Germany. What is the FRG and the GDR? The GDR ceased to exist in

In the period from 1949 to 1990, two separate states existed on the territory of modern Germany - the communist GDR and the capitalist West Germany. The formation of these states was associated with one of the first serious crises of the Cold War, and the unification of Germany with the final fall of the communist regime in Europe.

Reasons for separation

The main and, perhaps, the only reason for the division of Germany was the lack of consensus among the victorious countries regarding the post-war structure of the state. Already in the second half of 1945, the former allies became rivals, and the territory of Germany became a point of collision between two conflicting political systems.

The plans of the victorious countries and the separation process

The first projects concerning the post-war structure of Germany appeared as early as 1943. This issue was raised at the Tehran Conference, where Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt met. Since the conference took place after the Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of Kursk, the leaders of the "Big Three" were well aware that the fall of the Nazi regime would take place over the next few years.

The most daring project was proposed by the American president. He believed that five separate states should be created on German territory. Churchill also believed that after the war, Germany should not exist within its former borders. Stalin, who was more worried about the opening of a second front in Europe, considered the question of the division of Germany premature and not the most important. He believed that nothing could further prevent Germany from becoming a single state again.

The question of the dismemberment of Germany was also raised at subsequent meetings of the leaders of the Big Three. During the Potsdam Conference (summer 1945), a system of four-sided occupation was established:

• England
• USSR,
• France.

It was decided that the Allies would consider Germany as a whole and encourage the emergence of democratic institutions on the territory of the state. The solution of most issues related to denazification, demilitarization, the restoration of the economy destroyed by the war, the revival of the pre-war political system, etc., required the cooperation of all the winners. However, immediately after the end of the war, it became increasingly difficult for the Soviet Union and its Western allies to find a common language.

The main reason for the split among the former allies was the reluctance of the Western powers to liquidate German military enterprises, which was contrary to the demilitarization plan. In 1946, the British, French and Americans united their zones of occupation, forming Trizonia. On this territory, they created a separate system of economic management, and in September 1949 it was announced the emergence of a new state - the Federal Republic of Germany. The leadership of the USSR immediately took retaliatory measures by creating the German Democratic Republic in its zone of occupation.

In Central Europe in 1949-90s, on the territory of the modern lands of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia of the Federal Republic of Germany. The capital is Berlin (East). Population about 17 million (1989).

The GDR arose on October 7, 1949 on the territory of the Soviet zone of occupation of Germany as a temporary state formation in response to the establishment in May 1949 on the basis of the American, British and French zones of occupation (see Trizonia) of a separate West German state - the FRG (for more details, see the articles Germany, Berlin crises , The German Question 1945-90). In administrative terms, since 1949 it was divided into 5 lands, and since 1952 - into 14 districts. East Berlin had the status of a separate administrative-territorial unit.

The leading role in the political system of the GDR was played by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), which was formed in 1946 as a result of the merger of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) on the territory of the Soviet zone of occupation. In the GDR, there were also parties traditional for Germany: the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, the Liberal Democratic Party of Germany and the newly created National Democratic Party of Germany and the Democratic Peasants' Party of Germany. All parties united in the Democratic bloc and declared their commitment to the ideals of socialism. Parties and mass organizations (Association of Free German Trade Unions, Union of Free German Youth, etc.) were part of the National Front of the GDR.

The highest legislative body of the GDR was the People's Chamber (400 deputies, 1949-63, 1990; 500 deputies, 1964-89), elected by universal direct secret elections. The head of state in 1949-60 was the president (this position was held by the co-chairman of the SED, V. Pick). After the death of W. Pieck, the post of president was abolished, the State Council elected by the People's Chamber and accountable to it, headed by the chairman, became the collective head of state (chairmen of the State Council: W. Ulbricht, 1960-73; W. Shtof, 1973-76; E. Honecker, 1976-89; E. Krenz, 1990). The highest executive body was the Council of Ministers, which was also elected by the People's Chamber and was accountable to it (chairmen of the Council of Ministers: O. Grotewohl, 1949-64; V. Shtof, 1964-73, 1976-89; H. Zinderman, 1973-76; H. Modrov, 1989-90). The People's Chamber elected the Chairman of the National Defense Council, the Chairman and members of the Supreme Court and the Prosecutor General of the GDR.

