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Walter Ulbricht
Walter Ernst Paul Ulbricht (; ; 30 June 18931 August 1973) was a German communist politician. Ulbricht played a leading role in the creation of the Weimar republic, Weimar-era Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and later in the early development and establishment of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic. As the First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, Socialist Unity Party from 1950 to 1971, he was the chief decision-maker in East Germany. From President Wilhelm Pieck's death in 1960, he was also the East German head of state until his own death in 1973. As the leader of a significant Communist satellite, Ulbricht had a degree of bargaining power with the Kremlin that he used effectively. For example, he demanded the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 when the Kremlin was reluctant. Ulbricht began his political life during the German Empire, when he joined first the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in 1912 later joining the anti-World War I Indepen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leipzig
Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Germany and is part of the Central German Metropolitan Region. The name of the city is usually interpreted as a Slavic term meaning ''place of linden trees'', in line with many other Slavic placenames in the region. Leipzig is located about southwest of Berlin, in the southernmost part of the North German Plain (the Leipzig Bay), at the confluence of the White Elster and its tributaries Pleiße and Parthe. The Leipzig Riverside Forest, Europe's largest intra-city riparian forest, has developed along these rivers. Leipzig is at the centre of Neuseenland (''new lake district''). This district has Bodies of water in Leipzig, several artificial lakes created from former lignite Open-pit_mining, open-pit mines. Leipzig has been a trade city s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otto Grotewohl
Otto Emil Franz Grotewohl (; 11 March 1894 – 21 September 1964) was a German politician who served as the first prime minister of the German Democratic Republic (GDR/East Germany) from its founding in October 1949 until his death in September 1964. Grotewohl was a Social Democratic Party (SPD) politician in the Free State of Brunswick during the Weimar Republic and leader of the party branch in the Soviet Occupation Zone after World War II. Grotewohl led the SPD's merger with the Communist Party (KPD) to form the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in 1946 and served as co-chairman of the party with KPD leader Wilhelm Pieck until 1950. Grotewohl chaired the Council of Ministers after the formal establishment of the GDR in 1949 and served as the ''de jure'' head of government under First Secretary Walter Ulbricht until his death in 1964. Biography Early years Grotewohl was born on 11 March 1894 in Braunschweig to a middle-class Protestant family, the son of a master ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1928 German Federal Election
A federal election was held in Germany on 20 May 1928 to elect the fourth Reichstag of the Weimar Republic.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p762 It resulted in a significant shift to the left, with gains for the socialists and communists and losses for the nationalists. The centre-right government of Wilhelm Marx was replaced by a centre-left grand coalition government led by Hermann Müller of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). Background During the almost four years since the previous Reichstag election in December 1924, Germany had been governed by four conservative cabinets, two of which included the radical nationalist German National People's Party (DNVP) and none the Social Democratic Party (SPD), which had the most seats of any party in the Reichstag. The final cabinet of Wilhelm Marx of the Catholic Centre Party collapsed in February 1928 due to a dispute over education policy, and an election was called for Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Westphalia South (electoral District)
Westphalia South was one of the 35 electoral districts () used to elect members to the Reichstag during the Weimar Republic. It sent members to the Reichstag in nine democratic elections between 1919 and 1933. It existed nominally in the show elections to the Nazi Reichstag until 1938. It comprised the ''Regierungsbezirke'' Arnsberg, the southern part of the province of Westphalia, within the Free State of Prussia. It was constituency 18 in the numbering scheme. Electoral system The constituency was created for the 1919 election. Under the proportional representation electoral system of the Weimar Republic, voters cast a vote for party lists An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can c .... Parties were awarded a seat for every 60,000 votes in a constituency. Excess votes we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reichstag (Weimar Republic)
The Reichstag of the Weimar Republic (1919–1933) was the lower house of Germany's parliament; the upper house was the Reichsrat (Germany), Reichsrat, which represented the states. The Reichstag convened for the first time on 24 June 1920, taking over from the Weimar National Assembly, which had served as an interim parliament following the collapse of the German Empire in November 1918. Under the Weimar Constitution of 1919, the Reichstag was elected every four years by universal, equal, secret and direct suffrage, using a system of party-list proportional representation. All citizens who had reached the age of 20 were allowed to vote, including women for the first time, but excluding soldiers on active duty. The Reichstag voted on the laws of the Reich and was responsible for the budget, questions of war and peace, and confirmation of state treaties. Oversight of the Reich government (the ministers responsible for executing the laws) also resided with the Reichstag. It could f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German People's Council
The German People's Council () was a consultative body in the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany that operated in 1948–1949. The main task of the People's Council was to draw up a constitution on the basis of a draft presented by the SED in 1946. First people's council 250px, Meeting of the first People's Council, March 1949 The First German People's Council emerged from the Second German People's Congress convened on 17–18 March 1948. It consisted of 300 voting members of the Soviet Occupation Zone. At the inaugural meeting of a further 100 people had been invited from the Western zones in order to underscore the overall German claim. The organization of the People's Council was similar to that of a parliament (though it lacked the legitimacy of an election) and elected a Presidium and committees. Non-communist parties put emphasis on the finding that the prior People's Council should be a parliament, the SED attempted to portray it as a pan-German Parliament.SBZ-Handbuch, Seit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Volkskammer
