Opposition
96-399: [REDACTED] Government The Peaceful Revolution ( German : Friedliche Revolution ) – also, in German called Die Wende ( German pronunciation: [diː ˈvɛndə] , "the turning point") – was one of the peaceful revolutions of 1989 at the peak of the collapse of the Eastern Bloc in the late 1980s. A process of sociopolitical change that led to, among other openings,
192-791: A state of emergency . According to John Koehler, Plan X had been in preparation since 1979 and was, "a carbon copy of how the Nazi concentration camps got their start after Hitler came to power in 1933 ." By 1984, 23 sites had been selected for "isolation and internment camps." Those who were to be imprisoned in them ran into six categories; including anyone who had ever been under surveillance for anti-state activities, including all members of peace movements which were not under Stasi control. Politics of East Germany The German Democratic Republic ( GDR ; German: Deutsche Demokratische Republik ( DDR ), commonly known in English as East Germany )
288-724: A change in leadership and a willingness to negotiate, the SED attempted to win back the political initiative, but control of the situation increasingly lay with the West German government under Chancellor Helmut Kohl . From December 1989, the GDR government of Prime Minister Hans Modrow was influenced by the Central Round Table, which put into action the dissolution of the Stasi and prepared free elections. After an election win for
384-584: A coalition of parties that supported German reunification, the political path within the GDR was clear. Despite previously hoping to rehabilitate their nation , East German activists eventually supported reunification. East German citizens welcomed the German reunification following 40 years of repression and inaction by the East German elites. Significant events: A fundamental shift in Soviet policy toward
480-593: A condition of their existence. The other purpose was to catch parts of society that would ordinarily not be represented by the SED, a nominal workers party. For example, the CDU was directed to the large number Christians in the GDR, the NDPD was designed to catch former NSDAP members and so on. All of these parties were subservient to the SED, which per the GDRs constitution was the ruling party. All decisions, in practice, were made by
576-604: A link in the chain of command by issuing general legal directives. According to Article 93 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court "directs the jurisdiction of the courts on the basis of the Constitution, the laws, and their statutory regulations. . . . It ensures a uniform application of the law by all courts." The directive function of the Supreme Court went far beyond that of supreme courts in Western systems, which as
672-619: A real democracy, the people determine how the country is governed. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, in demonstrations calling for German reunification, this morphed into "Wir sind ein Volk" ("We are one people"). Churches were often pivotal in the demonstrations. The Leipzig "Monday demonstrations" stemmed from Monday prayer meetings at the Nikolaikirche (Church of St Nicholas). Prayers were said for people who had been mistreated by
768-578: A rule do not give legally binding instructions to the lower courts concerning specific questions of law. The Supreme Court was responsible to the People's Chamber and, between the latter's sessions, to the Council of State. Internally, the organization of the high court consisted of an assembly, a presidium, and three functional administrative divisions known as collegiums for criminal justice, military justice, and civil, family, and labor law. The assembly, which
864-669: The Daily Mirror of August 19, 1989: “Habsburg distributed leaflets far into Poland, on which the East German holidaymakers were invited to a picnic. When they came to the picnic, they were given gifts, food and Deutsche Mark, and then they were persuaded to come to the West.” But with the mass exodus at the Pan-European Picnic, the subsequent hesitant behavior of the Socialist Unity Party of East Germany and
960-624: The Eastern Bloc nations under Mikhail Gorbachev in the late 1980s was the prelude to widespread demonstrations against the Socialist Unity Party , which had ruled East Germany since the country was founded on 7 October 1949. Previous uprisings – East Germany (1953) , Czechoslovakia (1953) , Poland (1956) , Hungary (1956) and the Prague Spring (1968) – were harshly put down by Soviet troops. The Soviet reaction to
1056-650: The SED , supported the crackdown by the Chinese authorities. The German People's Congress proclaimed it was "a defeat for counter-revolutionary forces." Sixteen civil rights activists in East Berlin were arrested for protesting against the actions of the Chinese government. However, growing political agitation in East Germany was part of wider liberalisation within the Soviet bloc resulting from Gorbachev's reforms –
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#17327718674821152-424: The 40th anniversary of the founding of the GDR, were marred by demonstrations. There had been protests in the preceding weeks, and Hungary and Czechoslovakia now allowed East Germans to travel freely across their borders to the west. From 1 to 8 October, 14 "Freedom Trains" took 12,000 East German refugees from Prague across GDR territory to West Germany, with cheers from East Germans as they passed. All were signs that