The normal functioning of the economy of East Germany, which was badly affected by the hostilities, and then the GDR, was complicated from the very beginning by the payment of reparations in favor of the USSR and Poland. In violation of the decisions of the Berlin (Potsdam) Conference of 1945, the United States, Great Britain and France disrupted reparation supplies from their zones, as a result of which almost the entire burden of reparations fell on the GDR, which was initially inferior in economic terms to the FRG. On December 31, 1953, the amount of reparations paid by the FRG was DM 2.1 billion, while the GDR's reparation payments for the same period amounted to DM 99.1 billion. The share of the dismantling of industrial enterprises and deductions from the current production of the GDR reached critical levels in the early 1950s. The exorbitant burden of reparations, along with the mistakes of the leadership of the SED, headed by W. Ulbricht, who headed for the "accelerated construction of socialism", led to an overstrain of the republic's economy and caused open discontent among the population, which manifested itself during the events of 17/6/1953. The unrest, which began as a strike of East Berlin construction workers against an increase in output standards, covered most of the territory of the GDR and acquired the character of anti-government demonstrations. The support of the USSR allowed the GDR authorities to gain time, restructure their policy and then independently stabilize the situation in the republic in a short time. A "new course" was proclaimed, one of the goals of which was to improve the living conditions of the population (in 1954, the line on the predominant development of heavy industry was, however, restored). To strengthen the economy of the GDR, the USSR and Poland refused to collect from it the rest of the reparations in the amount of 2.54 billion dollars.

While supporting the government of the GDR, the leadership of the USSR, however, pursued a course towards the restoration of a unified German state. At the Berlin Conference of Foreign Ministers of the Four Powers in 1954, it again took the initiative to ensure the unity of Germany as a peace-loving, democratic state not participating in military alliances and blocs, and made a proposal to form a provisional all-German government on the basis of an agreement between the GDR and the FRG and entrust it with holding free elections. The all-German National Assembly, created as a result of the elections, was to develop a constitution for a united Germany and form a government competent to conclude a peace treaty. However, the proposal of the USSR did not receive support from the Western powers, who insisted on the membership of a united Germany in NATO.

The position of the governments of the United States, Great Britain and France on the German issue and the subsequent entry of the FRG into NATO in May 1955, which fundamentally changed the military-political situation in Central Europe, caused the Soviet leadership to start reconsidering the line on the issue of German unification. The existence of the GDR and the Group of Soviet Forces stationed on its territory in Germany began to be given the importance of a central element in the security system of the USSR in the European direction. The socialist social structure began to be seen as an additional guarantee against the absorption of the GDR by the West German state and the development of allied relations with the USSR. In August 1954, the Soviet occupation authorities completed the process of transferring state sovereignty to the GDR; in September 1955, the Soviet Union signed a fundamental agreement with the GDR on the foundations of relations. In parallel, the comprehensive integration of the GDR into the economic and political structures of the commonwealth of European socialist states was carried out. In May 1955, the GDR became a member of the Warsaw Pact.

The situation around the GDR and the internal situation in the republic itself continued to be tense in the second half of the 1950s. In the West, circles became more active, which were ready to use military force against the GDR with the aim of joining the FRG. In the international arena, the government of the FRG since the autumn of 1955 has been persistently pursuing a line of isolation of the GDR and has come forward with a claim to the sole representation of the Germans (see "Halstein Doctrine"). A particularly dangerous situation developed on the territory of Berlin. West Berlin, which was under the control of the occupation administrations of the USA, Great Britain and France and was not separated from the GDR by a state border, actually turned into a center of subversive activity against it, both economic and political. The economic losses of the GDR due to the open border with West Berlin in 1949-61 amounted to about 120 billion marks. About 1.6 million people illegally left the GDR through West Berlin during the same period. These were mainly skilled workers, engineers, doctors, trained medical personnel, teachers, professors, and others, whose departure seriously complicated the functioning of the entire state mechanism of the GDR.

In an effort to strengthen the security of the GDR and defuse the situation in Central Europe, the USSR in November 1958 took the initiative to grant West Berlin the status of a demilitarized free city, that is, to turn it into an independent political unit with a controlled and guarded border. In January 1959, the Soviet Union presented a draft peace treaty with Germany, which could be signed by the FRG and the GDR or their confederation. However, the proposals of the USSR again did not receive support from the United States, Great Britain and France. On August 13, 1961, on the recommendation of the Meeting of Secretaries of the Communist and Workers' Parties of the Warsaw Pact countries (August 3-5, 1961), the government of the GDR unilaterally introduced a state border regime in relation to West Berlin and proceeded to install border barriers (see the Berlin Wall).

The construction of the Berlin Wall forced the ruling circles of the FRG to reconsider their course both in the German question and in relations with the socialist countries of Europe. After August 1961, the GDR was able to develop relatively calmly and consolidate internally. Strengthening the position of the GDR was facilitated by its Treaty of Friendship, Mutual Assistance and Cooperation with the USSR (12.6.1964), in which the inviolability of the borders of the GDR was declared one of the main factors of European security. By 1970, the economy of the GDR surpassed the level of industrial production in Germany in 1936 in key indicators, although its population was only 1/4 of the population of the former Reich. In 1968, a new constitution was adopted, which defined the GDR as the "socialist state of the German nation" and consolidated the leading role of the SED in the state and society. In October 1974, a clarification was introduced into the text of the Constitution about the existence of a "socialist German nation" in the GDR.

The coming to power in Germany in 1969 of the government of W. Brandt, who embarked on the path of settling relations with the socialist countries (see "New Eastern Policy"), stimulated the warming of Soviet-West German relations. In May 1971, E. Honecker was elected to the post of 1st Secretary of the Central Committee of the SED, who spoke out for the normalization of relations between the GDR and the FRG and for economic and social reforms in order to strengthen socialism in the GDR.

