GDR and FRG: decoding of abbreviations. Formation and unification of the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR

The 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 on 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.

Disintegration of Greater Berlin (1948)[ | ]

Since Berlin did not previously have a Constitution, the term of office of the City Assembly of Commissioners was not established. The magistrate scheduled elections for December 5, 1948; the SED deputies did not agree with this and formed the Democratic Magistrate, which was recognized by all district meetings of representatives of the Soviet occupation sector. This caused a split in the land associations of the CDU and LDPD; part of both associations that did not support the SED formed the land association of the CDU (Western Zones) and the land association of the FDP, respectively. Later, a separate City Assembly of Representatives was created in the Soviet occupation sector, in the elections to which the single and only candidate list of the SED, LDPD and CDU received the majority.

Integration of East Berlin into the GDR (1948-1952)[ | ]

East Berlin entered into an economic union with other states of the Soviet zone, the Deutsche Mark of the Deutsche Bank of Issue became its currency, and the Deutsche Bank of Issue itself was located in East Berlin. After the unification of 5 states of the Soviet occupation zone into the German Democratic Republic, East Berlin entered into a political union with it, the City Representative Assembly of East Berlin received the right to elect several deputies with an advisory vote to the People's Chamber and the Chamber of the Lands, and laws adopted by the GDR parliament were to enter into force after their approval by the City Representative Assembly. The parliament, government, Supreme Court and General Prosecutor's Office of the GDR were located in East Berlin.

Final disintegration of Greater Berlin (1952-1968)[ | ]

The appearance of the Berlin Wall in 1961 followed the final abolition of free movement across the West-East Berlin border (the border was closed with barbed wire and concrete blocks in August 1961). In the same year, the SPD district associations in the districts of East Berlin were liquidated. In 1962, he entered into a military alliance with the GDR - formations of the National People's Army were located in East Berlin (before that, its armed forces were Soviet occupation forces). By 1965, a concrete wall was built on the border between West and East Berlin.

Final takeover of the GDR (1968-1979)[ | ]

By 1975, the wall separating West and East Berlin was strengthened. In 1967, passport control on the border of the GDR and East Berlin was abolished. In 1979, the deputies of the People's Chamber of the GDR from Berlin received a decisive vote and began to be elected directly by the population of the city; the laws of the GDR no longer needed approval by the City Representative Assembly of Berlin.

Destruction of the Berlin Wall (1989-1990)[ | ]

Free movement between West and East Berlin was restored on November 9, 1989, on the same day Berliners spontaneously began to demolish the Berlin Wall. The monopoly of the district organization of the National Front of the GDR on nominating candidates for deputies was abolished, the district associations of the LDPD and the CDU left the district organization of the National Front of the GDR, and the state association of the SPD was recreated. Border controls on the border between East and West Berlin were finally formally abolished by June 1, 1990.

Berlin Unification (1990)[ | ]

In the elections to the City Representative Assembly on May 6, 1990, the SPD received a majority. On October 3, 1990, the City Representative Assembly and the Magistrate were abolished, and the territory of East Berlin became part of a single Berlin. On January 24, 1991, the last leader of East Berlin resigned and the city became part of the united Berlin.

Political structure and relations with the GDR and West Berlin[ | ]

Political structure[ | ]

At the time of the creation of the GDR, East Berlin was a state associated with the GDR - residents of East Berlin did not directly participate in elections to the GDR parliament, the City Representative Assembly elected deputies to both houses of the GDR parliament with an advisory vote, the laws of the GDR in the territory of East Berlin came into force only after approval their City Representative Assembly, there were passport controls on the border between the GDR and East Berlin. At the same time, the official currency of East Berlin was the East German mark, issued by the German Bank of Issue, subordinate to the Soviet occupation administration (since 1951, the Ministry of Finance of the GDR), and the armed forces - the Soviet occupation forces, subordinate to the Ministry of Defense of the USSR (since 1962 - the National People's Army, subordinate Ministry of National Defense of the GDR). At the same time, there was also a kind of quasi-confederation of East Berlin and West Berlin - on the border between East and West Berlin until 1954 there was practically no passport control, along with the East German mark, the West German mark was also in circulation. However, in 1961, relatively free movement across the border between West and East Berlin was stopped. In 1967, passport control on the border with the GDR was abolished; in 1979, indirect elections from East Berlin to the East German Parliament and the mandatory approval of GDR laws by the City Representative Assembly of East Berlin were abolished.

