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East Germany Historical Setting
THE GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC (East Germany) was proclaimed in
October 1949 in the post-World War II Soviet occupation zone. The
postwar division of Germany had enabled the German communist
Walter Ulbricht and his Socialist Unity Party of Germany
(Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands--SED) to consolidate
political power and establish a Soviet-style dictatorship. In
1961 the construction of the Berlin Wall effectively terminated
the exodus of East Germans to the Federal Republic of Germany
(West Germany), forcing citizens to reconcile themselves to the
communist regime. However, Erich Honecker, who succeeded Ulbricht
in 1971, negotiated a détente that normalized trade and travel
relations between the "two Germanies." This détente has resulted
in strengthened ties and contacts between East German citizens
and their West German neighbors.
Germany had not been united as a nation-state until 1871,
when authoritarian and militaristic Prussia subordinated the
traditional German monarchical states and created an empire
headed by the Prussian king. Imperial Germany was consolidated
politically on the basis of an alliance between landed
aristocracy and the financial and industrial bourgeoisie. These
groups launched the German pursuit of global politics,
establishing overseas colonies and spheres of influence. They
succeeded in stirring the nationalistic sentiment of the masses
by promises of world power status and in diverting interest in
domestic reform by emphasis on foreign policy. Throughout its
existence, Imperial Germany competed against Britain, France, and
Russia to maintain its place within the European balance of
power; this competition culminated in World War I.
The Weimar Republic, established in 1918, was the first
attempt to institute democratic government in Germany. The Social
Democrats proclaimed the republic, and in the throes of military
defeat the German people supported a democratic coalition
cabinet. The republic's strong presidency, however, reflected the
German authoritarian tradition. The Social Democrats soon allied
with elements of the old Imperial Army to suppress the radical
left, and the party failed to implement social reform. Within two
years, the Weimar coalition had lost its parliamentary majority,
and in 1925 the German public elected Paul von Hindenburg, the
former World War I army commander, to the presidency. During the
depression years (1929-33), Adolf Hitler's National Socialists
(Nazis) acquired a mass following, emerging in November 1932 as
Germany's strongest political party. Hindenburg appointed Hitler
to the German chancellorship in January 1933, thus enabling the
führer to accomplish the "legal revolution" that transformed
Germany into a totalitarian dictatorship. The defeat of Hitler's
Third Reich in World War II resulted in the division of Germany
into the two states that continued to coexist in the late 1980s.
The Basic Treaty between East Germany and West Germany,
signed in 1972, politically recognized two German states. About
the same time, the Honecker regime instituted a policy known as
Abgrenzung (demarcation--see Glossary),
which emphasized
East Germany's distinctiveness as a nation and state. East German
citizens continue to be attracted by the democratic politics and
material wealth of West Germany, however, and the Honecker regime
became increasingly involved in the repression of dissidents who
called for political democratization and German reunification.
Data as of July 1987
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