1248-460: The 8,000 armed security forces present to tackle. "The message from Leipzig soared over the entire country: The masses had the power to topple the regime peacefully". When numerous East Germans were arrested for protesting the 40th-anniversary celebrations, many of them sang " The Internationale " in police custody to imply that they, rather than their captors, were the real revolutionaries. On 18 October, only eleven days after these events, Honecker
1344-524: The Austrian side of the border. The opening of the border gate then set in motion a peaceful chain reaction, at the end of which there was no longer a GDR or an Iron Curtain , and the Eastern Bloc had disintegrated. The idea of opening the border at a ceremony came from Otto von Habsburg and was brought up by him to Miklós Németh , the then Hungarian Prime Minister, who promoted the idea. The border
1440-608: The Berlin demonstration. On the 28 October 1989, to try to calm the protests, an amnesty was issued for political prisoners being held for border crimes or for participation in the weekly demonstrations. The first wave of demonstrations ended in March 1990 due to the forthcoming free parliamentary elections on 18 March . On 8 October 1989, Erich Mielke and Erich Honecker ordered the Stasi to implement "Plan X"—the SED's plan to arrest and indefinitely detain 85,939 East Germans during
1536-565: The Central Committee of the SED. Two of the appointees, Günther Kleiber and Gerhard Schürer , a candidate member, were also Politbüro members. Of the thirty-three regular members on the council, including both ministers and nonministers, nineteen were concurrently members of the Central Committee of the SED, and two were also Politbüro members. The latter were Erich Mielke, minister of state security, and Hans Joachim Böhme, minister of university and technical affairs. According to
1632-402: The Constitution in the performance of their duties. Under the Constitution, the Supreme Court, as the highest organ of the legal system, directed the jurisdiction of all lower courts and was charged with ensuring the uniform application of the law on all levels. The highest court not only had the right of extraordinary appeal as a measure of control over the lower courts but on occasion serves as
1728-507: The Constitution, all members of the Council of Ministers were formally elected to their posts by the People's Chamber for a five-year term. In fact, these decisions probably emanated from the Politbüro and the Central Committee of the SED. The Council of Ministers was required to work closely with the People's Chamber, and according to its administrative guidelines, the council was required to have all its legal drafts and decisions approved by
1824-404: The Council of State possessed additional responsibility for proclaiming amnesties and pardons. The Council of Ministers (Ministerrat der DDR) was the government of East Germany and the highest organ of the state apparatus. Its position in the system of government and its functions and tasks were specified in the Constitution as amended in 1974 as well as in the "Law on the Council of Ministers of
1920-917: The Eastern bloc states had strongly isolationist policies and they developed complex systems and infrastructure to restrict their citizens travel beyond the Iron Curtain . About 3.5 million people left the GDR for West Germany before the building of the Berlin Wall and the Inner German border in August 1961. After that it was still possible to leave legally, by applying for and receiving an Ausreiseantrag [ de ] (permission to leave). Between 1961 and 1988 about 383,000 people left this way. The government also forcibly exiled people, and political prisoners and their families could be ransomed to
2016-539: The German Democratic Republic" of October 1972. Whereas earlier the Council of Ministers had been described as the "executive organ of the People's Chamber," the 1972 statute defined the council as the "government." According to the new law, the Council of Ministers was to "carry out the decisions of the party of the working class on the basis of the laws and decisions of the People's Chamber." The Constitution (as amended in 1974) significantly expanded
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#17327718674822112-537: The Hungarian government began dismantling its border fence with Austria . This encouraged East German citizens to start travelling to Hungary in the hope of being able to get to the west more easily, not only over the border, but also by going to the West German embassy in Budapest and seeking asylum. On 27 June 1989 the Hungarian foreign minister Gyula Horn and his Austrian counterpart Alois Mock symbolically cut
2208-550: The Iron Curtain. In particular, it was examined whether Moscow would give the Soviet troops stationed in Hungary the command to intervene. The West German government was already prepared for the mass escape, and trains and coaches were ready to take the escapees from Vienna to Giessen , near Frankfurt , where a refugee reception centre was waiting for the new arrivals. After the Pan-European Picnic, Erich Honecker dictated to
