Economic change in the DDR Flashcards
What is collectivisation?
the process of joining together small, privately owned farms to create larger + more efficient units that could use machinery
What was the New Course?
the plan to change the direction of Soviet policy following the death of Stalin in 1953
designed to improve the standard of living + availability of consumer goods in the the satellite states under Soviet control
What economic policies were there in the DDR?
Land reform, collectivisation + agriculture
Industry and nationalisation
The Seven Year Plan
When was the Seven Year Plan introduced?
1959
When was the seven year plan abandoned?
1962
What was the aim of the seven year plan?
to align the economic development of the DDR with that of the Soviet Union
What was the impact of the seven year plan?
brought in some consumer goods & improvements in living + working conditions, but the consumer goods were expensive and not made in enough quantities
industrial growth declined, resulted in an increase in the number of people leaving the East until the construction of the Berlin Wall
What did the construction of the Berlin Wall?
(workforce)
helped to stabilise the workforce as it prevented movement to the West
also resulted in the loss of some economic freedoms as there was less fear of workers leaving
What was the NOSPL ?
the ‘New Economic System for Planning and Direction’
When was the NOSPL introduced?
1963
What did the NOSPL do?
brought greater flexibility & offered workers some input
allowed them to share profits which raised production levels
placed an emphasis on quality rather than quantity
When WW2 ended, what happened to large estates?
they were seized, divided up + given to the rural WC
this created problems as they were unable to farm profitable, since they lacked resources + machinery
the SED’s solution was collectivisation; the formation of ‘land production cooperatives’
What would the introduction of ‘land production co-operatives’ (LPGs) mean?
in place of individually owned farms, there would be agricultural collectives managed by the state on the model of those established by Stalin in the USSR in the 1930s
When did the process of collectivisation begin?
1952
it was part of the process of the ‘Building of Socialism’ that caused disquiet in Berlin the following year
How would collectivisation have made farming more efficient?
mechanisation and the use of tractor-lending stations became possible
What was the reaction to collectivisation?
policy was not popular, farmers abandoned their farms and fled West
some 13% of all agricultural land had been abandoned
What was the impact of the first wave of collectivisation? (1952)
farmers abandoned their farms + fled for west
this caused food shortages, a drop in production levels and contributed to social unrest
despite unpopularity, no of LPGs continued to grow, with only 1/3 of farms collectivised by 1958, so farming remained largely independent
When was collectivisaton reattempted?
1960/61
Why was collectivisation reattempted?
from 1959, Ulbricht’s position was secure and due to economic pressures
What was the aim of the second wave of collectivisation?
to create a socialist society on the land
What happened to farmers in the second wave of collectivisation?
farmers who did not join collectives were denied the use of machinery
party officials were sent to villages to persuade farmers of the merits of collectives
despite this, many remained unconvinced - led to arrests + land confiscations
What was the negative impacts of the second wave of collectivisation?
encouraged flight from the land, no of refugees going West reached peak in 1961, therefore played sig role in building of Berlin Wall
declining food production meant rationing had to be reintroduced in 1961
How many farms had been collectivised by 1962?
85%
often against farmer’s will
What were the positive impacts of the second wave of collectivisation?
agriculture was collectivised
in the long term, farms were made more efficient than many in other parts of Eastern and even Western Europe, but this was not until the 1970s
What had the SED already begun to discuss + how did they plan to pursue this policy?
a planned economy based on the Stalinist model
pursued through the period with the introduction of a series of plans
two year plan 1949-50
five year plan 1951-55
five year plan 1956-50 abandoned in 1958
seven year plan 1959-65, abandoned in 1962
New Economic System 1963-68
Why was it easier to implement change, than it had been on the land?
nationalisation was already in place in many industries
76% of production under the control of ‘People’s own Factories’ or VEBs, which were run and owned by the state
What was the emphasis on?
heavy industry, particularly fuel, power, iron steel, chemicals and building as the state looked to raise the low levels of productivity
Why is the extent to which the plans were a success, an area of controversy?
the state proclaimed the first Five Year Plan targets were comfortably exceeded + industrial production had doubled since 1950, however this argument is simplistic
Why is the state’s argument simplistic?
(about the first Five Year Plan’s targets being comfortably exceeded)
ignores the fact that many of the new factories & industries were constructed in inappropriate areas + not profitable
Why was the five year plan not successful?
quantity was put before quality, so quality of goods produced was low
planning was slow, so plans were often out of date before implemented + unable to respond to any short term changes
emphasis on heavy industry meant consumer goods were not produced
living standards improved slowly compared to West
Workers saw little gain from their work + moved to West where their skills would be better rewarded
What would the production of consumer goods helped with?
to stimulate the domestic market + reduce social unrest
What did the Second Plan focus on?
had more emphasis on consumer goods + attempted to emphasise the need for technological process
What were the positive impacts of the Second Plan?
there was some success; the economy grew by 12% in the late 1950s
this was accompanied by an improvement in living standards
What limits the success of the Second Plan?
rationing did not end until 1958
this was not on the scale of growth + improvements in the West
Despite these limitations, what signs of improvements were there?
workers’ cultural centres and polytechnics were opened + many essential goods eg bread had their prices set low
stabilised no of people fleeing to West
Why should improvements must be viewed as limited?
the underlying problems of the economy were never really tackled
subsiding food prices meant that the state did not have the money needed to invest in other sectors eg transport, to modernise industry
Overall, what shows there was positive economic change in the DDR?
by the early 1960s, East Germany was ranked tenth in the world for economic production
What shows there was negative economic change in the DDR?
its economy had been adapted to match that of the Soviet Union
poor planning + mismanagement added to problems, meant that despite the growth, the economy could have done a lot better & prevented the drain to the West
Why was the DDR’s economy being adapted to match that of the Soviet Union bad?
it meant it was impossible for it to develop a balanced economy, which could sustain high levels of growth
