"Forced decision": how did the GDR begin and how did the history of the republic end

At the end of World War II - at the time of the signing of the Act of unconditional surrender - the territory of Germany was occupied by Soviet, American, British and French troops and then, in June 1945, was divided into four occupation zones.

“There were no borders between the occupation zones as such, only conditional demarcation lines existed,” said Konstantin Sofronov, researcher at the Institute of General History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in an interview with RT.

Residents of Germany moved freely from one occupation zone to another, and the winning countries established transport links and economic ties.

• Destroyed buildings of Berlin in 1945
• Gettyimages.ru
• © Photo 12

However, in 1946, Western states set a course for a confrontational policy toward the Soviet Union. The Cold War began, and the economic ties between the occupation zones weakened. In order to stop the negative effects of the crisis, the authorities of the United States and Great Britain decided in 1946 to merge their zones of occupation into the so-called "Bizonia". Two years later, after the accession of the French sector, the merger was transformed into Trizonia.

Creation of republics

“The Soviet leadership initially did not intend to divide Germany. She was seen as a strong, unified state, part of the buffer zone between the socialist camp and the West — something like what was then realized in Austria or Finland. But the American leaders did not like this approach, ”said Konstantin Zalessky, a historian and writer, in an interview with RT.

On May 23, 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany was proclaimed at a meeting in Bonn of the so-called Parliamentary Council under the control of the military governors of the occupation zones. Based on the text of its Basic Law, Germany claimed the status of a state-follower of the German Empire and, accordingly, its entire territory.

“Germany was immediately created not as a neutral state, but as part of the Western world. In this situation, the USSR had only two options: either raise hands, capitulate and donate East Germany to the United States, or initiate the creation of a new state. Of course, for reasons of parity, it was unwise to hand over the eastern part of the country under Western control, ”said Konstantin Zalessky.

Only seven days after the proclamation of the Federal Republic of Germany, on May 30, in the east of Germany, they quickly adopted their constitution. The official proclamation of the GDR took place on October 7, 1949.

“It was a forced decision. It was impossible not to create the GDR under those conditions, ”Zalessky stressed, adding that the actions of the Soviet leadership were of an exclusively responsive nature.

In July 1952, the US government adopted PSB D-21, “The National Strategy for Germany,” which included measures to reduce Soviet potential in East Germany and conduct psychological operations against the GDR. Less than a year, a wave of mass riots swept across a democratic republic, the formal reason for which was a 10% increase in production rates at enterprises. Several hundreds of settlements were covered by strikes, sometimes overgrown in pogroms and the seizure of administrative buildings. During the clashes between protesters and supporters of the GDR, as well as during the suppression of unrest involving the Soviet troops killed from 25 to 55 people.

Contrary to Western expectations, the crisis only strengthened the position of the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unified Party of Germany (SED) Walter Ulbricht - the party was cleared of internal opposition, and Moscow stepped up assistance to the leadership of the republic. The increase in output standards was canceled, the USSR reduced the requirements for reparations, and in October there was a serious decline in prices for consumer goods. On March 26, 1954, Moscow officially promulgated the decision on recognizing the sovereignty of the GDR, adopted the day before, and established relations with the republic as an independent state — the history of the Soviet occupation zone was over.

Successes and failures

“In the East and West of Germany, various economic principles were being introduced. Moreover, at first, the processes that took place in the east looked more attractive, since the socialist approach made it possible to better mobilize forces. Accordingly, the restoration of the economic infrastructure went faster. And there were fewer problems with food in the east, ”said Konstantin Sofronov.

According to the data, which the historian Nikolai Platoshkin gives in his article “The Attempt of a New Look at Economic Competition of the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany”, in 1950–1958, the GDR increased industrial output by 241% (the FRG - by 210%). In 1957, the volume of industry in East Germany increased 2.4 times as compared with 1936 — th (West Germany - 2.26).

• Work of enterprises of the GDR
• © Bundesarchiv

However, the riots of 1953 dragged the GDRs into an economic trap. To relieve social tension, the authorities have focused on supporting the production of food and clothing, because of which the process of re-equipment of the industry slowed down dramatically. As a result, the production of industrial equipment and chemical products - the main export sectors of the economy of the GDR - suffered. At the same time, the renewal of industrial equipment in full swing was proceeding in Germany, as a result, West German products became more modern and competitive since the mid-1950s.

