The years 1945-1948 became a thorough preparation, which led to the split of Germany and the appearance on the map of Europe of two countries formed in its place - the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic. Decoding the names of states is interesting in itself and serves as a good illustration of their different social vectors.
Post-war Germany
After the end of World War II, Germany found itself divided between two occupation camps. The eastern part of this country was occupied by troops of the Soviet Army, the western part was occupied by the Allies. The western sector was gradually consolidated, the territories were divided into historical lands, which were administered by local governments. In December 1946, a decision was made to unite the British and American occupation zones - the so-called. Bisonia. It became possible to create a unified land management body. Thus, the Economic Council was created - an elected body empowered to make economic and financial decisions.
Prerequisites for the split
First of all, these decisions concerned the implementation of the “Marshall Plan” - a large-scale American financial project aimed at restoring the economies of European countries destroyed during the war. The Marshall Plan contributed to the separation of the eastern zone of occupation, since the USSR government did not accept the proposed assistance. Subsequently, different visions of the future of Germany by the allies and the USSR led to a split in the country and predetermined the formation of the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR.
Education Germany
The western zones needed full unification and official state status. In 1948, consultations between Western allied countries took place. The outcome of the meetings was the idea of creating a West German state. In the same year, the French occupation zone also joined Bisonia - thus the so-called Trizonia was formed. The Western lands carried out a monetary reform with the introduction of their own currency. The military governors of the united lands proclaimed the principles and conditions for the creation of a new state, placing special emphasis on its federalism. In May 1949, the preparation and discussion of its Constitution ended. The state was named Germany. The decoding of the name sounds like Germany. Thus, the proposals of land self-government bodies were taken into account, and republican principles of governing the country were outlined.
Geographically, the new country was located on 3/4 of the lands occupied by the former Germany. Germany had its own capital - the city of Bonn. The governments of the anti-Hitler coalition, through their governors, exercised control over the observance of the rights and norms of the constitutional system, controlled its foreign policy, and had the right to intervene in all areas of the economic and scientific activities of the state. Over time, the status of the lands was revised in favor of greater independence for the lands of Germany.
Education of the GDR
The process of state creation also took place in the eastern German lands occupied by the troops of the Soviet Union. The controlling body in the east was SVAG - the Soviet Military Administration. Under the control of SVAG, local government bodies - lantdagi - were created. Marshal Zhukov was appointed commander-in-chief of the SVAG, and in fact the master of East Germany. Elections to the new government bodies were held according to the laws of the USSR, that is, on a class basis. By special order of February 25, 1947, the Prussian state was liquidated. Its territory was divided between new lands. Part of the territory went to the newly formed Kaliningrad region, all settlements of the former Prussia were Russified and renamed, and the territory was populated by Russian settlers.
Officially, SVAG maintained military control over the territory of East Germany. Administrative control was carried out by the central committee of the SED, which was completely controlled by the military administration. The first step was the nationalization of enterprises and lands, confiscation of property and its distribution on a socialist basis. In the process of redistribution, an administrative apparatus was formed that took on the functions of state control. In December 1947, the German People's Congress began to function. In theory, the Congress was supposed to unite the interests of West and East Germans, but in fact in the Western lands its influence was insignificant. After the separation of the western lands, the NOC began to perform the functions of parliament exclusively in the eastern territories. The Second National Congress, formed in March 1948, carried out the main events related to the Constitution of the emerging country being prepared. By special order, the German mark was issued - thus, the five German states located in the zone of Soviet occupation switched to a single monetary unit. In May 1949, the Socialist Constitution was adopted and the Inter-Party Social and Political National Front was formed. The preparation of the eastern lands for the formation of a new state was completed. On October 7, 1949, at a meeting of the German Supreme Council, the creation of a new body of supreme state power, called the Provisional People's Chamber, was announced. In fact, this day can be considered the date of birth of a new state created in opposition to the Federal Republic of Germany. Decoding the name of the new state in East Germany - the German Democratic Republic, East Berlin became the capital of the GDR. The status was specified separately. For many years, the ancient city was divided into two parts by the Berlin Wall.
