ASSESS THE EXTENT OF ECONOMIC CHANGE IN EAST GERMANY IN THE PERIOD 1949-63

ASSESS THE EXTENT OF ECONOMIC CHANGE IN EAST GERMANY IN PERIOD 1949-63

DDR: East Germany

COLLECTIVISATION: the process of joining together small and privately owned farms to create larger and more efficient units that are state controlled

NEW COURSE: the plan to change the direction of Soviet policy following the death of Stalin in 1953

WILLY BRANDT

  • Mayor of West Berlin (1959-64)
  • Leader of the SDP (1964-87)
  • First SDP German chancellor after the war, being elected in 1969

ERNST THALMANN

  • Former communist leader, imprisoned by the Nazis and put to death in Buchenwald concentration camp
  • Became a hero posthumously and symbol of anti-fascist sentiment
  • His name was used by youth organisations

NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV

  • Supporter of Stalin in the 1930s and became general secretary of the Communist Party in 1953
  • Denounced the harsh policies of Stalin in 1956, and followed a policy known as de-Stalinisation
  • Domestic reforms and less repression
  • Hard-line policy with regard to Soviet power abroad and would not allow any weakening of the Warsaw Pact
  • Supported the Berlin Wall and placing of nuclear weapons in Cuba

JOHN F. KENNEDY

  • US Navy
  • Elected as a senator in 1953
  • 1960: elected as president
  • Soviets considered him to be weak and inexperienced after the disastrous support given for the invasion of Cuba
  • Led to Khrushchev exerting pressure on him at their meeting in Vienna, where he told Kennedy that the USA was ‘on the wrong side of history’
  • Kennedy was worried about the growing communist threat, promising to protect West Berlin, and built-up US armed forces
  • Assassinated in 1963

The Soviets had a great impact on East Germany, as they forced the policies onto both East Germany as well as other Soviet occupied countries.

DID THE EAST GERMAN STATE TRANSFORM THE LIVES OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE OF CREATE LOW STANDARDS OF LIVING AND LIMITED FREEDOMS?

THE 1953 UPRISING

  • Many disapproved of the stricter border control, enforced collectivisation and the pressure to increase productivity
  • BUILDING OF SOCIALISM- policy that emphasises increasing productivity and rapid change
  • The death of Stalin, in March 1953, and the apparent promise of greater freedoms with the New Course, which was circulating in Moscow, encouraged unrest
  • JUNE 1953- Ulbricht had been summoned to Moscow and told that his policies on border controls, collectivisation and increased productivity were causing disquiet and that changes were necessary
  • Contradictory announcements made by the East German Politburo only made matters worse.
  • Middle class were reassured, the workers were told that their conditions would become worse as productivity would have to rise by 10% but wages would remain the same.
  • Changes were announced before there had been an attempt to convince the people of such necessities through the government-controlled press.
  • 16 JUNE- the workers on Berlin’s prestige building project, the Stalinallee ( a monumental boulevard) went on strike and demanded an end to increased working hours for no more pay
  • There was a call for a general strike the next day and thousands of workers joined in
  • They demanded the end of Ulbricht’s economic policies, his removal and democratic elections
  • Fearful of the loyalty of his own security forces, and concerned for his own position, Ulbricht called on Soviet forces to crush the rising
  • Rising was crushed, the protestors did win concessions.
  • The policy on increased working hours was ended, while more consumer goods were to be produced in order to improve living standards
  • State became increasingly concerned about unrest and adopted a harder line with massive growth in the size and powers of the Stasi.
  • The position of Ulbricht was strengthened, as it was believed that any weakening of his position would have been a sign of giving in to the protestors
  • Drew East Germany even closer to the Soviet bloc, while at the same time the people were made abundantly aware that they could expect no help from the West

COLLECTIVISATION

  • When the war ended in 1945, large estates were seized, divided up and given to the rural working class
  • However, they were unable to farm these small plots as they lacked the resources
  • SED believed that this problem could best be solved by collectivisation with the introduction of ‘land production co-operatives' or LPGs.
  • In place of individually owned farms, there would be agricultural collectives managed by the state on the model of those established by Stalin in the USSR in the 1930s
  • Number of LPGs continued to grow, with only 1/3 of all farms collectivised by 1958
  • Farmers who did not join collectives were denied the use of machinery and party officials were sent to villages to persuade farmers of the merits of collectives
  • 1962- 85% of farms had been collectivised; often against the will of the farmers
  • Encouraged a flight of the land and the number of refugees going West reached a peak in 1961

AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY

  • ‘Building of Socialism’ was part of the process.
  • For individual farmers it changed little and many simply gave up farming and left for the East, despite the opportunity of increased mechanisation and the use of tractor-lending stations
  • Abandonment of farms, totalling some 13% of all agricultural land, had a serious impact on the supply of food to the major cities
  • Declining food production that rationing had to be reintroduced in 1961

NATIONALISATION

  • SED had already begun to discuss a planned economy based on the Stalinist model, and it is this policy that was pursued through the period with the introduction of a series of plans
  • 76% of production under the control of ‘People’s own Factories’ or Volkseigene Betriebe (VEBs), which were run and owned by the state, it was much easier to implement change than had been the case on the land
  • The emphasis was on heavy industry, particularly fuel and power, iron and steel, chemical and building as the state looked to raise the low levels of productivity
  • The party set production levels, handled worker discipline and ran social activities, all of which allowed it to increase its control over workers and their lives

THE FIVE YEAR PLAN

  • Many of the new factories and industries were constructed in inappropriate areas and were not profitable
  • The quality of good produced was often low, as quantity was put before quality
  • Planning was slow and therefore plans were often out of date before they were implemented and were unable to respond to any short-term changes.
  • Emphasis on heavy industry meant that consumer goods were not produced, the production of which would have helped to stimulate the domestic market and reduce social unrest
  • Living standards improved slowly
  • Many workers, who were being put under pressure to meet the quotas, saw little gain from their work and moved to the West where their skills would be better rewarded
  • Some success as the economy grew by 12% in the late 1950s, and this was accompanied by an improvement in living standards, but it must be remembered that rationing did not end until 1958.

THE SEVEN YEAR PLAN

  • Introduced in 1959
  • Aimed at aligning economic development with that of the Soviet Union failed to alleviate the situation
  • Industrial growth, which had risen previously, decline and this resulted in an increase again in the number of people leaving the East until the construction of the Wall.
  • 1962- Seven Year Plan abandoned
  • 1963- the ‘New Economic System for Planning and Direction’ (NOSPL) was introduced
  • Brought greater flexibility and offered workers some input, allowed them to share profits, which raised production levels, and placed an emphasis on quality rather than quantity.
  • The workers in the DDR were economically better off than other Soviet-dominated Eastern bloc countries, but the failure to develop consumer industries meant that many believed the situation in the Est to be much better and therefore left
  • Its economy had been adapted to match that of the Soviet Union and this meant that it was impossible for it to develop a balanced economy, which could sustain high levels of growth.
  • Poor planning and mismanagement added to the problems and meant that, despite the growth, the economy could have done a lot better and prevented the drain to the West

Overall, the policies were partially successful, however, could not keep up with the benefits of the West; so many moved when seeing the benefits were far greater than those they could gain in East Germany.