From the beginning of the 1970s, the government of the GDR began to develop a dialogue with the leadership of the FRG, which led to the signing in December 1972 of an agreement on the foundations of relations between the two states. Following this, the GDR was recognized by the Western powers, and in September 1973 admitted to the UN. The republic has achieved significant success in the economic and social spheres. Among the CMEA member countries, its industry and agriculture have achieved the highest levels of productivity, as well as the highest degree of scientific and technological development in the non-military sector; in the GDR was the highest among the socialist countries, the level of consumption per capita. In terms of industrial development in the 1970s, the GDR ranked 10th in the world. However, despite significant progress, in terms of living standards, by the end of the 1980s, the GDR was still seriously lagging behind the FRG, which negatively affected the mood of the population.

In the conditions of detente in the 1970-80s, the ruling circles of the FRG pursued a policy of “change through rapprochement” towards the GDR, focusing on expanding economic, cultural and “human contacts” with the GDR without recognizing it as a full-fledged state. When establishing diplomatic relations, the GDR and the FRG did not exchange embassies, as is customary in world practice, but permanent missions with diplomatic status. Citizens of the GDR, entering West German territory, as before, without any conditions, could become citizens of the FRG, be called up for service in the Bundeswehr, etc. was DM 100 for each family member, including infants. Active anti-socialist propaganda and criticism of the policy of the leadership of the GDR was conducted by radio and television of the FRG, the broadcasts of which were received practically throughout the entire territory of the GDR. The political circles of the FRG supported any manifestations of opposition among the citizens of the GDR and encouraged them to flee from the republic.

In the conditions of acute ideological confrontation, in the center of which was the problem of the quality of life and democratic freedoms, the leadership of the GDR tried to regulate “human contacts” between the two states by restricting the travel of citizens of the GDR to the FRG, exercised increased control over the mood of the population, persecuted opposition figures. All this only increased the internal tension in the republic that had been growing since the early 1980s.

Perestroika in the USSR was greeted with enthusiasm by the majority of the population of the GDR, in the hope that it would contribute to the expansion of democratic freedoms in the GDR and the removal of travel restrictions in the FRG. However, the leadership of the republic reacted negatively to the processes unfolding in the Soviet Union, considering them as dangerous for the cause of socialism, and refused to take the path of reforms. By the autumn of 1989, the situation in the GDR had become critical. The population of the republic began to flee through the border with Austria opened by the Hungarian government and to the territory of the German embassies in Eastern European countries. Mass protest demonstrations took place in the cities of the GDR. In an attempt to stabilize the situation, the leadership of the SED on 10/18/1989 announced the release of E. Honecker from all his posts. But E. Krenz, who replaced Honecker, could not save the situation.

On November 9, 1989, in the face of administrative confusion, free movement across the border between the GDR and the FRG and the checkpoints of the Berlin Wall was restored. The crisis of the political system grew into a crisis of the state. On December 1, 1989, the clause on the leading role of the SED was removed from the Constitution of the GDR. On December 7, 1989, the real power in the republic passed to the Round Table, created on the initiative of the Evangelical Church, in which the old parties, the mass organizations of the GDR and the new informal political organizations were equally represented. In the parliamentary elections held on March 18, 1990, the SED, renamed the Party of Democratic Socialism, was defeated. A qualified majority in the People's Chamber was received by supporters of the entry of the GDR into the FRG. By the decision of the new parliament, the State Council of the GDR was abolished, and its functions were transferred to the Presidium of the People's Chamber. The leader of the Christian Democrats of the GDR, L. de Maizieres, was elected head of the coalition government. The new government of the GDR declared invalid the laws that consolidated the socialist state structure of the GDR, entered into negotiations with the leadership of the FRG on the conditions for the unification of the two states, and on May 18, 1990 signed a state treaty with it on monetary, economic and social union. In parallel, the governments of the FRG and the GDR were negotiating with the USSR, the USA, Great Britain and France on problems connected with the unification of Germany. The leadership of the USSR, headed by M. S. Gorbachev, practically from the very beginning agreed with the liquidation of the GDR and the membership of a united Germany in NATO. On its own initiative, it raised the question of the withdrawal of the Soviet military contingent from the territory of the GDR (from mid-1989 it was called the Western Group of Forces) and undertook to carry out this withdrawal in a short time - within 4 years.

On July 1, 1990, the state treaty on the union of the GDR with the FRG came into force. On the territory of the GDR, West German economic law began to operate, and the German mark became a means of payment. On August 31, 1990, the governments of the two German states signed an agreement on unification. On September 12, 1990, in Moscow, representatives of six states (the FRG and the GDR, as well as the USSR, the USA, Great Britain and France) put their signatures under the "Agreement on the final settlement with respect to Germany", according to which the victorious powers in the 2nd World War announced the termination of "their rights and responsibilities in relation to Berlin and Germany as a whole" and granted the united Germany "full sovereignty over its internal and external affairs." On 10/3/1990, the agreement on the unification of the GDR and the FRG came into force, the West Berlin police took the government offices of the GDR in East Berlin under protection. The GDR ceased to exist as a state. A plebiscite on this issue was not held either in the GDR or the FRG.

