History-GDR definitions Flashcards
What are the 4Ds discussed at Potsdam conference in 1945
Denazify
Demilitarisation
Deindustrialising
Democratic
What were the SMAD?
- stands for soviet military Administration
-were military gov that ruled the soviet occupation zone in Germany
-main purpose was to maintain the unity of Germany
What is the soviet occupation zone?
An area of Germany occupied by the Soviet Union as an communist area
What were the conditions in the soviet zone after the war?
-population was 17 million in 1939 due to war
- rose to 19 million in 1947
-For every 100 peoples of employment, 58 were not
-consisted of a lot of young and elderly people as opposed to wage earners
What was saxony-anhalt
-inside the soviet zone where it was an industrial centre holding 50% of machine tool product within the zone
-had the biggest percentage of its labour force working in industry in all Germany
What was the soviet policy/ Stalin’s early pan
-Stalin had no desire to initially transform it into a communist republic
-he wanted to see a reunited Germany preferably under communist control
-did this by deploying German communist in key positions under the soviet administrations
What is the Marxist Leninist principle?
-Marxist believed that the working class would rise up to overthrow the bourgeoisie who ruled over them
-principles that states a communist revolution is needed to replace capitalism
What was the soviet zone ruled by ( 3 type of group)
- The SMAD which was military government that tried to maintain the unity of Germany
- a group of experience German communist like Walter ulbricht
- after the division, pieck elected 150 German communist to help administer
- this ideas was to ensure communist held key positions like responsibility for security and education
Facts about the SMAD?
-50000 members, 21 generals
-Were supported by the Russian troops
-Role was to ensure the soviet zone run in the ways Stalin wanted to
-another role was to supervise all German administration
What lead to the creation of socialist unity party?
-In June 1945 the SMAD organised political parties within the soviet to develop and influence those in the western sectors
-2 socialist party was the socialist party of Germany(SPD) and the communist party( KPD)
- they seemed for state control over key industries and the abolition of private ownership
What lead to the merger of KPD and SPD?
- a communist theorist Anton Ackerman wrote and influential article in 1949 about Germany needing to be a socialist
- it would be a democratic vote
-the idea was that a merger would create a party large enough to win in future elections - in April 1946 east Berlin the merger was agreed+ SED formed
- in 1948 there was 2 mill members
What were the views of the merger of the KPD and SPD?
-The SMAD and KPD were satisfied as it would create a one large communist party
-SPD saw it as a way of taking power but also preventing any future nazi type party
Events that showed the less success of the SED?
-in march 1946 a reterndum was held in the western zones of Berlin and 20000 members voted against it and only 3000 did vote
-communist could not win free elections
- in oct 1946 election to create a Berlin administration but SED won less than 20% of vote and another one failed to get over 50%
How did the soviet take the eradication of nazism to their own advantage?
- many former nazi party members and officials were arrested and dented to camps like buchenward
-inmates were beaten, worked as slaves and lived in inhumane conditions
-they’re were joined with dissident( opposing) communist who opposed the new regime - 3000 died in camps between 1945 and 1950 which included the SPD or they would be sent to the USSR, execute or imprisoned within the gulage system
- This was effective to purge the soviet zone of any potential opposition
What were the new regime in 1945 about nazi( land property and education)
Land reforms in 1945-landowners who supported nazism lost their land without compensation affects 33% of land
-the land were given to landless peasant/ smallholders
Property in oct 1945
-property and film of nazi was confiscated and either went to use for reparations or maintained as new public enterprises
- education
Higher education was opened up to members of the working class
By 1950 the amount of working class going went from 3% to 58%
School within the soviet zone taught a curriculum designed to promote communist ideas and engender support for the Russians
What was the payment of reparations
-Motive: Soviet Union expected harsh reparations in part to help rebuild its shattered economy
-this was done in the soviet occupation zone in Germany where they:
1) took industrial plant and equipment for the ussr
2) actual financial payment of 54 billion otsmark( East German mark)
I by did they stop reparations from soviet zone
-the system only became more efficient once the Russians realised they were not benefiting from such wastage and it was not their interest to take more from economically crippled zone
Why were the Soviet Union unpopular in 1945?
- cost of reparation was resented
- concentration camps and executions made German afraid
What was post war Germany like and how did the western zones co-operation intended to help?
- reparations was destroying the economy
-western Germany was dependent on food import from the east - Germans were starving of less than 1000 calories a day
- The western realised that the Germany poverty benefited nobody so they had to cooperation
-in 1946 USA and Britain formed bizonia and in 1949 they formed trizonia
What created tensions in the allied control council(ACC)
cooperation between the Russian and the western powers was breaking as
- US zone suspended the reparations payment to ussr because they refused to deliver food and coal across 4 zone
-communist takeover of Czechoslovakia in feb 1948
- Russian representative walked out the ACC over plans to introduce a new currency( Deutschmark) in the 3 western zones
-USA cancelled plans to reduce its military force
How did the federal republic of Germany (FRG) exist?
-the soviet withdraw from the ACC so the western powers introduced a new currency( the Deutschmark) into their zones
-the creation of a new state from their 3 zones which became the FRG in may 1949
Formation of the GDR in 1949?
-SED leaders spoke of creating a people’s democracy along the lines of other communist state
-Stalin doubted the SED had the power and instead on a slower route to communism
-he was also concerned about international reactions
- the soviet leaders knew it would take communist regime yeast to catch up economically with the FRG
- in 1947 the state was created
What were the attitudes toward the GDR?
-Stalin recognised that communism might not fit Germany so the GDR was not his desired outcome.
-he just hoped the success of communism in the soviet sone would help spread throughout Germany
-GDR has been termed “Stalin loved child” because it was knot created because of cooperation of the westerns zone/ trizonia
- GDR was not recognised by any countries except from the USSR and some Eastern Europe countries
What does volkskammer and landerkammer mean?
-V is the people’s chamber/ gov/ parliament
- L is states
What is a politburo?
A policymaking council of a communist party
What does article 6 state?
-Article 6 states that all citizens have equal rights before the law as long as you follow rules like not boycotting democratic institutions, attempting to kill on the life of democratic politicians and failing to obey will result in disqualification to hold public office and the right to vote and stand for election
What does article 8 state?
Article 8 states that every citizens has the right to have peaceful meetings without permission or authorisation
Who are stasi?
-secret police agency of the GDR
- most hated and feared institution
How was the system of gov like?
-the people’s congress turned itself into the volkskammer, the parliament of the GDR
-volkskammer were the supreme authority of GDR
-freedom of speech, religion were allowed
-trade unions were recognised
-people can worship whoever they want
What happened during the most important elections in the GDR during October 1950?
-volkskammer drew up candidate lists in election
-most non SED candidate were rejected like over 400 were rejected in saxony- Anhalt
-elections were carried out in a climate of fear as result of mass purges and bribery
-SED took 110 vote with CBU AND CPD taking over 60
-all these mass organisations were dominated by the SED so SED would still dominant
How did the SED dominant the state?
-SED dominated the GDR
-the council of ministers had to agree with SED decisions
-SED dominated public jobs with working class e.g by the end of 1940s 49% had working class background
- working class had special courses to bring them to higher education
-this was done purposely so then have official to the communist system
How did the stasi took actions from 1950-52?
-8800 members between 1950-52
arrest potential opponents including the SED who:
- spent time in the west
-had been in contact with the Noel field/ American communist accused of working class for the CIA
-anyone who supported Zionism because they seemed as capitalist