2304-633: The Leipzig demonstrations on 11 September and going through until 2 October. After the demonstration on 9 October, in which the security forces were completely outnumbered by the 70,000 protesters and unable to hinder them, the demonstrations in Leipzig and elsewhere remained relatively peaceful. The largest gatherings were the Alexanderplatz demonstration in Berlin on 4 November 1989, and 11 November in Leipzig, each with an estimated 500,000 protesters, although there are claims that up to 750,000 were at
2400-418: The People's Chamber before they became law. In practice, the converse was true; the People's Chamber was obliged to approve those actions that were undertaken by the council and then routinely submitted to the legislature. Similarly, the People's Chamber was given the formal responsibility of selecting the membership of the council; in practice such personnel decisions were made by the Politbüro . The legislature
2496-637: The Polish crisis of 1980–1981 was already one of non-intervention. Having initiated a policy of glasnost (openness) and emphasized the need for perestroika (economic restructuring), in July 1989, Gorbachev permitted the Warsaw Pact nations to initiate their own political and economic reforms within the terms of the treaty. The policy of non-interference in Soviet Bloc countries' internal affairs
2592-648: The Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED, with the Central Committee of the SED and the Volkskammer rubber-stamping its decisions and the Council of Ministers of East Germany implementing them. In elections, voters only had the option of approving or rejecting a single "united list" of NF candidates. Elections were not secret and voters that rejected the National Front list or struck candidates from
2688-544: The Presidium. The Presidium was of special importance because of its responsibility for handling the affairs of the council when the full body was not in session. Specific functional responsibilities of the Council of Ministers included directing and planning the national economy; solving problems growing out of membership in the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon—see Appendix B); coordinating and implementing social policy decisions that have been agreed upon with
2784-532: The Prosecutor General was also responsible for supervising "strict adherence to socialist legality and protecting citizens from violations of the law." The role of the Ministry of Justice, which was not mentioned in the Constitution, appeared to be largely formal and propagandistic. The organs of justice were the Supreme Court, regional courts, district courts, and social courts. Military jurisdiction
2880-514: The Soviet Union were increasingly rejected due to poor quality control standards. Other communist countries were pursuing market-led reforms, but the government of Erich Honecker rejected such changes, claiming they contradicted Marxist ideology. More than one-fifth of the government's income was spent on subsidising the costs of housing, food and basic goods. Poor sewerage and industrial infrastructure led to major environmental problems. Half
2976-583: The Soviet system, growing economic problems, the rise of anti-communist sentiment, and the effects of the Soviet–Afghan War made it increasingly impractical for the Soviet Union to impose its will on its neighbors. The phrase was coined on 25 October 1989 by Foreign Ministry spokesman Gennadi Gerasimov . He was speaking to reporters in Helsinki about a speech made two days earlier by Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze . The latter had said that
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3072-583: The Soviets recognized the freedom of choice of all countries, specifically including the other Warsaw Pact states. Gerasimov told the interviewer, "We now have the Frank Sinatra doctrine. He has a song, I Did It My Way. So every country decides on its own which road to take." When asked whether this would include Moscow accepting the rejection of communist parties in the Soviet bloc, he replied: "That's for sure … political structures must be decided by
3168-607: The Status of Refugees on 14 March 1989, refused. From 10 September 1989, the Hungarian government allowed all East Germans to cross the Austro-Hungarian border without hindrance. Tens of thousands left and many also travelled to Czechoslovakia, whose government also gave in to demands to open its western border. The East German government gave in to pressure to allow special trains carrying East German refugees from Prague to West Germany, to travel via East Germany. Between
3264-525: The West German government , although those involved had no choice in the matter. Between 1964 and 1989 a recorded 33,755 political prisoners and about 250,000 of their relatives and others were "sold" to West Germany. Most of those who tried to escape illegally after 1961 travelled to other Eastern Bloc countries, as they believed their western borders were easier to breach than East Germany's. Around 7,000–8,000 East Germans escaped through Bulgaria , Hungary and Czechoslovakia between 1961 and 1988. However,
3360-406: The administration of justice in an effort to deter crime. Basic guarantees for justice were said to derive from the "socialist society, the political power of the working people, and their state and legal system." In fact, separation of powers did not exist in the East German system of government. Although the Constitution asserted the independence of the courts, it also subordinated the judiciary to
