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East Germany Ideological and Political Collaboration
The interdependence between the Soviet Union and East Germany
is based, first and foremost, on a shared interpretation of
geopolitical power politics. Furthermore, the role of the Soviet
Union in East German ideological and political development is a
dominant one; the Soviet Union was responsible for the creation
of East Germany and has given East Germany the opportunity to
play an important role in world affairs. In return for this
opportunity, East Germany promotes Soviet interests in Europe and
the Third World.
The East German and Soviet leadership have developed a
pattern of cooperation that in large measure works to the mutual
advantage of both systems. In general terms, they share a common
ideological and political orientation toward major issues that
confront the Soviet-East European alliance system as a whole.
From Eurocommunism to the conduct of proletarian internationalism
in the developing areas of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, the
two partners take common positions and adapt their foreign policy
strategies to the needs of the other. Not only has the Soviet
Union been the decisive factor in helping East Germany become an
internationally recognized power since the beginning of the
1970s, but it also has consistently supported the SED leadership
in domestic conflicts. From this vantage point, the approximately
400,000 Soviet troops stationed in East Germany represent the
final deterrent available in the event the regime's survival is
threatened. As a result of the close ideological and political
cooperation between the two countries, East Germany has taken the
leading role in helping to establish the hegemony of Soviet-style
Marxism in East Europe.
East Germany demonstrated its value to the Soviet Union at
the much-heralded meeting of the communist and worker parties of
Europe, held in East Berlin on June 29-30, 1976, in the immediate
aftermath of the Ninth Party Congress. East Germany's role at the
meeting was pronounced. The SED, which had begun preparing the
agenda for the meeting twenty months in advance, attempted to
portray East Germany as a model of advanced socialism that could
provide the West European comrades with important lessons in how
to organize a complex industrial society along orthodox MarxistLeninist lines. Until the mid-1980s, East Germany also had been a
prominent proponent of closer coordination of the economies of
East European Comecon members with that of the Soviet Union. In
addition, the Soviets may have used Honecker's visit to China in
1986 to signal their desire for Sino-Soviet rapprochement. In the
mid-1980s, East Germany strongly supported the Soviet Union's
efforts to have the United States Pershing II missiles removed
from West German soil (at the same time, however, the Honecker
regime attempted to insulate inter-German relations from the
impact of this issue). Finally, in the words of one Western
analyst, East Germany "is the prime developer of the political,
social, and economic infrastructure of the Soviet Union's allies
in the Third World."
Ideological and political collaboration between East Germany
and the Soviet Union is of special importance within Eastern
Europe, where the SED was particularly active in advancing Soviet
positions toward Czechoslovakia in 1968 and in Poland in 1980-81.
In the Czechoslovak case, East Germany was probably the most
influential East European voice urging the Soviet Union to put an
end to the reform program of Alexander Dubcek in August 1968. In
1980-81 the East Germans also urged the Soviet Union to take
action against the Solidarity movement and the reform policies of
the Polish United Workers Party. In each case, the East Germans
tried to persuade the Soviet leadership that events in
Czechoslovakia and Poland constituted a danger to the ideological
cohesion of the Warsaw Pact alliance system. Of particular
concern to the East German regime were the threats to its own
stability posed by the reform movements in Czechoslovakia and
Poland; consequently, it became a strong advocate of
intervention.
Data as of July 1987
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