"The Americans sought to turn the Federal Republic of Germany into a showcase of the Western way of life, providing loans to businesses and placing their capital in West Germany," said Konstantin Zalessky.

In 1956 its own National People’s Army was created in the GDR. A little earlier, in 1950, the republic had its own secret police - the Ministry of State Security (MGB), better known by the German abbreviation "Stasi". Experts often call the MGB GDR, along with the KGB and the CIA, one of the most powerful intelligence agencies in the world during the Cold War.

• GDR border guards on the wall at the Brandenburg Gate
• Gettyimages.ru
• © Messerschmidt / ullstein bild

The Stasi conducted several sensational operations that became the benchmark for intelligence activities. Thus, the Ministry of State Security of the GDR was able to secure the appointment of its intelligence officer Günter Guillaume as the personal assistant of the Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Willy Brandt. Also, the staff of the Stasi managed to recruit a number of high-ranking military in West Germany, thanks to which the social camp received exhaustive information about NATO forces in the Federal Republic of Germany, including the deployment of nuclear weapons. More than 90 thousand full-time and about 200 thousand unofficial employees worked in Stasi in East Germany - approximately every 50th citizen of the GDR.

“The German population of East Germany was largely conformist,” said Konstantin Zelessky.

In the 1970s, relations between the GDR and the FRG were relatively normal. In 1973, the countries recognized each other and became full members of the UN.

Joining the Federal Republic of Germany

In the 1980s, due to unsuccessful reforms and “velvet revolutions”, the economic system of the socialist camp began to collapse. GDR enterprises have lost their traditional sales markets, the republic is in a crisis. In 1989, a wave of mass protests swept across East Germany, and serious personnel replacements were made in the leadership of the authorities and the SED. On November 9, 1989, the GDR authorities allowed free exit from the republic, and in the evening of the same day the Berlin Wall fell, separating the “socialist” part of the city and West Berlin.

• Fall of the Berlin Wall, February, 1990
• Reuters

In the March 1990 elections in the GDR, the conservative Christian Democratic Union party won, and on August 31, the terms of East Germany’s accession to West Germany were determined by a special agreement. A month later, on October 3, the central authorities of the GDR were abolished, and the constitution was abolished. The territory of the GDR officially became part of the Federal Republic of Germany.

“This was not an equal reunification, the East German regions simply entered the FRG,” said Konstantin Zalessky.

According to the historian, residents of the former GDR were expecting a rapid improvement in the quality of life, but the euphoria caused by the fall of the Berlin Wall passed through some time.

“They hoped for one thing, but they ended up with something else. At first, the authorities and business of the Federal Republic of Germany considered that it would be costly for them to re-equip enterprises in the eastern lands, and began to bankrupt them. The former territory of the GDR was overwhelmed by unemployment, which continues today. And in recent years, against the background of the migration crisis, the main flow of migrants from Africa and Asia began to be directed to the eastern territories.

This is done under the sauce that additional subsidies are allocated to migrants, and this is, as it were, the center's help to lands in a worse economic situation, ”the expert shared.

“Life in the GDR for many Germans has become one of the bright memories. They recall with nostalgia social security, in particular, what was done in the GDR for children. In the republic, for example, there was an excellent kindergarten system, ”said Natalia Rostislavleva, director of the Russian-German Educational and Scientific Center of the RSUH, in an interview with RT.

According to her, after the entry of the former GDR into the Federal Republic of Germany, East Germans faced not only the problem of unemployment. “Salaries and pensions in the east turned out to be significantly lower than in the west. This problem is constantly raised, but it has not yet been resolved. Therefore, in the territories that were part of the GDR, opposition political forces are popular, for example, the Left Party, ”the expert emphasized. In her opinion, recalling the positive aspects of life in the GDR, many East Germans transfer their sympathies to Russia, which they consider to be the heir of the Soviet Union.

“Former residents of the GDR do not perceive the period of 1949–1990 as an occupation, and at the level of ordinary people a good attitude towards our country remained there,” concluded Konstantin Zalessky.