Consolidation of the SED Flashcards
What was the SED and who led it?
Leading communist party in the East; Walter Ulbricht
How did the SED win popular support?
Confiscation of property from Junkers, Nazis and war criminals
What did the SED want?
‘The establishment of an anti-fascist, democratic regime, a parliamentary democratic republic.’
What 2 new parties were formed?
National Democratic Party (Nazis) and Democratic Peasants Party of Germany
What did the parties agree was needed?
State control and economic intervention
What was support like for the communists initially?
Did not have mass support and couldn’t control all areas of life
What did communists ensure they controlled?
Education and appointment of personal
What did popular support allow communists to do?
Eliminate other political parties
What was limited?
Free expression
When was democracy abandoned?
1948-49
What did the SED announce?
A Marxist-Leninist ‘Party’