Lit.: History of the German Democratic Republic. 1949-1979. M., 1979; Geschichte der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik. V., 1984; Socialism is the national colors of the GDR. M., 1989; Bahrmann H., Links C. Chronik der Wende. V., 1994-1995. Bd 1-2; Lehmann H. G. Deutschland-Chronik 1945-1995. Bonn, 1996; Modrow H. Ich wollte ein neues Deutschland. V., 1998; Wolle S. Die heile Welt der Diktatur. Alltag und Herrschaft in der DDR 1971-1989. 2. Aufl. Bonn, 1999; Pavlov N. V. Germany on the way to the third millennium. M., 2001; Maksimychev I. F. "The people will not forgive us ...": The last months of the GDR. Diary of the Counsellor-Envoy of the USSR Embassy in Berlin. M., 2002; Kuzmin I. N. 41st year of the German Democratic Republic. M., 2004; Das letzte Jahr der DDR: zwischen Revolution und Selbstaufgabe. V., 2004.

Education of the GDR. After capitulation in World War II, Germany was divided into 4 occupation zones: Soviet, American, British and French. Berlin, the capital of Germany, was divided in the same way. In the three western zones and the American-British-French West Berlin (it is surrounded on all sides by the territory of the Soviet zone of occupation), life was gradually established on the basis of democratic principles. In the Soviet zone of occupation, including East Berlin, a course was immediately taken to form a totalitarian communist system of power.

The Cold War began between the former allies in the anti-Hitler coalition, and this most tragically affected the fate of Germany and its people.

Blockade of West Berlin. I.V. Stalin used the introduction of a single German mark in the three western zones (currency reform on June 20, 1948) as a pretext for the Blockade of West Berlin in order to annex it to the Soviet zone of occupation. On the night of June 23-24, 1948, all land communications between the Western zones and West Berlin were blocked. The supply of the city with electricity and food products from the Soviet zone of occupation was cut off. August 3, 1948 I.V. Stalin directly demanded the inclusion of West Berlin in the Soviet zone, but was rebuffed by the former allies. The blockade lasted for almost a year, until May 12, 1949. However, blackmail did not achieve its goals. The supply of West Berlin was provided by an air bridge organized by the Western Allies. Moreover, the flight altitude of their aircraft was beyond the reach of Soviet air defense systems.

Creation of NATO and the split of Germany. In response to the open hostility of the Soviet leadership, the blockade of West Berlin, the communist coup in Czechoslovakia in February 1948 and the build-up of the Soviet military presence in Eastern Europe in April 1949, the Western countries created the NATO military-political bloc (“North Atlantic Treaty Organization” ). The creation of NATO influenced Soviet policy towards Germany. In the same year, it split into two states. The Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) was created on the territory of the American, British and French zones of occupation, and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) was created on the territory of the Soviet zone of occupation. At the same time, Berlin was also split into two parts. East Berlin became the capital of the GDR. West Berlin became a separate administrative unit, receiving its own self-government under the tutelage of the occupying powers.

Sovietization of the GDR and the growing crisis. In the early 1950s in the GDR, socialist transformations began, which exactly copied the Soviet experience. Nationalization of private property, industrialization and collectivization were carried out. All these transformations were accompanied by mass repressions, with the help of which the Socialist Unity Party of Germany strengthened its dominance in the country and society. A rigid totalitarian regime was established in the country, a command-administrative system for managing all spheres of public life. In 1953, the Sovietization policy of the GDR was still in full swing. However, at that time, economic chaos and a decline in production, a serious decline in the standard of living of the population, began to clearly manifest itself. All this caused a protest of the population, and serious dissatisfaction with the regime on the part of ordinary citizens was growing. The most serious form of protest was the exodus of the population of the GDR to the FRG. However, since the border between the GDR and the FRG was already closed, the only way left was to go to West Berlin (it was still possible) and from there to move to the FRG.

Forecasts of Western experts. From the spring of 1953, the socio-economic crisis began to develop into a political one. The Eastern Bureau of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, located in West Berlin, based on its observations, noted the wide scope of the population's dissatisfaction with the existing system, the growing readiness of East Germans to openly oppose the regime.

Unlike the German Social Democrats, the CIA, which monitored the situation in the GDR, made more cautious forecasts. They boiled down to the fact that the SED regime and the Soviet occupation authorities controlled the economic situation, and that the "will to resist" among the East German population was low. It is unlikely that “East Germans will be willing or able to make a revolution, even if called for it, unless such a call is accompanied by a declaration of war by the West or a firm promise of Western military assistance.”