The Constitution of East Berlin was adopted only on April 23, 1990; before that, the role of the constitution was played by the Provisional Constitution of Greater Berlin of 1946, novelized in 1961 by the “Regulations on the task and work of the City Assembly of Commissioners and its bodies.” Legislative body - Berlin City Assembly of Commissioners ( Stadtverordnetenversammlung), consisting of 138 deputies, elected according to party lists for a period of 4 years, the executive body is the Magistrate of Berlin, consisting of the Mayor of Berlin and 14 city councilors ( stadtrat), elected by the city meeting as a commissioner, the court of appeal is the District Court of Berlin ( Bezirksgericht Berlin), appointed by the Magistrate (since the 1960s, elected by the City Assembly of Commissioners), the trial courts are city district courts ( stadtbezirksgericht), appointed by the Magistrate (since the 1960s - elected by city district assemblies), prosecutorial supervisory bodies - the Berlin District Prosecutor and city district prosecutors, until 1952 the court of appeal - the Kameral Court ( kammergericht), the court of first instance is the Berlin Regional Court ( Landgericht Berlin), the lowest level of the judicial system is district courts ( amtsgericht), until 1953 there also existed the Supreme Administrative Court of Berlin ( Preußisches Oberverwaltungsgericht) and the administrative court of Berlin ( Verwaltungsgericht Berlin), prosecutors - the General Prosecutor of Berlin and the prosecutor of the Berlin Regional Court. East Berlin did not have its own embassies; the interests of East Berlin in foreign countries were represented by the embassies of the GDR; East Berlin was also represented at the UN by a representative of the GDR.

Administrative division[ | ]

Politically, Berlin consisted of 11 urban districts:

Prenzlauer Berg
Friedrichshain
Weissensee
Hohenschönhausen (since 1985)
Lichtenberg
Hellersdorf
Köpenick

East (green) and West (gray) Berlin. The districts of East Berlin are inscribed.

Judicially, East Berlin was divided into amts.

The representative body of each of the city districts is the city district assembly ( stadtbezirkversammiung) (until 1961 - district meeting of commissioners ( bezirksverordnetenversammlung)), elected by the population, the executive body of each of the districts is the city district council ( rat der stadtbezirk) (until 1961 - district administration ( bezirksamt)), consisting of the burgomaster and members of the district council, elected by the city district assembly.

Police [ | ]

The security organization of East Berlin was the East Berlin Police Department ( Polizeipraesidium der Berlin).

Political parties[ | ]

District party organization of the SED
SPD Land Association (until 1961)
District Association of the LDPG
District CDU Association
District NPD Association
District PrEP Association

All these organizations (except for the SPD) were united into the district organization of the National Front of the GDR and put forward uniform and only lists of candidates for deputies.

Religion [ | ]

Most of the believers were Protestants. Until 1972, there was a single Evangelical Church of Brandenburg-Berlin for both West Berlin and East Berlin and Brandenburg (since 1953, Brandenburg districts). Evangelische Kirche Berlin-Brandenburg). The ECDC West Berlin and the ECDC East Berlin and Brandenburg split in 1972 and merged again in 1991. Catholics were represented by the Diocese of Berlin, which was part of the Ecclesiastical Province of Wroclaw until 1972, and since 1973 has been directly subordinate to the Holy See.

In the period from 1949 to 1990, there were two separate states on the territory of modern Germany - the communist GDR and the capitalist West Germany. The formation of these states was associated with one of the first serious crises of the Cold War, and the unification of Germany with the final fall of the communist regime in Europe.