Development of Germany
The development of countries such as the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic was carried out using different economic systems. The Marshall Plan and the effective economic policies of Ludwig Erhrad allowed the economy to quickly grow in West Germany. Large GDP growth was announced. Guest workers arriving from the Middle East provided an influx of cheap labor. In the 50s, the ruling CDU party adopted a number of important laws. These include a ban on the activities of the Communist Party, the elimination of all consequences of Nazi activities, and a ban on certain professions. In 1955, the Federal Republic of Germany joined NATO.
Development of the GDR
The self-government bodies of the GDR, which were in charge of the administration of the German lands, ceased to exist in 1956, when a decision was made to liquidate local self-government bodies. The lands began to be called districts, and district councils began to represent the executive power. At the same time, the personality cult of advanced communist ideologists began to be implanted. The policy of Sovietization and nationalization led to the fact that the process of restoration of the post-war country was greatly delayed, especially against the backdrop of the economic successes of Germany.
Settlement of relations between the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany
Deciphering the contradictions between the two fragments of one state gradually normalized relations between the countries. In 1973, the Treaty came into force. He regulated relations between Germany and the GDR. In November of the same year, Germany recognized the GDR as an independent state, and the countries established diplomatic relations. The idea of creating a single German nation was introduced into the Constitution of the GDR.
End of the GDR
In 1989, a powerful political movement, the New Forum, emerged in the GDR, which provoked a series of disturbances and demonstrations in all major cities of East Germany. As a result of the resignation of the government, one of the activists of the New Norum, G. Gysi, became the chairman of the SED. The mass rally that took place on November 4, 1989 in Berlin, at which demands for freedom of speech, assembly and expression of will were proclaimed, had already been agreed upon with the authorities. The response was a law allowing GDR citizens to cross without a valid reason. This decision was the reason for the division of the German capital for many years.
In 1990, the Christian Democratic Union came to power in the GDR, which immediately began to consult with the German government on the issue of uniting countries and creating a single state. On September 12, an agreement was signed in Moscow between representatives of the former allies of the anti-Hitler coalition on the final settlement of the German question.
The unification of Germany and the GDR would have been impossible without the introduction of a single currency. An important step in this process was the recognition of the German Deutsche Mark as a common currency throughout Germany. On August 23, 1990, the People's Chamber of the GDR decided to annex the eastern lands to the Federal Republic of Germany. After this, a series of transformations were carried out that eliminated socialist institutions of power and reorganized state bodies along the West German model. On October 3, the army and navy of the GDR were abolished, and instead of them, the Bundesmarine and Bundeswehr - the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany - were stationed in the eastern territories. The decoding of the names is based on the word "Bundes", which means "federal". The official recognition of the eastern lands as part of the Federal Republic of Germany was secured by the adoption of new subjects of state law by the Constitutions.
Former Nazi Germany was divided into several. Austria left the empire. Alsace and Lorraine returned to French protection. Czechoslovakia received back the Sudetenland. Statehood was restored in Luxembourg.
Part of Poland's territory, annexed by the Germans in 1939, returned to Poland. The eastern part of Prussia was divided between the USSR and Poland.
The remainder of Germany was divided by the Allies into four zones of occupation, administered by Soviet, British, American and military authorities. The countries that took part in the occupation of German lands agreed to pursue a coordinated policy, the main principles of which were denazification and demilitarization of the former German Empire.
Education Germany
A few years later, in 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany was proclaimed on the territory of the American, British and French occupation zones, which became Bonn. Western politicians thus planned to create in this part of Germany a state built on a capitalist model, which could become a springboard for a possible war with the communist regime.