The position of the Soviet leadership. The Soviet leadership also could not fail to see the aggravation of the socio-economic and political situation in the GDR, but they interpreted it in a very peculiar way. On May 9, 1953, at a meeting of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU, an analytical report prepared by the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs (headed by L.P. Beria) on the flight of the population from the GDR was considered. It admitted that the hype raised on this issue "in the press of the Anglo-American bloc" had good reasons. However, the main reasons for this phenomenon in the certificate are reduced to the fact that “West German industrial concerns are actively working to lure engineering and technical workers”, and the leadership of the SED was too carried away by the tasks of “improving their material well-being”, without at the same time paying due attention to nutrition and uniforms for the people's police. Most importantly, "the Central Committee of the SED and the responsible state bodies of the GDR are not conducting a sufficiently active struggle against the demoralizing work carried out by the West German authorities." The conclusion was clear: to strengthen the punitive organs and the indoctrination of the population of the GDR - although both of them already exceeded all reasonable limits, just becoming one of the causes of mass discontent. That is, the document did not contain any condemnation of the domestic policy of the leadership of the GDR.

Molotov's note. The note, which was prepared by V.M. on May 8, had a different character. Molotov and sent it to G.M. Malenkov and N.S. Khrushchev. The document contained a sharp criticism of the thesis about the GDR as a state of the "dictatorship of the proletariat", which was made on May 5 by the first secretary of the SED Central Committee W. Ulbricht, it was emphasized that he did not coordinate this speech with the Soviet side and that it contradicts the recommendations given to him earlier. This note was considered at a meeting of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU on May 14. The resolution condemned the statements of Walter Ulbricht and instructed the Soviet representatives in Berlin to talk with the leaders of the SED on the subject of stopping the campaign to create new agricultural cooperatives. If we compare the documents addressed to the Presidium of the Central Committee L.P. Beria and V.M. Molotov, one can, perhaps, come to the conclusion that the latter reacted to the situation in the GDR more quickly, sharply and meaningfully.

Order of the Council of Ministers. On June 2, 1953, Decree No. 7576 of the Council of Ministers of the USSR "On measures to improve the political situation in the GDR" was issued. It contained a condemnation of the course of the East German leadership towards "accelerated construction" or "forcing the construction" of socialism in East Germany. On the same day, a SED delegation headed by W. Ulbricht and O. Grotewohl arrived in Moscow. During the negotiations, the leaders of the GDR were told that the situation in their country was in a dangerous state, that they should immediately abandon the accelerated construction of socialism and pursue a more moderate policy. As an example of such a policy, the Soviet NEP, carried out in the 1920s, was cited. In response, W. Ulbricht tried to justify his activities. He stated that the fears of the "Soviet comrades" were exaggerated, but under their pressure he was forced to promise that the course of building socialism would become more moderate.

Actions of the leadership of the GDR. On June 9, 1953, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED adopted a decision on the "new course", which corresponded to the "recommendations" of the USSR Council of Ministers, and published it two days later. It cannot be said that the leaders of the GDR were particularly hasty, but they did not consider it necessary to explain to either the rank-and-file party members or the leaders of their organizations the essence of the new program. As a result, the entire party and state apparatus of the GDR was paralyzed.

During the talks in Moscow, the Soviet leaders pointed out to the leaders of East Germany that it was necessary to carefully investigate the reasons for the transfer of workers from the GDR to West Germany, not excluding workers from private enterprises. They proposed to take measures to improve the situation of workers, their living conditions, to combat unemployment, violations of labor protection and safety regulations, especially in overpopulated industrial areas and on the Baltic coast. All these instructions remained empty.

As early as May 28, 1953, by order of the GDR authorities, a general increase in production standards at industrial enterprises was announced. In fact, this meant a sharp decrease in real wages. Thus, it turned out that the workers of the GDR turned out to be the only category of the population that did not gain anything from the “new course”, but only felt the deterioration of living conditions.

Provocation. Some foreign and Russian historians believe that such a strange feature of the "new course" proves a deliberate sabotage by the leadership of the GDR of Soviet recommendations. The course towards the rejection of "barracks socialism" in the GDR, towards rapprochement with the FRG, towards compromise and German unity threatened Walter Ulbricht and his entourage with the loss of power and withdrawal from political life. Therefore, they were apparently even ready to take the risk of far-reaching destabilization of the regime in order to compromise the New Deal and save their monopoly on power. The calculation was cynical and simple: to provoke mass discontent, unrest, then the Soviet troops would intervene, and certainly there would be no time for liberal experiments. In this sense, it can be said that the events of June 17, 1953 in the GDR were the result not only of the activities of “Western agents” (its role, of course, cannot be denied), but also of a deliberate provocation on the part of the then leadership of the GDR. As it turned out later, the scope of the popular movement went far beyond the planned anti-liberal blackmail and frightened the provocateurs themselves quite a bit.

The former Nazi Germany was divided into several. Austria left the empire. Alsace and Lorraine returned to French rule. Czechoslovakia got back the Sudetenland. Statehood was restored in Luxembourg.

Part of the territory of Poland, annexed by the Germans in 1939, returned to its composition. The eastern part of Prussia was divided between the USSR and Poland.

