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East Germany Integration into the Soviet System
The years 1949 to 1955 were a period of Stalinization, during
which East Germany was politically consolidated as an
authoritarian Soviet-style state under SED leadership. Ulbricht
and the SED controlled the National Front coalition, a federation
of all political parties and mass organizations that technically
preserved political pluralism. The 1949 constitution formally
established a democratic federal republic and created the States
Chamber and the People's Chamber. The People's Chamber, according
to the constitution the highest state body, was vested with
legislative sovereignty. The SED controlled the Council of
Ministers, however, and reduced the legislative function of the
People's Chamber to that of acclamation. Election to the People's
Chamber and the state legislatures (later replaced by district
legislatures) was based on a joint ballot prepared by the
National Front; voters merely registered their approval or
disapproval. The SED imposed conformity to Marxist-Leninist
ideology on the educational system, the press, social
organizations, and cultural institutions. In order to guarantee
the party's dominance within the state, all members of the SED
who were active in state organs were obliged to carry out party
resolutions. The State Security Service (Staatssicherheitsdienst-
-SSD) and the Ministry of State Security monitored public life
with a broad network of agents and contributed to eliminating
opposition and regimenting political and social affairs
(see Creation of the Ministry of State Security
, ch. 5).
The Third Party Congress of July 1950 emphasized industrial
progress. The industrial sector, employing 40 percent of the
working population, was subjected to further nationalization,
which resulted in the formation of the Publicly Owned Enterprises
(Volkseigene Betriebe--VEBs). These enterprises incorporated 75
percent of the industrial sector. The First Five-Year Plan (1951-
55) introduced centralized state planning; it stressed high
production quotas for heavy industry and increased labor
productivity. The pressures of the plan caused an exodus of East
German citizens to West Germany. In 1951 monthly emigration
figures fluctuated between 11,500 and 17,000. By 1953 an average
of 37,000 men, women, and children were leaving each month.
Stalin died in March 1953. In June the SED, hoping to pacify
workers with an improved standard of living, announced the New
Course. The New Course in East Germany was based on the economic
policy initiated by Georgi Malenkov in the Soviet Union.
Malenkov's policy, which aimed at improvement in the standard of
living, stressed a shift in investment toward light industry and
trade and a greater availability of consumer goods. The SED, in
addition to shifting emphasis from heavy industry to consumer
goods, initiated a program for alleviating economic hardships.
This led to a reduction of delivery quotas and taxes, the
availability of state loans to private business, and an increase
in the allocation of production material.
The New Course did not, however, alleviate the burden of the
East German workers. High production quotas and spiraling work
norms remained in effect, and the discontent of the workers
resulted in an uprising on June 17, 1953. Strikes and
demonstrations erupted spontaneously in major industrial centers.
The workers demanded economic reforms and called for deStalinization and an end to the Ulbricht regime. The East German
People's Police and the Soviet Army suppressed the uprising, in
which approximately 500 participants were killed.
In 1954 the Soviet Union granted East Germany formal
sovereignty, and the Soviet Control Commission in Berlin was
disbanded. By this time, reparations payments had been completed,
and the SAGs had been restored to East German ownership. The five
states formerly constituting the Soviet occupation zone also had
been dissolved and replaced by fifteen districts (Bezirke)
in 1952; the United States, Britain, and France do not recognize
the fifteenth district, East Berlin. East Germany began active
participation in the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance
(Comecon) in 1950
(see Appendix B).
In 1956 the National People's
Army (Nationale Volksarmee--NVA) was created, and East Germany
became a member of the Warsaw Pact
(see Appendix C).
Data as of July 1987
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