1953 Uprising

1953 Uprising

On 16 and 17 June 1953, an uprising occurred in East Berlin. The construction workers strike against work quotas, inspired by the Soviet Union work policy, led to a larger demonstration against the GDR government and the SED. More than a million people participated in the uprising angered by their decreasing living standards due to Sovietisation in East Germany. The uprising was forcefully suppressed by the Soviet forces based in East Berlin, while demonstrations in town lasted for more days.

Soviet T034-85 tank in East Berlin

According to the GDR security service, about 34 people were killed during the uprising. Moreover, the uprising led a number of SED members, mostly those who participated in the labour movement, to leave the party. Others refused to pay their trade union subscriptions.

Economic change

By the time Ulbricht became the General Secretary of the SED, he began the Sovietisation of East Germany. During the Third Party Congress, the First Five Year Plan (1951-1955) was laid out. One of the main aims was to double the production of heavy industries such as iron ore, brown coal, hard core and creation of 22 vessels. While Stalin was considering the unification of Germany, Ulbricht focused on forging relations with its neighbouring nations. He signed agreements with Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria. On 1 October 1950, East Germany was a member of the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance or COMECON.

In April 1952, Peick, Grotewohl and Ulbricht met Stalin at the CPSU Politburo meeting. Stalin bestowed his blessing that the GDR must silently create an army. Moreover, he also encouraged the GDR to create an independent state.

From left to right) Mao Zedong, Joseph Stalin and Ulbricht in 1949

In the 1950s, lands owned by former Nazis were limited to 0.39 sq mi. Furthermore, estates belonging to Junkers were converted into collective farms. Only those known anti-Nazis were paid. While stripping Prussian aristocrats of their lands, about half a million peasant farmers, labourers and refugees received parcel of lands. In addition to collectivisation of private lands, state farms or People's Owned Property were also created.

Similar to the USSR, industries in East Germany were also nationalised. In July 1950, the People's Enterprises was formed.

Aims of the First Five-Year Plan

• Introduction of high production quotas for heavy industry
• Increase in labour productivity As a result of centralised state planning, many GDR citizens moved to West Germany. Moreover, 1 of 7 industrial companies relocated to the West by 1953.

Following the death of Stalin, Georgi Malenkov succeeded the leadership of the USSR. Unlike his predecessor, Malenkov ordered the shifting of investments from heavy industries to light industries, including consumer goods. As a consequence, delivery quotas and taxes were reduced in the USSR. However, despite this policy in Moscow, workers in the GDR still had high production quotas. In retaliation, industrial workers in East Berlin began an uprising in June 1953.

In July 1956, under the leadership of Walter Ulbricht, the Second Five-Year Plan (1956-60) was confirmed. With the slogan 'modernisation, mechanisation and automation', the GDR targeted technological advancement. By this time, production quotas increased by 55%.

Aims of the Second Five-Year Plan

• Completion of the nationalisation of industries
• Accelerated agricultural collectivisation
• Quotas were placed on private farmers
• Voluntary collectivisation After the devastating crop failure in 1961, many farmers moved to the West. At the same time, only about 9% of total industrial production was owned by private companies. Due to a number of difficulties, the Second Five-Year Plan was replaced with the Seven-Year Plan (1959-65).

Map showing the industrial production of East Germany by 1981

Basic materials such as energy and fuels

Metal working such as heavy machinery, shipbuilding

Light industry such as paper, textile, clothing

Food industry

In 1963, Ulbricht introduced the New Economic System or NES. The NES aimed to create a more efficient economic system through the decision-making of the Associations of People's Enterprise or VVB.

Social change

Under the SED, relics of former Prussian aristocracy such as manors and statues, were destroyed. Prisoners of war who returned to East Germany between 1945 and 1950 were considered to be integral in the economic reconstruction, while those who returned from 1950 to 1956 were treated as convicted criminals. This differing reaction from the SED was due to a statement released by the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union or TASS on 6 May 1950. In order to address the concern and possible threat of returning POWs, Ulbricht allowed them to join the NDPD or the National Democratic Party of Germany. By the 1950s, the NDPD had about 1.2 million members composed of former NSDAP and Wehrmacht members.

To handle religious groups, the SED, which was officially atheist, established a State Secretariat for Church Affairs in 1957.