The rest of Germany was divided by the Allies into four zones of occupation, which were controlled by Soviet, British, American and military authorities. The countries that took part in the occupation of German lands agreed to pursue a coordinated policy, the main principles of which were the denazification and demilitarization of the former German Empire.

Education Germany

A few years later, in 1949, on the territory of the American, British and French zones of occupation, the FRG was proclaimed - the Federal Republic of Germany, which became Bonn. Western politicians thus planned to create in this part of Germany a state built on a capitalist model, which could become a springboard for a possible war with the communist regime.

The Americans did a lot for the new bourgeois German state. Thanks to this support, Germany quickly began to turn into an economically developed power. In the 1950s, there was even talk of the "German economic miracle."

The country needed cheap labor, the main source of which was Turkey.

How did the German Democratic Republic come about?

The response to the creation of the FRG was the proclamation of the constitution of another German republic - the GDR. This happened in October 1949, five months after the formation of the Federal Republic of Germany. In this way, the Soviet state decided to resist the aggressive intentions of the former allies and create a kind of stronghold of socialism in Western Europe.

The constitution of the German Democratic Republic proclaimed democratic freedoms to its citizens. This document also consolidated the leading role of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. For a long time, the Soviet Union provided political and economic assistance to the government of the GDR.

However, in terms of industrial growth rates, the GDR, which embarked on the socialist path of development, lagged significantly behind its western neighbor. But this did not prevent East Germany from becoming a developed industrial country, where agriculture also developed intensively. After a series of turbulent democratic transformations in the GDR, the unity of the German nation was restored; on October 3, 1990, the FRG and the GDR became a single state.

By Masterweb

The German Democratic Republic, or GDR for short, is a country located in the Center of Europe and marked on maps for exactly 41 years. This is the westernmost country of the socialist camp that existed at that time, formed in 1949 and became part of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990.

German Democratic Republic

In the north, the border of the GDR ran along the Baltic Sea, on land it bordered on the FRG, Czechoslovakia and Poland. Its area was 108 thousand square kilometers. The population was 17 million people. The capital of the country was East Berlin. The entire territory of the GDR was divided into 15 districts. In the center of the country was the territory of West Berlin.

Location of the GDR

On a small territory of the GDR there was a sea, mountains and plains. The north was washed by the Baltic Sea, which forms several bays and shallow lagoons. They are connected to the sea by straits. She owned the islands, the largest of them - Rügen, Usedom and Pel. There are many rivers in the country. The largest are the Oder, Elbe, their tributaries Havel, Spree, Saale, as well as the Main - a tributary of the Rhine. Of the many lakes, the largest are Müritz, Schweriner See, Plauer See.

In the south, the country was framed by low mountains, significantly cut by rivers: from the west the Harz, from the south-west the Thuringian Forest, from the south - the Ore Mountains with the highest peak Fichtelberg (1212 meters). The north of the territory of the GDR was located on the Central European Plain, to the south lay the plain of the Macklenburg Lake District. South of Berlin stretches a strip of sandy plains.

East Berlin

It has been restored almost completely. The city was divided into occupation zones. After the creation of the FRG, its eastern part became part of the GDR, and the western part was an enclave surrounded on all sides by the territory of East Germany. According to the constitution of Berlin (Western), the land on which it was located belonged to the Federal Republic of Germany. The capital of the GDR was a major center of science and culture of the country.

The Academies of Sciences and Arts, many higher educational institutions were located here. Concert halls and theaters hosted outstanding musicians and artists from all over the world. Many parks and alleys served as decoration for the capital of the GDR. Sports facilities were erected in the city: stadiums, swimming pools, courts, competition grounds. The most famous park for the inhabitants of the USSR was Treptow Park, in which a monument to the liberator soldier was erected.

Big cities

The majority of the country's population was urban dwellers. In a small country, there were several cities with a population of more than half a million people. The large cities of the former German Democratic Republic, as a rule, had a rather ancient history. These are the cultural and economic centers of the country. The largest cities include Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig. The cities of East Germany were badly destroyed. But Berlin suffered the most, where the fighting went literally for every house.

The largest cities were located in the south of the country: Karl-Marx-Stadt (Meissen), Dresden and Leipzig. Every city in the GDR was famous for something. Rostock, located in northern Germany, is a modern port city. The world-famous porcelain was produced in Karl-Marx-Stadt (Meissen). In Jena, there was the famous Carl Zeiss factory, which produced lenses, including for telescopes, famous binoculars and microscopes were produced here. This city was also famous for its universities and scientific institutions. This is a city of students. Schiller and Goethe once lived in Weimar.

Karl-Marx-Stadt (1953-1990)

This city, founded in the 12th century in the land of Saxony, now bears its original name - Chemnitz. It is the center of textile engineering and textile industry, machine tool building and mechanical engineering. The city was completely destroyed by British and American bombers and rebuilt after the war. There are small islands of old buildings left.