3456-410: The anniversary, which Mikhail Gorbachev attended, would not run smoothly. Although there were almost 500,000 Soviet troops stationed in the GDR, they were not going to help suppress any demonstrations. It later emerged that Gorbachev had ordered that the troops were to stay in their barracks during the commemorations. As the reformist Gorbachev was paraded along Unter den Linden , cheering crowds lining
3552-441: The basic foreign policy principles of the socialist state. Like all other aspects of the government administration of East Germany, the party was the ultimate decision maker in the operation of the legal system. The Constitution, however, provided for the right of citizens to a voice in the judicial process and the selection of judges, directly or through their elected representatives. It further provided for citizen participation in
3648-423: The border fence just outside Sopron . After the demolition of the border facilities, the patrols of the heavily armed Hungarian border guards were tightened and there was still a shooting order. On 10 August 1989, Hungary announced it would be further relaxing its handling of first-time East German border offenders, which had already become lenient. It stamped the passports of people caught trying to illegally cross
3744-427: The border, rather than arresting them or reporting them to the East German authorities; first-time offenders would just get a warning, and no stamp. It also announced a proposal to downgrade illegal border crossing from a crime to a misdemeanour. The Pan-European Picnic at the Austro-Hungarian border followed on 19 August 1989. This was a celebration of more open relationships between east and west, near Sopron, but on
3840-669: The careers of personnel in the system were dependent on their political ratings as determined by higher state and party officials. At the top of East Germany's legal system was the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Court, and the Office of the Prosecutor General. In 1987 the heads of these offices were, respectively, Hans-Joachim Heusinger (LDPD), Heinrich Toeplitz (CDU), and Josef Streit (SED). The Prosecutor General appointed prosecutors throughout East Germany, including those active in military courts; he could dismiss them, and they were "responsible to him and bound by his instructions." The Office of
3936-477: The chairman, deputy chairmen, members, and secretary; it did not specify the number of deputy chairmen and members. In 1987, under the chairmanship of Honecker, there were eight deputy chairmen and seventeen members. In addition to Honecker, two of the deputy chairmen, Horst Sindermann and Willi Stoph , were members of the Politbüro of the SED; Stoph was also chairman of the Council of Ministers, and Sindermann
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4032-586: The community courts and exercised considerable influence on the outcome of cases heard at this level. Leaders and their key positions - see also Leaders of East Germany Others Sinatra Doctrine Former General Secretary of the CPSU Former President of the Soviet Union Secretariate (1985–1991) Presidency (1990–1991) Foreign policy Post-leadership [REDACTED] The Sinatra Doctrine
4128-605: The country was not as isolated as China. Although Gorbachev visited Beijing in May 1989 to normalize Sino-Soviet relations, and the Chinese people were enthusiastic about his ideas, he had no influence with the Chinese government. Rather than stifle the East Germans' protests, the Tiananmen Square demonstration was further inspiration for their desire to instigate change. Celebrations for Republic Day on 7 October 1989,
4224-670: The country's domestic sewage was untreated, as was most industrial waste. Over a third of all East Germany's rivers, and almost a third of its reservoirs and half of its lakes were severely polluted. Its forests were damaged by sulphur dioxide and air pollution in cities was a problem. Protests about these environmental problems played a large part in the Peaceful Revolution. Workers in East Germany earned more than those in other communist countries and they had better housing than most of them. But East German workers compared themselves with West Germans, who were much better off, which
4320-555: The country. Other new political organisations including Democratic Awakening , United Left , and the Socialist Democratic Party formed. They all had similar aims, wanting greater democracy and environmental reforms. East Germans could see news about the Tiananmen Square democracy demonstration between April and June 1989 on West German television broadcasts. When the Chinese regime brutally crushed
4416-399: The demonstration on 3–4 June, several hundred and possibly several thousand protesters were killed. This caused concern for the nascent East German protest movement, that had demonstrated against electoral fraud in May. "We too feared the possibility of a 'Chinese solution,'" said Pastor Christian Fuehrer of the Nikolaikirche in Leipzig. The Neues Deutschland , the official newspaper of
4512-400: The destabilization of the SED's one-party state , similar to destabilization of such regimes in other Eastern Bloc countries. Because of its hostile response to the reforms implemented within its "socialist brother lands", the SED leadership was already increasingly isolated within the Eastern Bloc when it permitted the opening of the border at the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989. Through