The Volkskammer (, "People's Chamber") was the supreme power organ of East Germany. It was the only branch of government in the state, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs were subservient to it. The Volkskammer was initially the lower house of a bicameral legislature. The upper house was the Chamber of States, or ''Länderkammer'', but in 1952 the states of East Germany were dissolved, and the Chamber of States was abolished in 1958. Constitutionally, the Volkskammer was the highest organ of state power in the GDR, and both constitutions vested it with great lawmaking powers. All other branches of government, including the judiciary, were responsible to it. By 1960, the chamber appointed the State Council (the GDR's collective head of state), the Council of Ministers (the GDR's government), and the National Defence Council (the GDR's collective military leadership). In practice, however, it was a rubber stamp parliament that did little more than r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Willi Stoph
Wilhelm Stoph (9 July 1914 – 13 April 1999) was a German politician. He served as Council of Ministers of East Germany, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1964 to 1973, and again from 1976 until 1989. He also served as chairman of the State Council of East Germany, State Council from 1973 to 1976. Biography Stoph was born in Berlin in 1914; his father died the following year in World War I. In 1928, Stoph joined the Young Communist League of Germany (Kommunistischer Jugendverband Deutschlands; KJVD) and in 1931 he joined the Communist Party of Germany. He was conscripted into the Wehrmacht from 1935 to 1937, and served during World War II from 1940 to 1945. He was assigned to the 293rd Infantry Division, 293rd Infantry Division's artillery regiment, and was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class and rose to the rank of Unteroffizier. As the war ended, according to historian Harris Lentz, "Stoph worked with the Communist-do ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Council Of Ministers Of East Germany
The Council of Ministers (, ) was the executive organ of the Volkskammer, People's Chamber of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic from November 1950 until the country was German reunification, reunified on 3 October 1990.Starcevi, Nesha (8 November 1989East German Government Resigns, Pro-Reform Marches Continuein AP News. Retrieved 30 August 2019. Originally formed as a body of 18 members, by 1989 the council consisted of 44 members. Under the Constitution of East Germany, the Council of Ministers was formally defined as the government of East Germany. The same Constitution, however, officially confirmed the leading role of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, Socialist Unity Party (SED). Hence, for most of the GDR's existence, the Council of Ministers was not the highest authority in the country, but was charged with implementing the SED's policies into practical administration. In particular, ministers were subordinate to the secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Defence Council (East Germany)
The National Defense Council of the German Democratic Republic (German: ''Nationaler Verteidigungsrat der DDR'' - NVR) was created in 1960 as the supreme state body of the German Democratic Republic (also known as East Germany or the GDR) in charge of national defense matters, including mobilization planning. The NVR held the supreme command of the GDR's armed forces (including the internal security forces), and the NVR's chairman was considered the GDR's commander-in-chief. Background The predecessor of the NVR, the ''Security Commission'' of the Politbüro of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), met for the first time on 6 July 1954. With the enactment of the "Law on the Formation of the National Defense Council of the GDR" on 13 February 1960, the Security Commission was transformed into the NVR. When the State Council was created on 12 September 1960 to replace the office of President, the law creating the State Council (which amended the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Friedrich Ebert Jr
Friedrich "Fritz" Ebert Jr. (12 September 1894 – 4 December 1979) was a German socialist and later communist politician, the son of Germany's first president Friedrich Ebert. He was originally a Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democrat like his father before him, but is best known for his role in the foundation of East Germany's ruling party, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, in which he served in various positions. Early life Born in Bremen, Ebert underwent an apprenticeship as a printer from 1909 to 1913. In 1910, he joined the Jusos, Socialist Workers' Youth and in 1913 the Social Democratic Party of Germany, SPD. From 1915 to 1918, he fought in the World War I, First World War. Of his three brothers, Ebert Jr. was the only survivor. Weimar Republic In 1920, he married Johanna Elisabeth Vollmann, three years his junior, with whom he had two children, Friedrich and Georg. His wife committed suicide in 1938. During the Weimar Era, Ebert worked for various soci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
President Of East Germany
The president of the German Democratic Republic () was the head of state of the German Democratic Republic, commonly known as East Germany, from 1949 until 1960. The office was created by the Constitution of East Germany#1949 constitution, Constitution of 1949 (wikisource:Constitution of the German Democratic Republic (1949)#V. President of the republic, Section V). The president of the Republic was elected by the Volkskammer, People's Chamber (''Volkskammer'') and the Chamber of States (''Länderkammer''), the two chambers of parliament. The office was mostly ceremonial in nature. If necessary, the President of the Volkskammer acted as the president of the Republic. The sole incumbent was Wilhelm Pieck of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), elected on 11 October 1949Wilhelm Pieck timeline Retrieved 10 Ju ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