Leipzig

The city of Leipzig, located in Saxony, was one of the largest cities in the German Democratic Republic before the unification of the GDR and the FRG. At 32 kilometers from it is another large city in Germany - Halle, which is located in the land of Saxony-Anhalt. Together, the two cities form an urban agglomeration with a population of 1,100,000 people.

The city has long been the cultural and scientific center of Central Germany. It is known for its universities as well as fairs. Leipzig is one of the most developed industrial regions in East Germany. Since the late Middle Ages, Leipzig has been a recognized center of printing and bookselling in Germany.

The greatest composer Johann Sebastian Bach lived and worked in this city, as well as the famous Felix Mendelssohn. The city is still famous for its musical traditions. Since ancient times, Leipzig has been a major trading center; until the last war, the famous fur trades were held here.

Dresden

The pearl among German cities is Dresden. The Germans themselves call it Florence on the Elbe, as there are many baroque architectural monuments here. The first mention of it was recorded in 1206. Dresden has always been the capital: since 1485 - the Margraviate of Meissen, since 1547 - the Electorate of Saxony.

It is located on the Elbe River. The border with the Czech Republic passes 40 kilometers from it. It is the administrative center of Saxony. Its population is about 600,000 inhabitants.

The city suffered greatly from the bombing of US and British aircraft. Up to 30,000 residents and refugees perished, most of them elderly, women and children. During the bombardment, the castle-residence, the Zwinger complex, and the Semperoper were badly destroyed. Almost the entire historical center lay in ruins.

In order to restore architectural monuments, after the war, all the surviving parts of the buildings were dismantled, rewritten, numbered and taken out of the city. Everything that could not be restored was cleared away.

The old city was a flat area on which most of the monuments were gradually restored. The government of the GDR came up with a proposal to revive the old city, which lasted almost forty years. For residents, new quarters and avenues were built around the old city.

Coat of arms of the GDR

Like any country, the GDR had its own coat of arms, described in Chapter 1 of the constitution. The coat of arms of the German Democratic Republic consisted of a golden hammer superimposed on each other, embodying the working class, and a compass, personifying the intelligentsia. They were surrounded by a golden wreath of wheat, representing the peasantry, intertwined with ribbons of the national flag.

Flag of the GDR

The flag of the German Democratic Republic was an elongated panel consisting of four equal width stripes painted in the national colors of Germany: black, red and gold. In the middle of the flag was the coat of arms of the GDR, which distinguished it from the flag of the FRG.

Prerequisites for the formation of the GDR

The history of the GDR covers a very short period of time, but it is still being studied with great attention by German scientists. The country was in strict isolation from the FRG and the entire Western world. After the surrender of Germany in May 1945, there were occupation zones, there were four of them, since the former state ceased to exist. All power in the country, with all management functions, formally passed to the military administrations.

The transition period was complicated by the fact that Germany, especially its eastern part, where the German resistance was desperate, lay in ruins. The barbaric bombardments by British and American aircraft were intended to intimidate the civilian population of the cities that were liberated by the Soviet army, to turn them into a heap of ruins.

In addition, there was no agreement between the former allies regarding the vision of the future of the country, and this is what subsequently led to the creation of two countries - the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic.

Basic Principles for the Reconstruction of Germany

Even at the Yalta Conference, the basic principles for the restoration of Germany were considered, which were later fully agreed upon and approved at the conference in Potsdam by the victorious countries: the USSR, Great Britain and the USA. They were also approved by the countries that participated in the war against Germany, in particular France, and contained the following provisions:

• Complete destruction of the totalitarian state.
• Complete ban on the NSDAP and all organizations associated with it.
• The complete liquidation of the punitive organizations of the Reich, such as the SA, SS, SD services, as they were recognized as criminal.
• The army was completely liquidated.
• Racial and political laws were abolished.
• Gradual and consistent implementation of denazification, demilitarization and democratization.

The decision of the German question, which included a peace treaty, was entrusted to the Council of Ministers of the victorious countries. On June 5, 1945, the victorious states promulgated the Declaration of the Defeat of Germany, according to which the country was divided into four occupation zones controlled by the administrations of Great Britain (the largest zone), the USSR, the USA and France. The capital of Germany, Berlin, was also divided into zones. The decision of all issues was entrusted to the Control Council, it included representatives of the victorious countries.

Party of Germany

In Germany, in order to restore statehood, the formation of new political parties that would be democratic in nature was allowed. In the eastern sector, emphasis was placed on the revival of the Communist and Social Democratic Party of Germany, which soon merged into the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (1946). Its goal was to build a socialist state. It was the ruling party in the German Democratic Republic.

In the western sectors, the CDU (Christian Democratic Union) party formed in June 1945 became the main political force. In 1946, the CSU (Christian-Social Union) was formed in Bavaria according to this principle. Their main principle is a democratic republic based on market economy on the rights of private property.

Political confrontations on the issue of the post-war structure of Germany between the USSR and the rest of the coalition countries were so serious that their further aggravation would lead either to a split of the state or to a new war.