4608-485: The elderly). Another society of note was the Society for German-Soviet Friendship . Designated as an organ of the People's Chamber, the Council of State (Staatsrat der DDR) was largely a creation of Walter Ulbricht during his tenure as first secretary of the SED. After Ulbricht was forced to relinquish that position in 1971, the prestige and authority of the council correspondingly began to decline. However, although it
4704-422: The election, opposition activists called for it to be boycotted, and distributed a leaflet criticising Erich Honecker's regime. Nevertheless, the result of the election was proclaimed as 98.5 percent "Yes". Clear evidence of electoral fraud was smuggled to the West German media. When this information was broadcast, it was picked up in East Germany, instigating protests. Citizens demanded their legal right to observe
4800-516: The end of the ruling by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in 1989 and the transition to a parliamentary system . This peaceful transition later enabled the German reunification in October 1990. The peaceful revolution was marked by nonviolent initiatives and demonstrations. The GDR's lack of competitiveness in the global market economy, as well as its sharply rising national debt, hastened
4896-511: The first and eighth of October 1989, 14 so-called "Freedom Trains" (German: Flüchtlingszüge aus Prag [ de ] ) carried a total of 12,000 people to Hof , in Bavaria. Large crowds gathered to cheer the trains as they passed. As a result of new hopes inspired by the mass exodus of East Germans via Hungary, several opposition groups formed in Autumn 1989, with the aim of bringing about
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#17327718674824992-411: The functions of the Council of Ministers at the expense of the Council of State. In 1987 the Council of Ministers consisted of a chairman, two first deputy chairmen, and nine deputy chairmen, all of whom constituted an inner circle called the Presidium of the Council of Ministers. The chairman of the Council of Ministers, Willi Stoph, was head of the government (prime minister). Stoph, a representative of
5088-535: The issues from the preceding year were made available in a special edition for East Germans. East Germany's economy was stronger than other Eastern Bloc countries and it was the most successful of the CMEA countries. It was the Soviet Union's most important trading partner, although it was very much subordinate. It was a net exporter of technology. Its shared language, cultural and personal connections with West Germany helped to boost its economy. Its trade with West Germany
5184-469: The joint slate of the National Front, controlled by the SED, for elections to the Volkskammer , the East German parliament. The other parties were: The purpose of the National Front was to give the impression that the GDR was a democracy governed by a broad-based coalition. In fact, all parties and mass organizations were subservient to the SED, and had to officially accept the SED's leading role as
5280-403: The late 1970s can be traced at least in part to parallel developments in the Soviet Union. Related to the takeover of the council's chairmanship by Honecker is the fact that after 1977 the number of individuals who were simultaneously members of the council and of the SED's Central Committee Secretariat increased. In referring to the Council of State, the Constitution declared that it consisted of
5376-467: The leadership group, SED control was guaranteed by the presence of Honecker, Stoph, Sindermann, and Egon Krenz , probably the four most powerful individuals in the country. In the mid-1980s, the functions performed by the Council of State included representing the country abroad and ratifying and terminating international treaties; supporting local assemblies in the implementation of their economic and budgetary plans; administering electoral laws that govern
5472-557: The list faced consequences. Two of the block parties were formerly independent (CDU and LDPD/LDP) and two others were established on the instigation of the SED (NDPD and DBD). The Volkskammer also included representatives from the mass organisations like the Free German Youth ( Freie Deutsche Jugend or FDJ ), or the Free German Trade Union Federation . In an attempt to include women in
5568-406: The list. However, before the 7 May 1989 election there were open signs of citizens' dissatisfaction with the government and the SED was concerned that there could be a significant number of "No" votes. The number of applications for an Ausreiseantrag (permission to leave the country) had increased and there was discontent about housing conditions and shortages of basic products. In the weeks before
5664-401: The majority of attempts were thwarted and those caught were arrested and sent back to face the East German legal system. Some were also shot and killed by border guards. The Hungarian leader, János Kádár , retired on 22 May 1988 and other political parties were formed which challenged the old socialist order in Hungary, leading to a period of liberalisation. Almost a year later, on 2 May 1989,
5760-594: The minister of posts and telecommunications - Rudolf Schulze of the CDU; the minister of environmental protection and water management - Hans Reichelt of the DBD; the minister of justice - Hans-Joachim Heusinger of the LDPD; and the chairman of the State Contract Court - Manfred Flegel of the NDPD. The other five positions held by deputy chairman on the Presidium of the Council of Ministers were occupied by members of
