East Germany
East Germany (German: Ostdeutschland, pronounced [ˈɔstˌdɔʏtʃlant] ⓘ), officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR; Deutsche Demokratische Republik, pronounced [ˈdɔʏtʃə demoˈkʁaːtɪʃə ʁepuˈbliːk] ⓘ, DDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally viewed as a communist state and described itself as a socialist "workers' and peasants' state".[5] The economy of this country was centrally planned and state-owned.[6] Although the GDR had to pay substantial war reparations to the Soviets, it became the most successful economy in the Eastern Bloc.[7]
"GDR" redirects here. For other uses, see GDR (disambiguation).
German Democratic RepublicDeutsche Demokratische Republik (German)
German
Sorbian (in parts of Bezirk Dresden and Bezirk Cottbus)
- East German
- German
7 October 1949
16 June 1953
14 May 1955
4 June 1961
21 December 1972
18 September 1973
13 October 1989
9 November 1989
12 September 1990
3 October 1990
108,875 km2 (42,037 sq mi)
17,068,000
16,111,000
149/km2 (385.9/sq mi)
1989 estimate
$525.29 billion[2]
$26,631[2]
0.953[3]
very high
- East German mark (1949–1990), officially named:
- Deutsche Mark (1949–1964)
- Mark der Deutschen Notenbank (1964–1967)
- Mark der DDR (1967–1990)
- Deutsche Mark (from 1 July 1990)
(UTC+1)
right
Before its establishment, the country's territory was administered and occupied by Soviet forces with the autonomy of the native communists following the Berlin Declaration abolishing German sovereignty in World War II. The Potsdam Agreement established the Soviet-occupied zone, bounded on the east by the Oder–Neisse line. It was a satellite state of the Soviet Union.[8] The GDR was dominated by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), a communist party, from 1949 to 1989, before being democratized and liberalized under the impact of the Revolutions of 1989 against the communist states, facilitating East Germany's unification with the West. Unlike West Germany, the SED did not see its state as the successor of the German Reich (1871–1945) and abolished the goal of unification in the constitution (1974). The SED-ruled GDR was often described as a Soviet satellite state; historians described it as an authoritarian regime.[9]
Geographically, the GDR bordered the Baltic Sea to the north, Poland to the east, Czechoslovakia to the southeast, and West Germany to the southwest and west. Internally, the GDR also bordered the Soviet sector of Allied-occupied Berlin, known as East Berlin, which was also administered as the country's de facto capital. It also bordered the three sectors occupied by the United States, United Kingdom, and France known collectively as West Berlin (de facto part of the FRG). Emigration to the West was a significant problem as many emigrants were well-educated young people; such emigration weakened the state economically. In response, the GDR government fortified its inner German border and later built the Berlin Wall in 1961.[10] Many people attempting to flee[11][12][13] were killed by border guards or booby traps such as landmines.[14]
In 1989, numerous social, economic, and political forces in the GDR and abroad, one of the most notable being peaceful protests starting in the city of Leipzig, led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the establishment of a government committed to liberalization. The following year, a free and fair election was held in the country,[15] and international negotiations between four occupation Allied countries and two German countries led to the signing of the Final Settlement treaty to replace the Potsdam Agreement on the status and border of future-reunited Germany. The GDR ceased to exist when its five states ("Länder") joined the Federal Republic of Germany under Article 23 of the Basic Law, and its East Berlin was also united with West Berlin into a single city of the FRG, on 3 October 1990. Several of the GDR's leaders, notably its last communist leader Egon Krenz, were later prosecuted for offenses committed during the GDR's times.[16][17]
Naming conventions
The official name was Deutsche Demokratische Republik (German Democratic Republic), usually abbreviated to DDR (GDR). Both terms were used in East Germany, with increasing usage of the abbreviated form, especially since East Germany considered West Germans and West Berliners to be foreigners following the promulgation of its second constitution in 1968. West Germans, the western media and statesmen initially avoided the official name and its abbreviation, instead using terms like Ostzone (Eastern Zone),[18] Sowjetische Besatzungszone (Soviet Occupation Zone; often abbreviated to SBZ) and sogenannte DDR[19] or "so-called GDR".[20]
The centre of political power in East Berlin was – in the West – referred to as Pankow (the seat of command of the Soviet forces in Germany was in Karlshorst, a district in the East of Berlin.).[18] Over time, however, the abbreviation "DDR" was also increasingly used colloquially by West Germans and West German media.[h]
When used by West Germans, Westdeutschland (West Germany) was a term almost always in reference to the geographic region of Western Germany and not to the area within the boundaries of the Federal Republic of Germany. However, this use was not always consistent and West Berliners frequently used the term Westdeutschland to denote the Federal Republic.[21] Before World War II, Ostdeutschland (eastern Germany) was used to describe all the territories east of the Elbe (East Elbia), as reflected in the works of sociologist Max Weber and political theorist Carl Schmitt.[22][23][24][25][26]
Legacy
Decrepit infrastructure
Almost all East German highways, railroads, sewage systems and public buildings were in a state of disrepair at the time of reunification, as little was done to maintain infrastructure in the GDR's last decades. Unified German public spending has had to pour more than $2 trillion into the former East Germany, to make up for the region's neglect and malaise and bring it up to a minimal standard.[179]
The Greifswald Nuclear Power Plant narrowly avoided a Chernobyl-scale meltdown in 1976.[180] All East German nuclear power plants had to be shut down after reunification, because they did not meet Western safety standards.[181]
Authoritarianism
German historian Jürgen Kocka in 2010 summarized the consensus of most recent scholarship: