3 - the consolidation of the sed & developments in the soviet zone

Question 1

leading communist party in the East

Answer 1

SED

Question 2

leader of the SED

Answer 2

Walter Ulbricht

Question 3

How did the SED win popular support?

Answer 3

• claimed to be liberator from fascism
• argued that ordinary workers & peasants = innocent of Nazism & war guilt
• property belonging to absentee factory workers, Nazis, war criminals & Junkers was confiscated
• claimed it was wrong to impose Soviet system

Question 4

two new parties set up by SED

Answer 4

• National Democratic Party (aimed at former Nazis)
• Democratic Peasants Party of Germany (aimed at peasants)

Question 5

How did the communists dominate the Eastern zone?

Answer 5

• ensured control of education (meant future generations were educated in communist principles)
• ensured control over appointment of personnel (group of reliable supporters in key areas)
• gradually eliminated other political groups & views
• Soviet military command suppressed political party activity in Berlin -> CDU & LDPD ended
• free expression & political dissent = severely limited
• military govt determined appointments & dismissals

Question 6

initial support for the SED

Answer 6

• didn’t have mass support
• couldn’t control all areas of life
• non-communists were appointed as mayors in some areas of East Germany

Question 7

When was democracy formally abandoned?

Answer 7

1948-49

Question 8

What did the SED do once democracy was formally abandoned in 1948-49?

Answer 8

• announced a Marxist-Leninist ‘Party of a New Type’ (based on the principle of democratic centralism)
• established ‘mass organisations’ under communist control of youth, women & unions in the Soviet zone

Question 9

democratic centralism

Answer 9

decisions taken at the centre are passed down to the people (views of the people should be influenced by the communist party & passed up to the centre)