5856-580: The new policy contradicted Honecker's appeals. The Sinatra Doctrine proclamation had dramatic effects across the Soviet bloc. The beleaguered East German government had hoped for a Soviet intervention to defend communism in East Germany and elsewhere. However, the Sinatra Doctrine announcement signaled that the Soviet Union would not aid the East German communists. In a few months, the communist governments of East Germany, Czechoslovakia , Bulgaria , and Romania had all been overthrown, thus bringing
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#17327718674825952-658: The newly opened border. To the great annoyance of the East German government, the Hungarians refused to stop the exodus. These developments greatly disturbed hardline communists such as the East German leader Erich Honecker , who condemned the end of the Soviet bloc's traditional "socialist unity" and appealed to Moscow to rein in the Hungarians. Honecker faced a growing crisis at home, with massive anti-government demonstrations in Leipzig and other East German cities. Shevardnadze's speech and Gerasimov's memorable description of
6048-467: The non-intervention of the Soviet Union broke the dams. About 100,000 East Germans then travelled to Hungary, hoping to also get across the border. Many people camped in the garden of the West German embassy in Budapest, in parks and around the border areas. Although the East German government asked for these people to be deported back to the GDR, Hungary, which had signed the 1951 Convention Relating to
6144-459: The old guard and a Politbüro member since 1953, was again appointed council chairman in 1986. Unlike the nine deputy chairmen, the two first deputy chairmen, Politbüro members Werner Krolikowski and Alfred Neumann , generally had not been responsible for specific ministerial portfolios. In 1987 four of the nine deputy chairmen represented the four non-SED political parties allowed to operate in East Germany. The four non-SED deputy chairmen were
6240-567: The opening of their borders to the Western world . These events were precipited by Solidarity's peaceful revolution in Poland and enabled by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev 's decision to abandon intervention the Soviet sphere of influence and other shifts to the Soviet Union's foreign policy. In East Germany—the former German Democratic Republic (GDR or DDR)—the peaceful revolution marks
6336-423: The people who live there." The Sinatra Doctrine has been seen as Moscow permitting its allies to decide their futures. It was a retrospective policy, as Soviet allies had already acquired much greater freedom of action. A month before Gerasimov's statement, Poland had elected its first non-communist government since the 1940s. The Hungarian government began dismantling the Iron Curtain on the border with Austria in
6432-471: The planned picnic was made by posters and flyers among the GDR holidaymakers in Hungary. The Austrian branch of the Paneuropean Union , which was then headed by Karl von Habsburg , distributed thousands of brochures inviting them to a picnic near the border at Sopron. Habsburg and Imre Pozsgay saw the event also as an opportunity to test Mikhail Gorbachev ’s reaction to an opening of the border on
6528-523: The political authorities and their political goals. Even the superficially democratic 1949 Constitution subordinated the judiciary, along with all other government organs, to the People's Chamber. Judgeships were restricted to Communists of proven loyalty. The regime officially considered law and justice the tools for building a communist society and declared it the duty of all judicial and legal officers to serve this end. In effect, legal and judicial organs served as agencies for promoting official doctrine, and
6624-647: The political life in East Germany, there was even a Democratic Women's Federation of Germany with seats in the Volkskammer . The SED members on the list were always the majority because many candidates of the mass organizations were also SED members. Non-parliamentary mass organizations which nevertheless played a key role in East German society included the German Gymnastics and Sports Association ( Deutscher Turn- und Sportbund or DTSB ) and People's Solidarity ( Volkssolidarität , an organisation for
6720-400: The regular courts of their minor civil or criminal case loads, the jurisdiction of the courts applied to labor disputes, minor breaches of the peace, misdemeanors, infringements of the law, truancy, and conflicts in civil law. These courts were composed of lay jurors elected by their respective constituencies. Party officials at the community level generally influenced the nomination of jurors to
6816-508: The regular law courts, East Germany also developed an extensive system of community and social courts (gesellschaftliche Gerichte) , known also as "conflict or arbitration commissions" (Konflikt-und Schiedskommissionen) . The first were formed in state-owned and private enterprises, health and educational institutions, offices, and social organizations. The second were established in residential areas, collective farms, and cooperatives of manual laborers, fishermen, and gardeners. Created to relieve
