National Flag of East Germany |
East Germany, officially the "German Democratic Republic" (GDR), in German "Deutsche Demokratische Republik" (DDR),
was a Communist state that existed from 1949 to 1990 in the former Soviet occupation zone of Germany. East Germany
was proclaimed in East Berlin on 7. October 1949. It was declared fully sovereign in 1954, but Soviet troops remained
on grounds of the four-power Potsdam agreement, largely to counteract the American presence in West Germany during
the Cold War. East Germany was a member of the Warsaw Pact. Following free elections, it merged with West Germany
to form a united Germany in 1990.
The Capital of East Germany was East Berlin - officially "Berlin - Hauptstadt der DDR". An area of 108,333 sqare km
was populated with about 17,000,000 people.
Creation of East Germany
At the end of World War II, at the Potsdam Conference in 1945, the victorious countries France, the United Kingdom,
the United States and the Soviet Union decided to divide Germany into four zones of occupation. Each country would
control a part of Germany until its sovereignty was restored. The Soviet occupied zone became East Germany.
The territories of East Germany were initially settled by Slavic Wends and conquered by Germany in Middle Ages.
The newly acquired land was organised in margravates, German feudal states on the land of Slavs. Consequent waves
of German settlements, later also Jewish and French Hugenots, gradually advert ethnic composition of land, except
the small community of Sorbs in Lusatia. Most of East Germany became later part of Kingdom of Prussia.
In Imperial Germany and
Weimar Republic territory that would become East Germany was situated in
the center of the
state. This territory was known as "Mitteldeutschland" (Middle Germany), while "East" was reserved for provinces
such as eastern Pomerania, eastern Brandenburg, Silesia and East and West Prussia. The Allied leaders of WWII
decided at the Yalta Conference that post-war borders of Poland would be moved westward to the Oder-Neisse line,
just as Soviet borders were also moved westward into formerly Polish territory.
Discussions at Yalta and Potsdam also outlined the planned occupation and administration of post-war Germany under
a four-power Allied Control Council, or ACC (composed of the United States, United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet
Union). The Länder (states) of Mecklenburg, Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and the eastern sector
of Greater Berlin fell in the Soviet Sector of Germany, or SBZ. Soviet objections to economic and political reforms
in western (US, UK, and French) occupation zones led to Soviet withdrawal from the ACC in 1948 and subsequent
evolution of the SBZ into East Germany. Concurrently, the western occupation zones consolidated to form West Germany
(or the Federal Republic of Germany, FRG).
East Germany adopted a socialist republic and became part of the Warsaw Pact.
The first leader of East Germany was Walter Ulbricht. The East
German Constitution defined the country as "a Republic of Workers and Peasants."
The Berlin Wall as a manifest of Germany's division
On 17. June, 1953, following a production quota increase of 10 percent for workers building East Berlin's new showcase
boulevard, the Stalinallee, demonstrations broke out in East Berlin and other industrial centers. Later that day,
Soviet troops and tanks suppressed the demonstrations killing at least 125.
Berlin Wall - Inter-German border |
Just as Germany was divided after the war, Berlin, the former capital of Germany, was divided into four sectors.
Since Berlin was entirely enclosed in the Soviet part of Germany, the areas of Berlin being held under the control
of the three western countries soon became known as West Berlin.
Conflict over the status of West Berlin led to the Berlin Airlift. The increasing prosperity of West Germany and
growing political oppression in the East led large numbers of East Germans to flee to the West.
Competition with the West was carried also on the sport level. East German athletes were sure winners in several
Olympic disciplines. Of special interest was the only football match ever between West and East Germany, a first
round match during the 1974 World Cup. Though West Germany was the host and the eventual champion, East beat West 1-0.
Since the 1940s, refugees had been leaving the Soviet zone of Germany to start a new life in the west. Although
the inter-German border was largely closed by the mid-1950s, the sector borders in Berlin
were relatively easy to cross. In the night of 13. August 1961, East German troops sealed the border between West
and East Berlin, and started to build the Berlin Wall, literally physically enclosing West Berlin. Travel was greatly
restricted into, and out of, East Germany.
The Stasi spied extensively on the citizens to suppress dissenters through
its network of 175,000 informants and 90,000 agents.
In 1971, Erich Honecker replaced Ulbricht in a technical coup with
Soviet blessing.
Downfall of East Germany and Reunification
In August 1989 Hungary removed its border restrictions and several thousand people fled East Germany by crossing
the "green" border into Hungary and then on to Austria and West Germany. Many others peacefully demonstrated against
the ruling party. These demonstrations eventually forced the resignation of Honecker; in October he was replaced,
albeit briefly, by Egon Krenz.
On 9. November 1989 the Berlin Wall opened, resulting in emotional scenes as hundreds of thousands of East Germans
crossed into West Berlin (and West Germany) for the first time. Soon the whole socialist system of East Germany
fell away. Although there were some small attempts to create a permanent non-socialist East Germany, these were
soon overwhelmed by calls for reunification with West Germany. After some negotiations (involving the
two Germanies and the allied powers United States, France, Britain, and the Soviet Union), conditions for German
reunification were agreed on.
On 3. October 1990 the East German population was the first from the Eastern
Bloc to join the European Union as a part of the reunified Federal Republic of Germany. The East German territory
was reorganized into what is now the city of Berlin and five states, reconstituting political entities that had been
abolished in 1950.
To this day, there remain many differences between the former East Germany and West Germany (e.g. in lifestyle,
wealth, political beliefs and other matters) and thus it is still common to speak of eastern and western Germany
distinctly. The Eastern German economy has struggled since German re-unification, and large subsidies are still
transferred from west to east.
Please have a look at some sample banknotes from East Germany.
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