Zusammenfassung der Ressource
'Ulbricht's regime was
remarkably successful in establishing a
Communist society in East Germany'
- All the elements of a one party state present.
- Changes to
state-ownded
industry and
collectivised
agriculture were
successfully
carried out.
- Workers were supportive as they had reasonable security in employment.
- The GDR was
the wealthiest
country in the
Eastern bloc by
1955 - further
stability.
- Female equality
guaranteed -
increasing
Communist support
- Growth of schools and
universities also helped
create a Communist
society for the future.
- High levels of membership
in the youth organisations -
less trouble cause by the
youth in the GDR than FRG
- Both the Catholic
and Protestant
Churches
survived outside
the Communist
orbit.
- Complaints about the loss
of personal freedom – e.g.
compulsory TU
organisation; promotion
dependent on political
conformity
- The use of the Stasi (founded
1950) suggests the shallowness
of the Communist acceptance.
- The continual drain of East Germans moving to the
West up until 1961 indicates non acceptance of
Communism.
- 3.454 million of them left between 1950 and the
construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961
- Riots of 1953 showed economic and
political disatification as well as the
GDR's heavy reliance on the USSR.