6912-465: The relationship of KGB and the Stasi was still close. In November 1988, the distribution of the Soviet monthly magazine Sputnik , was prohibited in East Germany because its new open political criticisms annoyed upper circles of the GDR leadership. This caused a lot of resentment and helped to activate the opposition movement. After a year, the sale of the magazine was reinstated, and censored editions of
7008-519: The same sorts of reforms in the GDR that had been instituted in Poland and Hungary. The largest of these was the New Forum (German: Neues Forum ). It was founded by the artist Bärbel Bohley along with Jens Reich and Jutta Seidel . It had over 200,000 members within a few weeks of being set up. On 20 September 1989 it applied to field candidates in the March 1990 general election. New Forum acted as an umbrella organisation for activist groups across
7104-480: The selection of local assemblies on the community, city, county, and district levels; discharging responsibilities for the maintenance of the country's defense with the assistance of the National Defense Council ; and administering the activities of the Supreme Court and the Office of the Prosecutor General to ensure their actions were congruent with the Constitution and the civil law. In this area,
7200-542: The spring of 1989. From the Pan-European Picnic in August, it was clear to the media-informed Eastern European population that, on the one hand, the Soviet Union would not prevent the opening of the border. On the other hand, the Eastern European governments were divided. Since Hungary was one of the few countries East Germans could travel to, thousands then traveled there to flee to the West across
7296-428: The state authorities, so the meetings took on a political character. The numbers attending grew and on 4 September 1989, it became a demonstration of over 1000 people in front of the church. The Stasi arrived to break it up, taking some demonstrators away in trucks. The demonstrations became a regular weekly event in Leipzig and around the country, with tens of thousands joining in. There were mass arrests and beatings at
7392-421: The state. The county court was the lowest level of the judiciary system, and each of the country's counties had at least one such court, which was presided over by a professional judge and two lay assessors. The majority of all criminal and civil cases were tried at this level; county courts had jurisdiction over cases not assigned elsewhere and civil cases involving only small amounts of property. In addition to
7488-593: The street called out "Gorbi, Gorbi," and "Gorbi, help us." However, there were still fears of a Tiananmen Square-style crackdown, as on 2 October, the SED party official Egon Krenz was in Beijing , at the anniversary of the founding of People's Republic of China . There, he said, "In the struggles of our time, the GDR and China stand side by side." On 7 October, a candelight demonstration with 1,500 protesters around Gethsemane Church in Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin
7584-420: The support and concurrence of the Free German Trade Union Federation (Freier Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund —FDGB); instructing and controlling subordinate levels of government, i.e., the councils at district, county, and community levels that implemented the laws and decisions of the central government; improving the functioning of the system of " democratic centralism " within the state apparatus; and carrying out
7680-409: The vote count. Election monitors from churches and other groups showed the figures had been falsified. About 10 percent of voters had put a line through every name on the list, indicating a "No" vote, and about 10 percent of the electorate had not voted at all. After the initial protests on 7 May, there were demonstrations on the seventh of every month in Alexanderplatz in Berlin. The Soviet Union and
7776-411: The week. In Erfurt , for example, they happened on Thursdays. The first wave of these was from 4 September 1989 to March 1990. They continued sporadically until 1991. The protesters called for an open border with West Germany, genuine democracy, and greater human rights and environmental protections. The most noted slogan protesters shouted was "Wir sind das Volk" ("We are the people"), meaning that in
7872-454: Was 50 to 60 percent of its total trade with Western nations. Although it was hailed as a communist success story, by the late 1980s its economic growth had slowed to less than 1% per year and the government's economic goals were not reached. It had to deal with increasing global competition with run-down industrial infrastructure, and shortages of labour and raw materials. From 1986, its products were often seen as inferior and orders delivered to
7968-460: Was a Soviet foreign policy under Mikhail Gorbachev for allowing member states of the Warsaw Pact to determine their own domestic affairs . The name humorously alluded to the song " My Way " popularized by Frank Sinatra —the Soviet Union was allowing these states to go their own way. Its implementation was part of Gorbachev's doctrine of new political thinking . The Sinatra Doctrine
8064-475: Was a significant break from the earlier Brezhnev Doctrine , under which Moscow tightly controlled the internal affairs of satellite state . This had been used to justify the crushing of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, as well as the invasion of the non-Warsaw Pact nation of Afghanistan in 1979. By the late 1980s, structural flaws within