The Americans provided considerable support to the new bourgeois German state. Thanks to this support, Germany quickly began to transform into an economically developed power. In the 50s they even talked about the “German economic miracle.”
The country needed cheap labor, the main source of which was Türkiye.
How did the German Democratic Republic come into being?
The response to the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany was the proclamation of the constitution of another German republic - the GDR. This happened in October 1949, five months after the formation of the Federal Republic of Germany. In this way, the Soviet state decided to resist the aggressive intentions of its former allies and create a kind of stronghold of socialism in Western Europe.
The Constitution of the German Democratic Republic proclaimed democratic freedoms to its citizens. This document also secured the leading role of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. For a long time, the Soviet Union provided the government of the GDR with political and economic assistance.
However, in terms of the rate of industrial growth, the GDR, which had taken the socialist path of development, lagged significantly behind its western neighbor. But this did not prevent East Germany from becoming a developed industrial country, where agriculture also developed intensively. After a series of rapid democratic transformations in the GDR, the unity of the German nation was restored; on October 3, 1990, the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR became a single state.
Despite the fact that more than a quarter of a century has passed since the fall of the Berlin Wall, German sociologists still note such a phenomenon as “ostalgia.”
In Germany, products with the brand “made in the GDR” are still in demand today.
You can purchase them in online stores. Silke Rüdiger, the owner of one of them, said that the best-selling products are “Little Red Riding Hood” champagne, mustard from Bautzen, ClubCola (similar to Coca-Cola), and cucumbers from Spreewald.
Also in Germany there are museums of the GDR and even hotels where the GDR everyday atmosphere is recreated. These places are still popular among both tourists and Germans. A sociologist from the Free University of Berlin, Professor Klaus Schröder, believes that “ostalgia” is not a political, but rather an emotional phenomenon, but notes that 40% of German youth whose parents grew up in the GDR do not consider it a dictatorship, and 50% are confident that that democracy in West Germany was not real.
Blue ties
Being always prepared is a quality that any pioneer can boast of. The Telmann pioneers from the GDR were the best friends of the Soviet pioneers. German children came to the All-Union Artek camp and wore blue ties. They were called “blue ties”, which technically was not entirely true.
At one time, the “older age group” of the East German pioneers (from 7th grade) wore red ties.
By the way, to this day in Cuba, junior Moncadista pioneers (up to 5th grade) wear blue ties, and Joche Marti pioneers (from 5th to 9th grade) wear red ones.
The chants, attitude and spirit of the pioneers of our countries were almost identical, only the ties, blue, unusual, haunted the Soviet pioneers. Buying a blue tie was considered chic. There was talk that GDR ties were of even better quality than Soviet ones.
Chingachgook and Adi
In the GDR, a cult movie for the Soviet era was shot at the DEFA film studio. We are, of course, talking about the “Indian cycle”. After the film “Sons of the Big Dipper” (1966), the films “Chingachgook - the Great Serpent” and “Trace of the Falcon” are released every year.
The last film in the series, “Chief White Feather,” was filmed in 1983. By the way, it was filmed in the steppes of Mongolia.
East German westerns gave rise to a real cult of Indians in the USSR. The kids, armed with bows, excitedly acted out scenes from GDR westerns. They inspired not only Soviet children to heroic deeds. The films, which had great box office success in Europe, were decided to be sold in the United States, but Hollywood reacted lukewarmly to the creations of the GDR filmmakers, calling them “ersatz westerns.” However, a copy of the film "Sons of the Great Bear" was presented to the chief of the Sioux Dakota tribe. In 1973, mass uprisings began on Indian reservations, which went down in history as the “Indian Revolution at Wounded Knee.” Then the American intelligence services recognized the film as a provocation of the Stasi.
One of the favorite programs of Soviet viewers was also the sports show “Do with us, do like us, do better than us!”, which encouraged people to lead a healthy lifestyle. It was hosted by the charismatic host Adi.
