The German Democratic Republic (GDR) 1949-1971 Flashcards
How was SED dominated rule established in the GDR in 1949?
- Tempoary coalition in October 1949
- SED dominated, but sharing with ‘Bourgeois’ CDU/LDP
- Soviet pressure=delayed elections to allow SED to build up power base
- East German Supreme Court/Department of Public prosecutions/Stasi by Fenuary 1950
- -> Allowed political opponents to be victimised in show trials. Included CDU/LDP and SPD suspected not to be loyal to the SPD
- Mass organisations infiltrated: Free German Trade Union Federation (FDGB) and Free German Youth (FDJ) who had representation in government
How did the ‘National Front’ help consolidate SED power in 1949?
- Pre 1950 election SED persuades CDU/LDP to join ‘national front’. List of candidates devised offer same policies, so candidates actually have little choice
- 99.72% of voters vote for ‘unity list’ but only 25% was SED
- Bourgeois parties sidelined
- 1952, 5 Lander in the GDR replaced with 14 Bezirke districts - furthered central SED dominated control
How did Walter Ulbricht colsolidate his personal power in the late 40s/early 50s?
- Party Secretary 1950
- Uncertain position in early years: USSR watching, interal opposition, explains supression of potential opposition in late 40s/early 50s -purge in 1952, social/public exclusion
- More secure by late 50s, backing of Erick Honecker, political bias of Judiciary, Stasi in feb 1950, police force to 50 000 in 1951
- Party and state united by 1952 when lander > 14 districts/Bezirk, leaders local party chiefs
Walter Ulbricht’s later leadership years
- Greater security of his position meant he more readily accepted new faces, experts or consultants, into the party to advise him. However he remained the final authority, power was still centralised
- Sustained his position as it was in USSR interests in the Cold War period
- Advisors: Erich Mielke, head of Stasi, Gunter Mittag - head of the Office for Industry/Construction from 1963
DECLINE:
- Ill health
- Aided rise of Honecker
- Honecker succeeds Ulbricht in 1971 after 22 years as leader
What caused the riots of June 1953
Short term causes:
-Ulbricht’s may 1953 directive, increased work norms by 10%
Other causes:
- Enforced socialism=mass departure of people (447 000 from 1951-1953)
- Worker resentment of low wages, high taxation and high food prices
- Independent buisnesses feared nationalisation
- Farmers resented low prices
Events of the Riots of June 1953
BEFORE THE RIOTS:
-Early June: SED leaders visit moscow, told to halt moves towards collectivisation, encourage independent buisnessman, stop persecution of churces, but didn’t force Ulbricht to cancel work norms. Riots were a suprise and shocked SED/USSR. Undermined Ulbricht who was vunerable after Stalins death early 1953
RIOTS:
-Strikes/demonstrations by workers that spread from East Berlin > whole of GDR , more than 400 cities towns and villages
-Became political, demands of free elections and chants of ‘death to communism!’
-372 000 strike
END OF THE RIOTS:
- USSR send in tanks/20 000 soviet soldiers+8000 people’s police
- Severe fighting, maybe 125 deaths (sed said 21)
Aftermath of the June 1953 riots
- Showed that Soviet style Communism had not been adopted by East Germans
- USSR continued to support Ulbricht so he could combat political/social crisis
- Officials including justice minister removed from the Central Committee/expelled from SED in January 1954 for supporting right to strike
- Ulbricht’s policies become hardline: 6000 arrests, 20 000 civil servants lost with 50 000 lesser party members. Stasi reform, daily reports and firm SED control. Soviets reequip police/paramilitary groups
What troubles did Ulbricht face in 1956?
- Khrushchev “destalinisation”, supported in GDR, critics of SED still about
- Further risings and strikes, Hungarian uprising late 1956
- Prompt action by Ulbricht to cut working day and release 20 000 political prisoners helped end disorder. Loyalty saw Khrushchev give Ulbricht another chance, dominant by 1958
What were Ulbricht’s aspirations for the East German economy, and why did these prove difficult to achieve?
Aspirations:
- workers’/peasants’ state
- Classless and industrial. Removal of land owning class, middle class, independent buisnesses
- Marxist Leninist state
Difficult to achieve because:
- Plants dismantled and USSR still demanded reparations, 25% of all industrial goods, until 1950. SED must refer to USSR to determine course of the economy
- Limited resources, isolated from Ruhr
- Loss of labour to West continued
- State planning towards collectivisation led to difficulties
Economy: Industrial policy in the GDR
- 213 SAGs to produce goods for USSR for reparations. Important factories in multiple areas
- VEB’s ‘Peoples’ enterprises’, nationalised industries, 76% of total production
- State trade organisations to sideline independent buisnesses
- 5 Year plans/production targets constantly revised, impression of progress. 1950: double output of 1936
- Joined COMECON 1950, 1951 76% output to USSR
- Profited from 2.3 million expellees into East German workforce
- Second 5 year plan 1956, regional specialisation. Replaced by 7 year plan in 1959, ambitious aims for energy production, chemicals and engineering. Ulbricht aimed to overtake FRG economy by the end of 1961. Unrealistic, abandoned 1962
How prosperous was the East German economy in the 1950s/1960s
Relatively unprosperous:
- Unrealistic ambitions: Plans altered constantly, may seem like progress but ultimately failure. 5 Year plan of 1956 abandoned 1959, and subsequent 7 year plan abandoned by 1962
- Little notice given to supply and demand, plans quickly outdated
- Managers met targets by lowering standards - encouraged shoddy workmanship and set targets only achievable with low wages and neglecting consumer industries
- Growth of 3% a year in 1960, but not impressive compared with 8% in FRG in 1950s
How did East Germany’s economic situation change after the Berlin Wall was erected?
- Prevented workers leaving in masses
- New system of more flexible economic planning
- Decentralisation, middle level management=focus on quality too
- However not compatible with continous fixed prices centrally. Plan scrapped in favour of increased centralisation in late 60s
East German Agricultural policy in the 50s and 60s
- Move towards collectivisation of farms
- Establishment of cooperatives in 1952. Previously independent farmers/farm owners had to join collective and borrow machinery from the government. 45% of agriculture by 1959
- Second collectivisation movement in 1960, now 85% of agriculture
EFFECT:
- Initially detrimental, Lack of food contributed to June 1953 riots, caused many to flee to the west 1959-60
- Shortage of fertilisers and livestock. Rationing from 1961, fat consumption 50% of 1934-8 levels
- Improvement in 70s when country self sufficient but restricted diet choice
Comparison figures of two Germanies
GNP (gross natural product) per capita 1950-66
- 383/679 in 1950
- 1213/1737 in 1966
- -> Both grew, but West always in front
How prosperous were conditions for the Workers in the GDR?
Prosperous:
- Promises of a ‘worker’s paradise’
- Security in employment, housing ect
- Basic foods, housing and transport subsidised
- Education provided by state with ‘workers’ faculties set up to support disadvantaged individuals
- Efforts to help women into the labour force
Not Prosperous:
- All workers must belong to FDGB (League of Free German Trade Unions), Used for SED control to report subversive activity and ensure decrees were acted on
- No classes but still variation in salries, wages remained low for the masses