Reasons for separation

The main and, perhaps, the only reason for the division of Germany was the lack of consensus among the victorious countries regarding the post-war structure of the state. Already in the second half of 1945, the former allies became rivals, and the territory of Germany became a place of collision between two contradictory political systems.

Plans of the victorious countries and the separation process

The first projects concerning the post-war structure of Germany appeared back in 1943. This issue was raised at the Tehran Conference, where Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt met. Since the conference took place after the Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of Kursk, the leaders of the Big Three were well aware that the fall of the Nazi regime would occur within the next few years.

The most daring project was proposed by the American president. He believed that it was necessary to create five separate states on German territory. Churchill also believed that after the war Germany should not exist within its previous borders. Stalin, who was more concerned about the opening of a second front in Europe, considered the issue of dividing Germany premature and not the most important. He believed that nothing could further prevent Germany from becoming a unified state again.

The issue of the dismemberment of Germany was also raised at subsequent meetings of the Big Three leaders. During the Potsdam Conference (summer 1945), a four-way occupation system was established:

England,
THE USSR,
France.

It was decided that the Allies would treat Germany as a single whole and encourage the emergence of democratic institutions on the territory of the state. The solution to most issues related to denazification, demilitarization, restoration of the economy destroyed by the war, revival of the pre-war political system, etc., required the cooperation of all the victors. However, immediately after the end of the war, it became increasingly difficult for the Soviet Union and its Western allies to find a common language.

The main reason for the split among the former allies was the reluctance of the Western powers to liquidate German military enterprises, which contradicted the demilitarization plan. In 1946, the British, French and Americans united their zones of occupation, forming Trizonia. In this territory they created a separate system of economic management, and in September 1949 the emergence of a new state was announced - the Federal Republic of Germany. The leadership of the USSR immediately took retaliatory measures by creating the German Democratic Republic in its occupation zone.

In Central Europe in the 1949-90s, on the territory of the modern lands of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia of the Federal Republic of Germany. The capital is Berlin (Eastern). Population: about 17 million people (1989).

The GDR arose on October 7, 1949 on the territory of the Soviet zone of occupation of Germany as a temporary state formation in response to the establishment in May 1949 of a separate West German state - the Federal Republic of Germany - on the basis of the American, British and French zones of occupation (see Trizonia) (for more details, see the articles Germany, Berlin crises , German Question 1945-90). Administratively, since 1949 it has been divided into 5 lands, and since 1952 - into 14 districts. East Berlin had the status of a separate administrative-territorial unit.

In the political system of the GDR, the leading role was played by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), formed in 1946 as a result of the merger of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in the territory of the Soviet occupation zone. Traditional German parties also operated in the GDR: the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, the Liberal Democratic Party of Germany and the newly created National Democratic Party of Germany and the Democratic Peasant Party of Germany. All parties united into the Democratic Bloc and declared their commitment to the ideals of socialism. Parties and mass organizations (the Association of Free German Trade Unions, the Union of Free German Youth, etc.) were part of the National Front of the GDR.

The highest legislative body of the GDR was the People's Chamber (400 deputies, 1949-63, 1990; 500 deputies, 1964-89), elected through universal direct secret elections. The head of state in 1949-60 was the president (this position was held by the co-chairman of the SED V. Pieck). After the death of V. Pick, the post of president was abolished, the State Council elected by the People's Chamber and accountable to it, headed by the chairman, became the collective head of state (chairmen of the State Council: W. Ulbricht, 1960-73; W. Shtof, 1973-76; E. Honecker, 1976-89; E. Krenz, 1990). The highest executive body was the Council of Ministers, which was also elected by the People's Chamber and was accountable to it (Chairmen of the Council of Ministers: O. Grotewohl, 1949-64; V. Shtof, 1964-73, 1976-89; H. Zinderman, 1973-76; H. Modrov, 1989-90). The People's Chamber elected the chairman of the National Defense Council, the chairman and members of the Supreme Court and the prosecutor general of the GDR.

