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East Germany Ulbricht Versus Détente
Ulbricht's foreign policy from 1967 to 1971 responded to the
beginning of the era of détente with the West. Although détente
offered East Germany the opportunity to overcome its isolation in
foreign policy and to gain Western recognition as a sovereign
state, the SED leader was reluctant to pursue a policy of
rapprochement with West Germany. Both Germanies had retained the
goal of future unification; however, both remained committed to
their own irreconcilable political systems. The 1968 East German
Constitution proclaimed the victory of socialism and restated the
country's commitment to unification under communist leadership.
However, the SED leadership, although successful in establishing
socialism in East Germany, had limited success in winning popular
support for the repressive social system. In spite of the epithet
"the other German miracle," the democratic politics and higher
material progress of West Germany continued to attract East
German citizens. Ulbricht feared that hopes for a democratic
government or a reunification with West Germany would cause
unrest among East German citizens, who since 1961 appeared to
have come to terms with social and living conditions.
In the late 1960s, Ulbricht made the Council of State the
main governmental organ. The twenty-four-member, multiparty
council, headed by Ulbricht and dominated by its fifteen SED
representatives, generated a new era of political conservatism.
Foreign and domestic policies in the final years of the Ulbricht
era reflected strong commitment to an aggressive strategy toward
the West and toward Western ideology. Ulbricht's foreign policy
focused on strengthening ties with Warsaw Pact countries and on
organizing opposition to détente. In 1967 he persuaded
Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, and Bulgaria to conclude
bilateral mutual assistance treaties with East Germany. The
Ulbricht Doctrine, subsequently signed by these states, committed
them to reject the normalization of relations with West Germany
unless Bonn formally recognized East German sovereignty. Ulbricht
also encouraged the abrogation of Soviet bloc relations with the
industrialized West, and in 1968 he launched a spirited campaign
to convince the Comecon states to intensify their economic
development "by their own means." Considering claims for freedom
and democracy within the Soviet bloc a danger to its domestic
policies, the SED, from the beginning, attacked Prague's new
political course, which resulted in intervention by the Soviet
military and other Warsaw Pact contingents in 1968
(see Appendix C).
Domestically the East German regime replaced the NES with the
Economic System of Socialism (ESS), which focused on hightechnology sectors in order to make self-sufficient growth
possible. Overall, centralized planning was reintroduced in the
so-called structure-determining areas, which included
electronics, chemicals, and plastics. Industrial combines were
formed to integrate vertically industries involved in the
manufacture of vital final products. Price subsidies were
restored to accelerate growth in favored sectors. The annual plan
for 1968 set production quotas in the structure-determining areas
2.6 percent higher than in the remaining sectors in order to
achieve industrial growth in these areas. The state set the 1969-
70 goals for high-technology sectors even higher. Failure to meet
ESS goals resulted in the conclusive termination of the reform
effort in 1970.
In August 1970, the Soviet Union and West Germany signed the
Moscow Treaty, in which the two countries pledged nonaggression
in their relations and in matters concerning European and
international security and confirmed the Oder-Neisse line. Moscow
subsequently pressured East Germany to begin bilateral talks with
West Germany. Ulbricht resisted, further weakening his
leadership, which had been damaged by the failure of the ESS. In
May 1971, the SED Central Committee chose Erich Honecker to
succeed Ulbricht as the party's first secretary. Although
Ulbricht was allowed to retain the chairmanship of the Council of
State until his death in 1973, the office had been reduced in
importance.
Data as of July 1987
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