The German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) was founded in 7. October 1949. Its original constitution was
written in 1949. It was heavily based on the "Weimarer Reichsverfassung", such that the GDR would be a federal and
democratic republic. Because the original version did not accurately reflect the actual political climate of the
GDR, it was decided in the late 1960s to replace the old constitution with a new version.
The new constitution of the German Democratic Republic was ratified in 1968 and better reflected the communist roots
of the GDR as well as the political rule of the Socialist Unity Party.
The predominance of the Communist party
Section 1 of this constitution begins with the lines, "The German Democratic Republic is a socialist state of workers
and farmers. It is the political organization of the workers in city and country under the leadership of the working
class and their Marxist-Leninist party."
The equivalent of the Communist Party in East Germany was the Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (Socialist
Unity Party of Germany, SED). It was created in April 1946 through the forced merger of the Communist Party of
Germany (KPD) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in the Soviet controlled zone.
A problem the Soviets identified with the early SED was its potential to develop into a nationalist party. At large
party meetings, members applauded speakers who talked of nationalism much more than when they spoke of solving social
problems and gender equality. Some even proposed the idea of establishing an independent German socialist state free
of both Soviet and Western influence, and of soon regaining the formerly German land that the Yalta Conference had
reallocated to Poland.
Soviet handlers reported that SED politicians frequently pushed past the boundaries of the political statements, which
had been approved by the Soviet censors, and there was some initial difficulty making provincial SED parties realize
that they should not oppose the political positions decided upon by the Central Committee in Berlin.
Before the elections in 1990, the old Social Democratic Party was re-established as a separate party while the rump
of the SED that remained after a massive plunge in membership was renamed to Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS).
In this form, the party survived the reunification and managed to get representatives elected to the Bundestag.
The PDS remains influential in Eastern areas of Germany, especially at local levels.
East German parliament: Volkskammer
The other political parties ran under the joint slate of the National Front, controlled by the SED, for elections
to the East German Parliament - the Volkskammer (Chamber of the People).
- Christlich-Demokratische Union Deutschlands (Christian Democratic Union of Germany, CDU), merged with the West-German CDU after reunification
- Demokratische Bauernpartei Deutschlands (Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany, DBD), merged with the West-German CDU after reunification
- Liberal-Demokratische Partei Deutschlands (Liberal Democratic Party of Germany, LDPD), merged with the West-German FDP after reunification
- Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (National Democratic Party of Germany, NDPD), merged with the West-German FDP after reunification
The Volkskammer also included representatives from the mass organisations like the Free German Youth (Freie Deutsche
Jugend or FDJ), or the Free German Trade Union Federation. In an attempt to include women in the political life in
East Germany, there was even a Democratic Women's Federation of Germany with seats in the Volkskammer.
Originally there were 300 seats in the parliament, until 1963 there were 466 seats and in the end 500.
From its founding in 1949 until the first free elections on 19. March 1990, all members of the Parliament were
elected on a slate controlled by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), called the National Front.
The National Front officially always had an approval rate of over 99% in the elections.
On paper, the Volkskammer had great power,
appointing the Councils of State and Ministers,
and the Chairman of the National Defence Council. However, the
Parliament had little real power, and the most dissent ever shown by Parliament to the SED was the nays of fourteen
and abstentions of eight CDU representatives in a vote on liberalising abortion law. After 1968 the parliament usually
met only twice a year, while the politics was run by the Soviet controlled Unity Party.
In 1976, the Volkskammer moved into a specially-constructed building on Marx-Engels-Platz (a square named after
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels),
the Palast der Republik (Palace of the Republic).
East Germany was a member of the Warsaw Pact aliance and in the front-line of the cold war.
Please have a look at some sample banknotes from East Germany.
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