Trabant and motorcycles
Oddly enough, they went to the GDR to buy Soviet cars. A Volga could be purchased here for a much more reasonable price than in the Union.
The most famous car of the GDR was the Trabant, a small car that was produced as a “people's car.”
It was not widely used abroad, but the Coward and the Seasoned in “The Comedy of Bygone Days” drive a Trabant.
The frame of the Trabant was ordinary, made of steel stampings, but the hinged decorative panels were made of the so-called “duroplast” - a material based on phenol-formaldehyde resin (phenoplast) with a filler from waste (towing) of cotton production, which was done to save steel sheets , which was in short supply in those years. The car was called a motorcycle with a common helmet, but, nevertheless, it gained popular love.
In addition to cars and buses, motorcycles and scooters of such brands as Simson, MZ, IWL, EMW were also produced in the GDR. For Soviet bikers these were treasured brands.
Sport
Sports in the GDR were on the rise. Over the years of the republic's existence, East German athletes have won 409 Olympic medals at the Summer Olympics and 110 medals at the Winter Olympics. The most medals were won in competitions in athletics, swimming and rowing.
The main sports star of the GDR was figure skater Katharina Witt. Her popularity was unprecedented. Witt was loved on both sides of the Berlin Wall, and her performances were followed in the USSR.
For Soviet people, Katarina Witt was the embodiment of the free life that a woman in a socialist state can live. The figure skater was the “calling card” of the GDR, she had to constantly be photographed with Erich Honecker, she was vigilantly watched by the secret services, but she certainly did not feel like a “victim of the regime.” However, in 1988, when the bonds began to weaken, Katarina signed a contract with the American ice ballet Holiday on Ice.
In 1998, Witt posed for Playboy. The circulation was literally wiped out. This has happened only once in the history of a men's magazine, when Marilyn Monroe was on the cover.
Range
In everyday terms, life in the GDR was an “improved version” of life in the Soviet Union. Despite the fact that today it is customary to write about how bad life was in the GDR compared to the Federal Republic of Germany, life in the GDR was stable, and the range of products and consumer goods was wide. Of course, things from the GDR were massively transported to the USSR.
These were Dederon stockings, jeans, records with Beatles records, fashionable moccasins, Rula watches, cameras, photographic film, as well as goods from the Intershop chain of stores, where you could buy things from capitalist countries for stamps. The whole thing was packed in GrossGermany suitcases, which were called “the death of a porter” due to their dimensions.
Defectors
Let us not, however, idealize life in the GDR. Even before the construction of the Berlin Wall, before 1961, more than three million East Germans fled to West Germany.
The first person to be shot while trying to cross the Berlin Wall from east to west was Günter Litfin, a member of the Christian Democratic Union banned in the GDR.
He was shot and killed on August 24, 1961. A total of 136 people were killed while attempting to cross the wall.
Even the guards of the wall themselves fled to the West. In two years, until locks were installed on the gates that only a few people could open, 1,300 GDR soldiers crossed the border.
In total, during the existence of the GDR, approximately 5,000 people fled to the West.
Germany
The German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) is a socialist state founded on October 7, 1949 in the Soviet occupation zone of Germany and the eastern (Soviet) sector of Berlin. The republic officially ceased to exist and was united with the Federal Republic of Germany at 00:00 Central European Time on October 3, 1990.
On June 9, 1945, on the territory where Soviet troops were located, the Soviet Military Administration in Germany (SVAG, ceased to exist in October 1949 after the proclamation of the GDR and the Soviet Control Commission was formed in its place), its first commander-in-chief was G.K. . Zhukov.
The proclamation of the GDR took place five months later in response to the creation of the three western occupation zones of the Federal Republic of Germany; on October 7, 1949, the Constitution of the GDR was proclaimed.
