German Democratic Republic

The German Democratic Republic was established in the Soviet Zone. East Germany was a state of the Soviet Union. Soviet occupation forces began in 1948, and the GDR began to function as a state on 7 October 1949. Soviet forces, however, remained in the country of the Cold War. Until 1989, the GDR was governed by the Socialist Unity Party (SED), though other parties nominally participated in its alliance organization, the National Front of Democratic Germany.

Although the GDR had to pay substantial reparations to the USSR, it became the most successful economy in the Eastern Bloc. Nonetheless it did not match the economic growth of West Germany. Emigration to the West was a significant problem-as many of the emigrants were well-educated young people, it further weakened the state economically. The government has been modernizing its western borders and, in 1961, built the Berlin Wall. Many people have been trying to find a way out of the country.

In 1989, numerous social and political forces in the GDR and abroad led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the establishment of a government committed to liberalization. and international negotiations led to the signing of the final settlement treaty on the status and borders of Germany. The GDR was dissolved and Germany was unified on 3 October 1990, becoming a fully sovereign state again.