Similar to the USSR, Socialist realism as a form of art was encouraged in the 1950s. This presented everyday life and the benefits of living and working in East Germany.

Publication and the press were controlled by the SED. Neuss Deutschland and Junge Welt were the only official prints in the GDR.

By the time the Beatles and the Rolling Stones dominated the Western music industry, including parts of the GDR, except the area around Dresden, local rock bands in East Berlin also emerged. The SED believed that such genre of music was corrupting the values of the young. As a result, the government ordered the regulation of new music. Local bands were prohibited from criticising GDR officials in their songs. Moreover, they were only allowed to play German songs that promoted socialist ideas. Performance Permission or Auftritt Erlaubnis were given to state-sanctioned bands before performances.

In visual propaganda, monuments of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels were erected in many parts of the GDR.

Statues of Marx and Engels in Berlin

Another remarkable social change in the GDR was the participation of women in the labour market. As a socialist state, the GDR encouraged women to work. As a matter of fact, about 89% of East German women were employed in 1989.

Since 1949, women in the GDR received equal pay. Unlike West German women, non-working women in the East were devalued as schmarotzer or parasites. Moreover, a paid maternity leave, also known as 'baby year' were given to GDR women.

Compared to West Germany, East Germany introduced large-scale educational reforms, including crѐches, kindergartens, polytechnic secondary school and vocational training.

1. Since most East German parents were working, a significant need for child care emerged. Crѐches or Kinderkrippen for children up to age three were established near kindergarten institutions, collective farms and factories. For full day care, parents paid 27.50 East German marks per month.
2. Between ages 3 to 6, East German children were introduced to the idea of learning and interaction through kindergartens. Kids were divided into three groups based on age: little group or kleine gruppe for age 3; middle group or mittlere gruppe for age 4; and big group or große gruppe for age 5 to 6. Fees were not collected for full-day care in kindergartens.
3. Established in 1959, polytechnic secondary school or polytechnische Oberschule (POS) provided East German children knowledge in mathematics, sciences, geography, German language, political education, history, practical work and sports. Students went to school 6 days a week and spent at least 45 minutes per subject. Provided by the Ministry of Education, the table of lessons was divided into compulsory teaching, elective teaching and optionally compulsory teaching. Beginning in 1951, studying the Russian language as a foreign language was obligatory, while English and French were electives.
4. After the 9th year at POS, East German students may apply for vocational training, which may last for 2 to 3 years depending on the subject. Subjects may include farming, accountancy, masonry, kindergarten teacher, mechanics, carpentry, nurse and electricians, all not taught in universities.
5. Unlike today, East German universities were limited to the 2 to 3 best students per POS class. A student must finished the Abitur (similar to A Level in England) after the POS. Subjects included information technology, medicine and law. Other criteria such as national service time, patriotism, religious affiliation and Communist Party membership were also considered.

Collection of textbooks used in East Germany

<img src="https://simplestudy-assets-prod.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/assets/backend/uploads/manually-styled-note-images/4946e9cd-812a-4233-9a97-067f016c7ee4.png" width="235" height="133" alt="Image of a first year textbook The conversation reads "Our army service is difficult. But we keep on doing it so you can study and play in peace. No enemy should dare to attack our German Democratic Republic."" />

Image of a first year textbook The conversation reads "Our army service is difficult. But we keep on doing it so you can study and play in peace. No enemy should dare to attack our German Democratic Republic."

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Glossary of Terms

FRG

Also known as the Bonn Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany was established following the trizone (US, Great Britain and France) in West Germany, in 1949.

GDR

Known as the DDR (GDR), the German Democratic Republic was formed by the Soviet occupied zone in Germany, in 1949.

OCCUPIED ZONES

Following the end of WWII, the Potsdam Conference stipulated the division of Germany into four Allied zones. The occupation period lasted from 1945 until the foundation of the FRG and GDR in 1949.

STASI

Formally known as the State Security Service, the Stasi was the official security service (including the intelligence and secret police) of the GDR.

SED

The unified Communist Party of Germany and part of the Social Democratic Party. The Socialist Unity Party of Germany dominated governance in East Germany.

ECONOMIC MIRACLE

Coined by The Times in 1950, it was the rapid reconstruction and revival of the West German economy at the time of Adenauer.