacturing workers remained harsh, the relaxation of “Constructing Socialism” transformed general discontent into open defiance. On June 16, a few hundred workers called for a general strike. The next day, demonstrations and rioting broke out throughout East Germany. The Soviet occupation forces declared martial law and used massive military force to suppress the rioting and support the East German regime.

In response, the United States under the leadership of President Dwight D. Eisenhower showed its support for the uprising by establishing a large scale food relief program for East Germans, which was officially announced on July 10 and commenced on July 27. Under this program, the United States pledged to distribute $15 million worth of food from 35 distribution centers established in West Berlin, to which East Germans had access through East Berlin. The so called “Eisenhower packages” contained lard, peas, flour, and pasteurized milk. The United States distributed over 5 million packages through these centers to over a million East Germans who were able to gain access to East Berlin. In response, the East German Government cut off rail and bus traffic to West Berlin, which further heightened tensions. The program put Ulbricht on the defensive and extended the atmosphere of crisis across East Germany.

In addition to achieving humanitarian objectives through this assistance program, the United States sought to destabilize East Germany and weaken Ulbricht’s regime. The Eisenhower administration also hoped to deter Soviet initiatives to start talks on German reunification. Washington believed that any movement toward unification on Soviet terms or even a lessening of the crisis would threaten the delicate process of Western European military integration and weaken an already tenuous French resolve to ratify the European Defense Community (EDC) treaty. The United States was also concerned that unification negations would undermine West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer because he had based his administration on alignment with the West. President Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles attempted to exploit the uprising in East Germany in order to undercut the Soviet Union’s post-Stalin “Peace and Unity” campaign, bolster support for West German rearmament and the EDC, and weaken the Soviets’ initiative toward German unification.

As the food aid continued, Western European governments grew apprehensive that Soviet military action against West Berlin was a real possibility. The campaign also experienced diminishing returns as the East German regime tightened control over the population and prevented people from receiving the aid. The campaign ended in early October.