The normal functioning of the economy of East Germany, and then the GDR, which was heavily damaged by the war, was complicated from the very beginning by the payment of reparations in favor of the USSR and Poland. In violation of the decisions of the Berlin (Potsdam) Conference of 1945, the USA, Great Britain and France disrupted reparation supplies from their zones, as a result of which almost the entire burden of reparations fell on the GDR, which was initially inferior to the FRG economically. On 12/31/1953, the amount of reparations paid by the Federal Republic of Germany amounted to 2.1 billion German marks, while the reparation payments of the GDR for the same period amounted to 99.1 billion German marks. The share of dismantling industrial enterprises and deductions from the current production of the GDR reached critical levels in the early 1950s. The exorbitant burden of reparations, along with the mistakes of the leadership of the SED led by W. Ulbricht, who set a course for the “accelerated construction of socialism,” led to an overstrain of the republic’s economy and caused open discontent among the population, which manifested itself during the events of June 17, 1953. The unrest, which began as a strike by East Berlin construction workers against increasing production standards, covered most of the territory of the GDR and took on the character of anti-government protests. The support of the USSR allowed the GDR authorities to gain time, restructure their policies and then independently stabilize the situation in the republic in a short time. A “new course” was proclaimed, one of the goals of which was to improve the living conditions of the population (in 1954, the line of preferential development of heavy industry was, however, restored). To strengthen the GDR economy, the USSR and Poland refused to collect the remaining $2.54 billion in reparations from it.

While supporting the government of the GDR, the leadership of the USSR, however, pursued a policy of restoring a unified German state. At the Berlin meeting of the foreign ministers of the four powers in 1954, it again took the initiative to ensure the unity of Germany as a peace-loving, democratic state not participating in military alliances and blocs, and made a proposal to form a provisional all-German government on the basis of an agreement between the GDR and the FRG and entrust it with holding free elections. The all-German National Assembly, created as a result of the elections, was supposed to develop a constitution for a united Germany and form a government competent to conclude a peace treaty. However, the USSR's proposal did not receive support from the Western powers, who insisted on the membership of a united Germany in NATO.

The position of the governments of the USA, Great Britain and France on the German question and the subsequent entry of Germany into NATO in May 1955, which fundamentally changed the military-political situation in Central Europe, became the reason for the beginning of a revision by the leadership of the USSR of the line on the issue of German unification. The existence of the GDR and the Group of Soviet Forces stationed on its territory in Germany began to be given importance as a central element in the system of ensuring the security of the USSR in the European direction. The socialist social system began to be seen as an additional guarantee against the absorption of the GDR by the West German state and the development of allied relations with the USSR. In August 1954, the Soviet occupation authorities completed the process of transferring state sovereignty to the GDR; in September 1955, the Soviet Union signed a fundamental agreement with the GDR on the basis of relations. At the same time, the GDR was comprehensively integrated into the economic and political structures of the community of European socialist states. In May 1955, the GDR became a member of the Warsaw Pact.

The situation around the GDR and the internal situation in the republic itself in the 2nd half of the 1950s continued to remain tense. In the West, circles became more active and were ready to use military force against the GDR with the aim of its annexation to the Federal Republic of Germany. In the international arena, the government of the Federal Republic of Germany, since the fall of 1955, persistently pursued a policy of isolating the GDR and made a claim to the sole representation of the Germans (see the “Halstein Doctrine”). A particularly dangerous situation developed in Berlin. West Berlin, which was under the control of the occupation administrations of the USA, Great Britain and France and was not separated from the GDR by a state border, actually turned into a center of subversive activities against it, both economic and political. The economic losses of the GDR due to the open border with West Berlin in 1949-61 amounted to about 120 billion marks. During the same period, approximately 1.6 million people illegally left the GDR through West Berlin. These were mainly skilled workers, engineers, doctors, trained medical personnel, teachers, professors, etc., whose departure seriously complicated the functioning of the entire state mechanism of the GDR.

