The Social Democratic Party in the GDR (German: Sozialdemokratische Partei in der DDR) was a reconstituted Social Democratic Party existing during the final phase of East Germany. Slightly less than a year after its creation, it merged with its West German counterpart ahead of German reunification.
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👉 Social Democratic Party in the GDR in the context of 1990 East German general election
General elections were held in East Germany on 18 March 1990. These were the first free elections held in the region since the turbulent Weimar days of 1932 and would become the only truly democratic vote in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The election stood as a final verdict on four decades of one-party rule by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED)–led National Front. It took place against the backdrop of the German reunification process, which had already begun to gather momentum.
The contest was swept by the Alliance for Germany, a coalition led by the newly reconstituted East German Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which captured 192 of the 400 seats in the Volkskammer and had ran on a promise of swift reunification with West Germany. The Social Democratic Party (SPD), re-established only months earlier after its forced 1946 merger with the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), was widely tipped to win but instead came second with 88 seats. In third was the former ruling SED, now rebranded as the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), which secured 66 seats. The Alliance fell just short of an outright majority having needed 201 seats to govern alone.
In this Dossier
- ⭐ Core Definition: Social Democratic Party in the GDR
- 👉 Social Democratic Party in the GDR in the context of 1990 East German general election
- Social Democratic Party in the GDR in the context of Socialist Unity Party of Germany
- Social Democratic Party in the GDR in the context of De Maizière cabinet
Social Democratic Party in the GDR in the context of Socialist Unity Party of Germany
The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (German: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, pronounced [zotsi̯aˈlɪstɪʃə ˈʔaɪnhaɪtspaʁˌtaɪ ˈdɔʏtʃlants] ; SED, pronounced [ˌɛsʔeːˈdeː] ) was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from the country's establishment in 1949 until the Peaceful Revolution of 1989. Formed in 1946 through a forced merger of the East German branches of the Communist Party of Germany and the Social Democratic Party of Germany, the SED aimed to consolidate working-class politics under a common platform of Marxism–Leninism. The SED played a central role in the building of East Germany's socialist institutions, economy and governance, steering the country's development in line with a planned economy and collective social welfare.
The SED was structured according to democratic centralism, with authority flowing from the Party Congress through the Central Committee to the Politburo. Though the Party Congress formally held supreme authority, the Politburo and the Secretariat carried out decision-making between congresses. The SED's General Secretary wielded absolute power, often serving concurrently in key state roles. Walter Ulbricht, the party's leading figure from the early 1950s until 1971, oversaw the construction of East Germany's socialist economy and institutions, but was eventually deposed for a series of failed economic reforms aimed at raising the GDR's competitiveness, as well as a worsening relationship with the Soviets. His successor, Erich Honecker, presided over a period of increasing economic stagnation until 1989. The SED promoted universal education and healthcare, the collectivisation of agriculture and the nationalisation of industry, while placing emphasis on ideological training, including mandatory instruction in Marxism–Leninism and the Russian language in schools and universities. Near the end of the Cold War, it remained skeptical of perestroika and glasnost under Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, viewing these as destabilising for the socialist project. This position eventually contributed to East Germany's political isolation and the rapid transformation that followed in 1989.
Social Democratic Party in the GDR in the context of De Maizière cabinet
The cabinet of Lothar de Maizière was the last cabinet of East Germany before German reunification. It was formed on 12 April 1990, following the general election in March, and existed until reunification with West Germany on 3 October 1990.
It was originally a grand coalition government between the centre-right Alliance for Germany (Christian Democratic Union (CDU), German Social Union (DSU), Democratic Awakening (DA)), the centre-left Social Democratic Party in the GDR (SPD), and the centre Association of Free Democrats (BFD). On 16 August, three ministers were sacked from the cabinet. In protest, the SPD left the coalition and their remaining ministers resigned on 20 August.