Formation of the German Democratic Republic

In December 1946, Great Britain and the United States, ignoring numerous proposals from the USSR, announced the merger of their two zones. She was abbreviated as "Bizonia". This was preceded by the refusal of the Soviet administration to supply agricultural products to the western zones. In response to this, transit shipments of equipment exported from factories and plants in East Germany and located in the Ruhr region to the USSR zone were stopped.

At the beginning of April 1949, France also joined the Bizonia, as a result of which Trizonia was formed, from which the Federal Republic of Germany was subsequently formed. Thus, the Western powers, having entered into an agreement with the big German bourgeoisie, created a new state. In response to this, at the end of 1949, the German Democratic Republic was created. Berlin, or rather its Soviet zone, became its center and capital.

The People's Council was temporarily reorganized into the People's Chamber, which adopted the Constitution of the GDR, which passed a nationwide discussion. 09/11/1949 the first president of the GDR was elected. It was the legendary Wilhelm Pick. At the same time, the government of the GDR was temporarily created, headed by O. Grotewohl. The military administration of the USSR transferred all functions of governing the country to the government of the GDR.

The Soviet Union did not want the division of Germany. They were repeatedly made proposals for the unification and development of the country in accordance with the Potsdam decisions, but they were regularly rejected by Great Britain and the United States. Even after the division of Germany into two countries, Stalin made proposals for the unification of the GDR and the FRG, provided that the decisions of the Potsdam Conference were observed and that Germany was not drawn into any political and military blocs. But the Western states refused to do so, ignoring Potsdam's decisions.

The political system of the GDR

The form of government of the country was based on the principle of people's democracy, in which a bicameral parliament operated. The state system of the country was considered to be bourgeois-democratic, in which socialist transformations took place. The German Democratic Republic included the lands of the former Germany of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

The lower (people's) chamber was elected by universal secret ballot. The upper chamber was called the Land Chamber, the executive body was the government, which was composed of the prime minister and ministers. It was formed by appointment, which was carried out by the largest faction of the People's Chamber.

The administrative-territorial division consisted of lands, consisting of districts, divided into communities. The functions of the legislature were carried out by the Landtags, the executive bodies were the governments of the lands.

The People's Chamber - the highest body of the state - consisted of 500 deputies, who were elected by the people by secret ballot for a period of 4 years. It was represented by all parties and public organizations. The People's Chamber, acting on the basis of laws, made the most important decisions on the development of the country, dealt with relations between organizations, observing the rules for cooperation between citizens, state organizations and associations; adopted the main law - the Constitution and other laws of the country.

Economy of the GDR

After the partition of Germany, the economic situation of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) was very difficult. This part of Germany was very badly destroyed. The equipment of plants and factories was taken to the western sectors of Germany. The GDR was simply cut off from the historical raw material bases, most of which were in the FRG. There was a shortage of such natural resources as ore and coal. There were few specialists: engineers, executives, who left for the FRG, frightened by propaganda about the brutal reprisal of Russians.

With the help of the Union and other countries of the commonwealth, the economy of the GDR gradually began to gain momentum. Businesses were restored. It was believed that centralized leadership and a planned economy served as a deterrent to the development of the economy. It should be taken into account that the restoration of the country took place in isolation from the western part of Germany, in an atmosphere of tough confrontation between the two countries, open provocations.

Historically, the eastern regions of Germany were mostly agricultural, and in its western part, rich in coal and deposits of metal ores, heavy industry, metallurgy and engineering were concentrated.

Without the financial and material assistance of the Soviet Union, it would have been impossible to achieve an early restoration of industry. For the losses suffered by the USSR during the war years, the GDR paid him reparation payments. Since 1950, their volume has been halved, and in 1954 the USSR refused to receive them.

Foreign policy situation

The construction of the Berlin Wall by the German Democratic Republic became a symbol of the intransigence of the two blocs. The eastern and western blocs of Germany were building up their military forces, provocations from the western bloc became more frequent. It came to open sabotage and arson. The propaganda machine worked at full power, using economic and political difficulties. Germany, like many Western European countries, did not recognize the GDR. The peak of the aggravation of relations occurred in the early 1960s.

The so-called "German crisis" also arose thanks to West Berlin, which, legally being the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany, was located in the very center of the GDR. The border between the two zones was conditional. As a result of the confrontation between NATO blocs and the Warsaw bloc countries, the SED Politburo decides to build a border around West Berlin, which was a reinforced concrete wall 106 km long and 3.6 m high and a metal mesh fence 66 km long. She stood from August 1961 until November 1989.

After the merger of the GDR and the FRG, the wall was demolished, only a small section remained, which became the Berlin Wall memorial. In October 1990, the GDR became part of the FRG. The history of the German Democratic Republic, which existed for 41 years, is intensively studied and researched by scientists of modern Germany.

Despite the propaganda discrediting of this country, scientists are well aware that it gave Western Germany a lot. In a number of parameters, she surpassed her Western brother. Yes, the joy of reunification was genuine for the Germans, but it is not worth belittling the importance of the GDR, one of the most developed countries in Europe, and many in modern Germany understand this very well.

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