The most important milestones in the history of the GDR:
July 1952 - at the II Conference of the SED, a course was proclaimed to build socialism in the GDR
The conditions for economic recovery in the GDR were noticeably more difficult than in the Federal Republic of Germany: there were more fierce battles on the Eastern Front of World War II, which resulted in enormous destruction, a significant share of mineral deposits and heavy industrial enterprises ended up in the Federal Republic of Germany, and reparations to the USSR also placed a heavier burden.
At the beginning of 1952, the question of German unification was raised. By decision of the UN, a commission was created to conduct general elections. However, by Stalin’s decision, representatives of the commission were not allowed into the territory of the GDR. Stalin's death the following year did not change the situation.
The events of June 17, 1953 led to the fact that, instead of levying reparations, the USSR began to provide economic assistance to the GDR. In the context of the aggravation of the foreign policy situation around the German question and the mass exodus of qualified personnel from the GDR to West Berlin, on August 13, 1961, the construction of a system of barrier structures between the GDR and West Berlin began - the “Berlin Wall”.
In the early 1970s. a gradual normalization of relations between the two German states began. In June 1973, the Treaty on the Basic Principles of Relations between the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany came into force. In September 1973, the GDR became a full member of the UN and other international organizations. On November 8, 1973, the GDR officially recognized the Federal Republic of Germany and established diplomatic relations with it.
In the second half of the 1980s, economic difficulties began to increase in the country; in the fall of 1989, a socio-political crisis arose, as a result of which the SED leadership resigned (October 24 - Erich Honecker, November 7 - Willy Stoff). On November 9, the new Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED decided to allow citizens of the GDR to privately travel abroad without valid reasons, as a result of which the “Berlin Wall” spontaneously fell. After the victory of the CDU in the elections on March 18, 1990, the new government of Lothar de Maizière began intensive negotiations with the German government on issues of German unification. In May and August 1990, two Treaties were signed containing the conditions for the accession of the GDR to the Federal Republic of Germany. On September 12, 1990, the Treaty on the Final Settlement regarding Germany was signed in Moscow, which contained decisions on the entire range of issues of German unification. In accordance with the decision of the People's Chamber, the GDR joined the Federal Republic of Germany on October 3, 1990.
From Masterweb
11.04.2018 22:01The German Democratic Republic, or GDR for short, is a country located in the Center of Europe and has been marked on maps for exactly 41 years. This is the westernmost country of the socialist camp that existed at that time, formed in 1949 and became part of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990.
German Democratic Republic
In the north, the border of the GDR ran along the Baltic Sea; on land it bordered the Federal Republic of Germany, Czechoslovakia and Poland. Its area was 108 thousand square kilometers. The population was 17 million people. The capital of the country was East Berlin. The entire territory of the GDR was divided into 15 districts. In the center of the country was the territory of West Berlin.
Location of the GDR
The small territory of the GDR had sea, mountains and plains. The north was washed by the Baltic Sea, which forms several bays and shallow lagoons. They are connected to the sea through straits. She owned the islands, the largest of which were Rügen, Usedom and Pel. There are many rivers in the country. The largest are the Oder, Elbe, their tributaries Havel, Spree, Saale, as well as the Main, a tributary of the Rhine. Of the many lakes, the largest are Müritz, Schweriner See, and Plauer See.
In the south, the country was framed by low mountains, significantly indented by rivers: from the west the Harz, from the south-west the Thuringian Forest, from the south the Ore Mountains with the highest peak Fichtelberg (1212 meters). The north of the territory of the GDR was located on the Central European Plain, to the south lay the plain of the Macklenburg Lake District. To the south of Berlin lies a strip of sandy plains.
East Berlin
It was practically restored from scratch. The city was divided into occupation zones. After the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany, its eastern part became part of the GDR, and the western part was an enclave, surrounded on all sides by the territory of East Germany. According to the constitution of Berlin (West), the land on which it was located belonged to the Federal Republic of Germany. The capital of the GDR was a major center of science and culture in the country.
