The Consolidation of the SED and Developments in the Soviet Union - Germany
- Created by: RConwa_y
- Created on: 19-05-18 17:46
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- The Consolidation of the SED and Developments in the Soviet Union
- How did the communists dominate the Eastern zone?
- Initially the communists didn't have complete control. in some East-German cities, non-communists were appointed as mayors. The communists did control education and the appointment of personnel though
- The communist SED gradually eliminated political opponents
- The soviet military command suppressed political party activity in Berlin. CDU and LDPD activities were ended
- Free expression was limited and political dissent was restrained
- The military government determined appointments and dismissals
- Democracy was abandoned in 1949-49 - the SED announced a Marxist-Leninist "Party of a new type" based on democratic centralism. It established mass organisations under communist control of groups of people
- The SED was the leading communist party in the East - led by Walter Ulbricht. It claimed to be a liberator from fascism and that workers and peasants were innocent of Nazism
- The SED called for the "establishment of an anti-fascist, democratic regime, a parliamentary-democratic republic"
- The SED won popular support by confiscating property belonging to Nazis, war criminals and Junkers
- Initially the communists encourged the establishment of parties within the Soviet Zone whom they could cooperate with
- The SED increasingly gained control by setting up two new parties - the National Democratic Party (aimed at former Nazis) and the Democratic Peasants Party of Germany
- All parties agreed that state control and economic intervention were needed. This gave communism further support
- How did the communists dominate the Eastern zone?
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