In an effort to strengthen the security of the GDR and defuse the situation in Central Europe, the USSR in November 1958 took the initiative to grant West Berlin the status of a demilitarized free city, that is, to turn it into an independent political unit with a controlled and guarded border. In January 1959, the Soviet Union presented a draft peace treaty with Germany, which could be signed by the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic or their confederation. However, the USSR's proposals again did not receive support from the USA, Great Britain and France. On 13.8.1961, on the recommendation of the Meeting of Secretaries of Communist and Workers' Parties of the Warsaw Pact countries (3-5.8.1961), the government of the GDR unilaterally introduced a state border regime in relation to West Berlin and began installing border barriers (see Berlin Wall).

The construction of the Berlin Wall forced the ruling circles of the Federal Republic of Germany to reconsider their course both in the German question and in relations with the socialist countries of Europe. After August 1961, the GDR gained the opportunity for relatively calm development and internal consolidation. The strengthening of the position of the GDR was facilitated by its Treaty of Friendship, Mutual Assistance and Cooperation with the USSR (June 12, 1964), in which the inviolability of the borders of the GDR was declared one of the main factors of European security. By 1970, the economy of the GDR in its main indicators surpassed the level of industrial production in Germany in 1936, although its population was only 1/4 of the population of the former Reich. In 1968, a new Constitution was adopted, which defined the GDR as the “socialist state of the German nation” and secured the leading role of the SED in the state and society. In October 1974, a clarification was made to the text of the Constitution about the presence of a “socialist German nation” in the GDR.

The coming to power in Germany in 1969 of the government of W. Brandt, who took the path of normalizing relations with socialist countries (see “New Eastern Policy”), stimulated the warming of Soviet-West German relations. In May 1971, E. Honecker was elected to the post of 1st Secretary of the SED Central Committee, who spoke out for the normalization of relations between the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany and for carrying out economic and social reforms in order to strengthen socialism in the GDR.

From the beginning of the 1970s, the government of the GDR began to develop a dialogue with the leadership of the Federal Republic of Germany, which led to the signing in December 1972 of an agreement on the fundamentals of relations between the two states. Following this, the GDR was recognized by the Western powers, and in September 1973 it was admitted to the UN. The republic has achieved significant success in the economic and social spheres. Among the CMEA member countries, its industry and agriculture have achieved the highest levels of productivity, as well as the highest degree of scientific and technological development in the non-military sector; The GDR had the highest level of per capita consumption among the socialist countries. In terms of industrial development in the 1970s, the GDR ranked 10th in the world. However, despite significant progress, by the end of the 1980s the GDR still seriously lagged behind the Federal Republic of Germany in terms of living standards, which negatively affected the mood of the population.

In the conditions of détente in the 1970-80s, the ruling circles of the Federal Republic of Germany pursued a policy of “change through rapprochement” towards the GDR, placing the main emphasis on expanding economic, cultural and “human contacts” with the GDR without recognizing it as a full-fledged state. When establishing diplomatic relations, the GDR and the FRG exchanged not embassies, as is customary in world practice, but permanent missions with diplomatic status. Citizens of the GDR, entering West German territory, could still, without any conditions, become citizens of the Federal Republic of Germany, be called up to serve in the Bundeswehr, etc. For citizens of the GDR who visited the Federal Republic of Germany, the payment of “welcome money” remained, the amount of which by the end of the 1980s was 100 German marks for each family member, including infants. Active anti-socialist propaganda and criticism of the policies of the leadership of the GDR were carried out by radio and television of the Federal Republic of Germany, whose broadcasts were received almost throughout the entire territory of the GDR. The political circles of the Federal Republic of Germany supported any manifestations of opposition among the citizens of the GDR and encouraged their flight from the republic.

In conditions of acute ideological confrontation, at the center of which was the problem of quality of life and democratic freedoms, the leadership of the GDR tried to regulate “human contacts” between the two states by limiting the travel of GDR citizens to Germany, and exercised increased control over the mood of the population, persecuted opposition figures. All this only intensified the internal tension in the republic that had been growing since the early 1980s.

The majority of the population of the GDR greeted perestroika in the USSR with enthusiasm, in the hope that it would contribute to the expansion of democratic freedoms in the GDR and the lifting of restrictions on travel to Germany. However, the leadership of the republic had a negative attitude towards the processes unfolding in the Soviet Union, viewing them as dangerous for the cause of socialism, and refused to take the path of reform. By the autumn of 1989, the situation in the GDR had become critical. The population of the republic began to flee across the border with Austria opened by the Hungarian government and to the territory of the German embassies in Eastern European countries. Mass protest demonstrations took place in the cities of the GDR. Trying to stabilize the situation, the leadership of the SED on October 18, 1989 announced the release of E. Honecker from all positions he held. But E. Krenz, who replaced Honecker, could not save the situation.

On November 9, 1989, in conditions of administrative confusion, free movement was restored across the border of the GDR with the Federal Republic of Germany and the checkpoints of the Berlin Wall. The crisis of the political system grew into a crisis of the state. On December 1, 1989, the clause on the leading role of the SED was removed from the Constitution of the GDR. On December 7, 1989, real power in the republic passed to the Round Table, created on the initiative of the Evangelical Church, in which the old parties, mass organizations of the GDR and new informal political organizations were equally represented. In the parliamentary elections held on March 18, 1990, the SED, renamed the Party of Democratic Socialism, was defeated. Supporters of the GDR's entry into the Federal Republic of Germany received a qualified majority in the People's Chamber. By the decision of the new parliament, the State Council of the GDR was abolished, and its functions were transferred to the Presidium of the People's Chamber. The leader of the Christian Democrats of the GDR, L. de Maizières, was elected head of the coalition government. The new government of the GDR declared the laws that consolidated the socialist state structure of the GDR to be no longer in force, entered into negotiations with the leadership of the Federal Republic of Germany on the conditions for the unification of the two states, and on May 18, 1990 signed a state agreement with them on a monetary, economic and social union. In parallel, negotiations were held between the governments of the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic with the USSR, USA, Great Britain and France on problems related to the unification of Germany. The leadership of the USSR, led by M. S. Gorbachev, almost from the very beginning agreed with the liquidation of the GDR and the membership of a united Germany in NATO. On its own initiative, it raised the question of the withdrawal of the Soviet military contingent from the territory of the GDR (from mid-1989 it was called the Western Group of Forces) and pledged to carry out this withdrawal in a short time - within 4 years.

On July 1, 1990, the state treaty on the union of the GDR with the Federal Republic of Germany came into force. On the territory of the GDR, West German economic law began to operate, and the German stamp became a means of payment. On August 31, 1990, the governments of the two German states signed a unification agreement. On September 12, 1990 in Moscow, representatives of six states (Germany and the German Democratic Republic, as well as the USSR, USA, Great Britain and France) signed the “Treaty on the Final Settlement regarding Germany”, according to which the victorious powers in World War II declared the termination of "their rights and responsibilities in relation to Berlin and Germany as a whole" and granted the united Germany "full sovereignty over its internal and external affairs." On October 3, 1990, the agreement on the unification of the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany came into force, the West Berlin police took protection of the government offices of the GDR in East Berlin. The GDR as a state ceased to exist. There was no plebiscite on this issue in either the GDR or the Federal Republic of Germany.

Lit.: History of the German Democratic Republic. 1949-1979. M., 1979; Geschichte der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik. V., 1984; Socialism of the national colors of the GDR. M., 1989; Bahrmann N., Links S. Chronik der Wende. V., 1994-1995. Bd 1-2; Lehmann N. G. Deutschland-Chronik 1945-1995. Bonn, 1996; Modrow N. Ich wollte ein neues Deutschland. V., 1998; Wolle S. Die heile Welt der Diktatur. Alltag und Herrschaft in der DDR 1971-1989. 2. Aufl. Bonn, 1999; Pavlov N.V. Germany on the way to the third millennium. M., 2001; Maksimychev I.F. “The people will not forgive us...”: The last months of the GDR. Diary of the Minister-Counselor of the USSR Embassy in Berlin. M., 2002; Kuzmin I. N. 41st year of the German Democratic Republic. M., 2004; Das letzte Jahr der DDR: zwischen Revolution und Selbstaufgabe. V., 2004.

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.