The Academies of Sciences and Arts and many higher educational institutions were located here. Concert halls and theaters have hosted outstanding musicians and artists from all over the world. Many parks and alleys served as decoration for the capital of the GDR. Sports facilities were built in the city: stadiums, swimming pools, courts, and competition grounds. The most famous park for residents of the USSR was Treptow Park, in which a monument to the liberating soldier was erected.
Big cities
The majority of the country's population were urban residents. In a small country, there were several cities whose population exceeded half a million people. Large cities of the former German Democratic Republic, as a rule, had a fairly ancient history. These are the cultural and economic centers of the country. The largest cities include Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig. East German cities were heavily damaged. But Berlin suffered the most, where fighting took place literally for every house.
The largest cities were located in the south of the country: Karl-Marx-Stadt (Meissen), Dresden and Leipzig. Every city in the GDR was famous for something. Rostock, located in northern Germany, is a modern port city. World-famous porcelain was produced in Karl-Marx-Stadt (Meissen). In Jena there was the famous Carl Zeiss plant, which produced lenses, including for telescopes, and famous binoculars and microscopes were produced here. This city was also famous for its universities and scientific institutions. This is a city of students. Schiller and Goette once lived in Weimar.
Karl-Marx-Stadt (1953-1990)
This city, founded in the 12th century in the state of Saxony, now bears its original name - Chemnitz. It is the center of textile engineering and textile industry, machine tool manufacturing and mechanical engineering. The city was completely destroyed by British and American bombers and rebuilt after the war. Small islands of ancient buildings remain.
Leipzig
The city of Leipzig, located in the state of Saxony, was one of the largest cities in the German Democratic Republic before the unification of the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany. Another large city in Germany is located 32 kilometers from it - Halle, which is located in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. Together, the two cities form an urban agglomeration with a population of 1,100 thousand people.
The city has long been the cultural and scientific center of Central Germany. It is famous for its universities as well as fairs. Leipzig is one of the most developed industrial areas in East Germany. Since the late Middle Ages, Leipzig has been a recognized center of printing and bookselling in Germany.
The greatest composer Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as the famous Felix Mendelssohn, lived and worked in this city. The city is still famous today for its musical traditions. Since ancient times, Leipzig has been a major trading center; until the last war, famous fur trades took place here.
Dresden
A pearl among German cities is Dresden. The Germans themselves call it Florence on the Elbe, as there are many Baroque architectural monuments here. The first mention of it was recorded in 1206. Dresden has always been the capital: since 1485 - of the Margraviate of Meissen, since 1547 - of the Electorate of Saxony.
It is located on the Elbe River. The border with the Czech Republic runs 40 kilometers from it. It is the administrative center of Saxony. Its population numbers about 600,000 inhabitants.
The city suffered greatly from US and British air raids. Up to 30 thousand residents and refugees, most of them old people, women and children, died. During the bombing, the residence castle, the Zwinger complex, and the Semper Opera were severely destroyed. Almost the entire historical center lay in ruins.
To restore architectural monuments, after the war, all surviving parts of the buildings were dismantled, rewritten, numbered and taken out of the city. Everything that could not be restored was cleared away.
The old city was a flat area on which most of the monuments were gradually restored. The GDR government came up with a proposal to revive the old city, which lasted almost forty years. New neighborhoods and avenues were built for residents around the old city.
Coat of arms of the GDR
Like any country, the GDR had its own coat of arms, described in Chapter 1 of the constitution. The coat of arms of the German Democratic Republic was a superimposed golden hammer, representing the working class, and a compass, representing the intelligentsia. They were surrounded by a golden wreath of wheat, representing the peasantry, intertwined with the ribbons of the national flag.