8160-442: Was another cause of dissatisfaction. In practice, there was no real choice in GDR elections, which consisted of citizens voting to approve a pre-selected list of National Front candidates. The National Front was, in theory, an alliance of political parties, but they were all controlled by the SED party, which controlled the Volkskammer , the East German parliament. The results of elections were generally about 99% "Yes" in favour of
8256-686: Was created as a socialist republic on 7 October 1949 and began to institute a government based on the government of the Soviet Union during the Stalin era . The equivalent of the Communist Party in East Germany was the Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands ( Socialist Unity Party of Germany , SED), which along with other parties, was part of the National Front of Democratic Germany . It
8352-732: Was created in 1946 through the merger of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany . Following German reunification , the SED was renamed the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), which eventually merged with the West German Electoral Alternative for Labor and Social Justice to form the modern Left Party . The other political parties ran under
8448-640: Was crushed by security forces, who beat people up and made around 500 arrests. Other protests outside the Palace of the Republic were also brutally repressed. There were protests throughout the country, the most organised being three consecutive demonstrations in Saxony on 7, 8 and 9 October in Plauen , Dresden and Leipzig respectively. In Leipzig, there was no violence, as the 70,000 participants were too many for
8544-618: Was directed in its plenary sessions by the Supreme Court Presidium, consisted of fifteen directors of the district courts, the chairmen of the higher military courts, and all professional judges. Each district court was presided over by a professional judge and two jurors in cases of original jurisdiction and by three professional judges in cases of appellate jurisdiction. The district courts had appellate jurisdiction in civil cases and original jurisdiction in major criminal cases such as economic crimes, murder, and crimes against
8640-421: Was exercised by the Supreme Court and military tribunals and courts. The specific areas of responsibility for each level of the court system are defined by law. Professional and lay judges of the courts are elected for five years by corresponding representative bodies, except district court judges, who were elected directly by the citizenry. They were subject to dismissal for malfeasance and for violations of law and
8736-532: Was made official with Gorbachev's statement on 26 October 1989 that the "Soviet Union has no moral or political right to interfere in the affairs of its East European neighbors". This was dubbed the Sinatra Doctrine , by Gorbachev's spokesman Gennadi Gerasimov who joked "You know the Frank Sinatra song, 'I Did It My Way'? Hungary and Poland are doing it their way." Following the reforms, by 1988 relations had soured between Gorbachev and Honecker, although
8832-418: Was no longer the de facto supreme executive organ, Erich Honecker 's assumption of the chairmanship of the Council of State in October 1976 represented a renewal of its importance. A similar move was made in the Soviet Union when Leonid Brezhnev became head of state. It is reasonable to assume that given East Germany's close adherence to Soviet practices, the increased invisibility of the Council of State since
8928-410: Was president of the People's Chamber. Four of the deputy chairmen of the Council of State represented the other four political parties, as did four of its seventeen members. The day-to-day functions of the council were carried on by a staff consisting in 1987 of twenty offices and departments, all of which were headed by SED members. Despite the presence of non-SED members as deputy chairmen and members of
9024-446: Was removed as head of the party and the state and was replaced by Egon Krenz. In addition to the GDR 40th anniversary demonstrations and the protests against electoral fraud, from September 1989 there were regular weekly pro-democracy demonstrations in towns and cities across the country. They are referred to as "Monday demonstrations" as that was the day they occurred in Leipzig, where they started, but they were staged on several days of
9120-664: Was temporarily opened at 3 p.m., and 700–900 East Germans, who had travelled there after being tipped off, rushed across, without intervention from Hungarian border guards. It was the largest escape movement from East Germany since the Berlin Wall was built in 1961. The local organization in Sopron took over the Hungarian Democratic Forum, the other contacts were made via Habsburg and the Hungarian Minister of State Imre Pozsgay . Extensive advertising for
9216-444: Was then expected to approve the selections. The Council of Ministers was responsible for providing the People's Chamber with the major legal drafts and decisions that subsequently were to be promulgated by the parliament. The work style of the Council of Ministers was a collective one. It normally met on a weekly basis to discuss problems and plans put forward by individual ministers. It also confirmed decisions that were already made by
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