SED Rule
- Ministry of state security set up in 1949= able to hunt down rivals
- October 1949 govenrment only a temporary coaltion pending elections
- Elections delayed by soviets in order to give SED time to get stronger
- Heavy handed terror tactics- forme SPD members targeted too
- Infiltrted FDGB (a TU) and FDJ
- Persudaed CDU and LDP to join them in a ‘national front’
- Only won 25% of vote but other parties such as NDP and Peasants Party had links to SED
- 14 Bezirke increased centralized control dominated by SED
- Bourgeoise parties were pushed out
Structure of Government
- Role of president replaced by Collective Council in 1960
- PM-not important
- General Secretary most powerful
- Volkskammer not democratically elected
- SED in control of everything- New constituiton 1968
- 1952 Bezirke introduced
- Upper House abolished in 1958 ‘false consciousness’
- Pre-allocated number of seats
- Bloc parties
- Williamson- the line of command ran from the top to the bottom.
Leadership of Ulbricht
- Dominated until 1971
- Big brother USSR watching him
- Internal disputes
- Brutal suppression of opposition
- Purges, 1948, 1951
- Show trials
- Political differences between Zaisser and Hernstadt only solved after 1953
- Further fractionalism dealt with in 1956-1957-8
- Secure by 1950s with support of Honecker
- Central control tightened and centralization of power
- Police increased by 50,000
- 1950- Ministry of State set up = Stasi established in EG
- Party and state were fused into one
- Personal position= widen scope of Central Committee
- Had final say and was a supreme ‘father figure’- apparatichik
- 1960s fell ill= Honecker usurping like Macbeth
- Interests of USSR to keep U in power due to Cold War
- Ruling class small
- Wandlitz- ‘height of hypocritical luxury’
- No life, long hours, heavily guarded, isolation, few privileges.