Flag of the GDR
The flag of the German Democratic Republic was an elongated panel consisting of four stripes of equal width, painted in the national colors of Germany: black, red and gold. In the middle of the flag was the coat of arms of the GDR, which distinguished it from the flag of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Prerequisites for the formation of the GDR
The history of the GDR covers a very short period of time, but it is still studied with great attention by scientists in Germany. The country was severely isolated by Germany and the entire Western world. After the surrender of Germany in May 1945, there were occupation zones, there were four of them, since the former state ceased to exist. All power in the country, with all management functions, was formally transferred to the military administrations.
The transition period was complicated by the fact that Germany, especially its eastern part, where German resistance was desperate, lay in ruins. The barbaric bombings of British and US aircraft were aimed at intimidating the civilian population of cities that were liberated by the Soviet army and turning them into a pile of ruins.
In addition, there was no agreement between the former allies regarding the vision of the future of the country, which is what subsequently led to the creation of two countries - the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic.
Basic principles of German reconstruction
Even at the Yalta Conference, the basic principles of the restoration of Germany were considered, which were later fully agreed upon and approved at the conference in Potsdam by the victorious countries: the USSR, Great Britain and the USA. They were also approved by the countries participating in the war against Germany, in particular France, and contained the following provisions:
- Complete destruction of the totalitarian state.
- Complete ban on the NSDAP and all organizations associated with it.
- Complete liquidation of the punitive organizations of the Reich, such as the SA, SS, and SD services, since they were recognized as criminal.
- The army was completely liquidated.
- Racial and political legislation was repealed.
- Gradual and consistent implementation of denazification, demilitarization and democratization.
The solution to the German question, which included the peace treaty, was entrusted to the Council of Ministers of the victorious countries. On June 5, 1945, the victorious states promulgated the Declaration of the Defeat of Germany, according to which the country was divided into four occupation zones governed by the administrations of Great Britain (the largest zone), the USSR, the USA and France. The capital of Germany, Berlin, was also divided into zones. The resolution of all issues was entrusted to the Control Council, which included representatives of the victorious countries.
Parties of Germany
In Germany, to restore statehood, the formation of new political parties that would be democratic in nature was allowed. In the eastern sector, the emphasis was on the revival of the Communist and Social Democratic Parties of Germany, which soon merged into the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (1946). Its goal was to build a socialist state. It was the ruling party in the German Democratic Republic.
In the western sectors, the main political force was the CDU (Christian Democratic Union) party formed in June 1945. In 1946, the CSU (Christian Social Union) was formed in Bavaria on this principle. Their main principle is a democratic republic based on market economics with private property rights.
Political confrontations on the issue of the post-war structure of Germany between the USSR and the rest of the coalition countries were so serious that their further aggravation would have led either to a split in the state or to a new war.
Formation of the German Democratic Republic
In December 1946, Great Britain and the USA, ignoring numerous proposals from the USSR, announced the unification of their two zones. They began to call it “Bisonia” for short. This was preceded by the refusal of the Soviet administration to supply agricultural products to the western zones. In response to this, transit transportation of equipment exported from factories and factories in East Germany and located in the Ruhr region to the USSR zone was stopped.
At the beginning of April 1949, France also joined “Bizonia”, resulting in the formation of “Trisonia”, from which the Federal Republic of Germany was subsequently formed. So the Western powers, conspiring with the big German bourgeoisie, created a new state. In response to this, the German Democratic Republic was created at the end of 1949. Berlin, or rather its Soviet zone, became its center and capital.
The People's Council was temporarily reorganized into the People's Chamber, which adopted the Constitution of the GDR, which was subject to popular discussion. On September 11, 1949, the first president of the GDR was elected. It was the legendary Wilhelm Pieck. At the same time, the government of the GDR was temporarily created, headed by O. Grotewohl. The military administration of the USSR transferred all functions for governing the country to the government of the GDR.
The Soviet Union did not want the division of Germany. They were repeatedly made proposals for the unification and development of the country in accordance with the Potsdam decisions, but they were regularly rejected by Great Britain and the United States. Even after the division of Germany into two countries, Stalin made proposals for the unification of the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany, provided that the decisions of the Potsdam Conference were respected and Germany was not drawn into any political or military blocs. But Western states refused this, ignoring the decisions of Potsdam.
Political system of the GDR
The form of government of the country was based on the principle of people's democracy, in which a bicameral parliament operated. The country's political system was considered to be bourgeois-democratic, in which socialist transformations took place. The German Democratic Republic included the former German states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Brandenburg, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
The lower (people's) house was elected by universal secret ballot. The upper house was called the Land Chamber, the executive body was the government, which was made up of the prime minister and ministers. It was formed through an appointment made by the largest faction of the People's Chamber.
The administrative-territorial division consisted of lands consisting of districts divided into communities. The functions of the legislative bodies were performed by the Landtags, the executive bodies were the state governments.
The People's Chamber, the highest body of the state, consisted of 500 deputies who were elected by secret ballot by the people for a period of 4 years. It was represented by all parties and public organizations. The People's Chamber, acting on the basis of laws, made the most important decisions on the development of the country, dealt with relations between organizations, compliance with the rules of cooperation between citizens, government organizations and associations; adopted the main law - the Constitution and other laws of the country.
Economy of the GDR
After the division of Germany, the economic situation of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) was very difficult. This part of Germany was very much destroyed. The equipment of plants and factories was exported to the western sectors of Germany. The GDR was simply cut off from its historical raw material bases, most of which were located in the Federal Republic of Germany. There was a shortage of natural resources such as ore and coal. There were few specialists: engineers, executives who left for Germany, frightened by propaganda about the brutal reprisals of the Russians.
With the help of the Union and other commonwealth countries, the economy of the GDR gradually began to gain momentum. Enterprises were restored. It was believed that centralized leadership and a planned economy served as a restraining factor for economic development. It should be taken into account that the restoration of the country took place in isolation from the western part of Germany, in an atmosphere of fierce confrontation between the two countries and open provocations.
Historically, the eastern regions of Germany were mostly agricultural, and in the western part, rich in coal and metal ore deposits, heavy industry, metallurgy and mechanical engineering were concentrated.
Without financial and material assistance from the Soviet Union, it would have been impossible to achieve a rapid restoration of industry. For the losses that the USSR suffered during the war, the GDR paid it reparation payments. Since 1950, their volume has been halved, and in 1954 the USSR refused to receive them.
Foreign policy situation
The construction of the Berlin Wall by the German Democratic Republic became a symbol of the intransigence of the two blocs. The Eastern and Western blocs of Germany increased their military forces, and provocations from the Western bloc became more frequent. It came down to open sabotage and arson. The propaganda machine was working at full capacity, taking advantage of economic and political difficulties. The Federal Republic of Germany, like many Western European countries, did not recognize the GDR. The aggravation of relations peaked in the early 1960s.
The so-called “German crisis” also arose thanks to West Berlin, which, legally being the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany, was located in the very center of the GDR. The border between the two zones was conditional. As a result of the confrontation between the NATO blocs and the countries belonging to the Warsaw bloc, the SED Politburo decided to build a border around West Berlin, which consisted of a reinforced concrete wall 106 km long and 3.6 m high and a metal mesh fence 66 km long. It stood from August 1961 until November 1989.
After the merger of the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany, the wall was demolished, leaving only a small section that became the Berlin Wall memorial. In October 1990, the GDR became part of the Federal Republic of Germany. The history of the German Democratic Republic, which existed for 41 years, is intensively studied and researched by scientists of modern Germany.
Despite the propaganda discrediting of this country, scientists are well aware that it gave Western Germany a lot. In a number of parameters, it has surpassed its Western brother. Yes, the joy of reunification was genuine for the Germans, but there is no point in belittling the importance of the GDR, one of the most developed countries in Europe, and many in modern Germany understand this very well.
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