German People's Congress
The German People's Congress was a body that first met on December 6, 1947. The initiative came from the SED ; Parties and organizations of the anti-fascist-democratic bloc in the Soviet occupation zone as well as individual delegates from the western zones took part. The most important demand of the German People's Congress was for a central German government. The SED presented its all-German claim to the three people's congresses.
The occasion was the London Foreign Ministers' Conference in November / December 1947. There, differences between the Western powers and the Soviet Union led to a break-off (on December 15).
Historical background
After the Second World War , the cooperation between the four victorious powers was soon overshadowed by the East-West conflict. The growing East-West conflict between the USSR and the Western powers, for example in the Middle East and Asia , as well as the Soviet policy of building satellite states (the so-called Eastern Bloc ), led the Western powers to distrust Soviet policy in Germany.
US demands in the Allied Control Council to preserve Germany's economic unity were rejected by the USSR in July 1946 as an attempt to exert influence. The four-power administration over all of Germany ended at the latest with the last meeting of the Control Council on March 20, 1948.
In the first half of 1948, the London Six Power Conference laid down principles for the establishment of a democratic German state (the Frankfurt Documents ). While democracy was being rebuilt in the three western zones, the democratic institutions elected in the semi-free state elections in 1946 in the Soviet occupation zone were increasingly brought into line . Since freely elected governments in the Soviet zonal countries could not be reached, the Prime Ministers in the West passed the Koblenz resolutions according to which a democratic West German state should be established as a temporary measure until the restoration of German unity in freedom.
People's Congress Movement
The People's Congress movement was founded on the initiative of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) on November 26, 1947 and initially served as a forum for German politics to integrate bourgeois circles into plebiscitary elements of a popular representation. In addition, she used the SED to involve parties, mass organizations, cultural associations and individuals for the implementation of their political ideas.
The German People's Congresses emerged from the movement. December 1947 was composed of 2,000 delegates from all zones of occupation . After criticism and resistance to this SED initiative on the part of the CDU and the dismissal of its chairmen Jakob Kaiser and Ernst Lemmer by the SMAD , the western occupying powers banned mobilization for the people's congresses in the Trizone .
Union FDGB
The FDGB had mobilized from the outset for the constitution and the contents of the People's Congress movement. According to the distribution list, the BuV appointed representatives for the People's Council. Important decisions of the People's Council were anticipated by the FDGB in its campaign work and thus the adoption and implementation of the decisions were prepared for propaganda purposes.
First German People's Congress
The First German People's Congress for Unity and Just Peace was initiated by the SED. It had delegates from parties and mass organizations appointed, most of which came from the Soviet zone of occupation. Only a small part came from the western zones. These representatives met in Berlin on December 6 and 7, 1947.
Participation in the People's Congress was highly controversial among the parties in the Soviet Zone. The refusal of the CDU to participate was one of the reasons that led to the dismissal of Jakob Kaiser as CDU chairman by the SMAD . Under strong pressure from the occupying power and against the will of the majority of the regional associations, the LDPD decided to participate. The main criticism was that the congress should not be composed according to the election results. By including the mass organizations, a higher distribution of members of the SED, most of whom were also members of mass organizations, was possible from the outset. This resulted in the following distribution in the Congress:
| organization | Mandates |
|---|---|
| SED (East) / KPD (West only) | 849 |
| LDP | 253 |
| CDU | 219 |
| SPD (only vests) | 91 |
| Non-party | 373 |
| Mass organizations | 440 |
According to estimates by Erich Gniffke , due to the party affiliation of most of the members of the mass organizations to the SED, 62% of the participants were members of the SED and a further 10% were members of the KPD. Even if these estimates contradict the official figures (see table), it is clear that the SED had a clear majority in the People's Congress.
Topics were the rejection of the planned establishment of a West German state and the criticism of the American-British occupation policy. There were discussions about the preparation of a peace treaty and an all-German government “made up of representatives from all democratic parties”. The Congress leaned very much on and supported Soviet policy on Germany. It is for this reason that this movement was approved by the Soviet military administration and supported by the SED.
The Congress determined a 17-member delegation to represent the positions of the Congress at the London Foreign Ministers' Conference (November – December 1947). However, the foreign ministers saw no legitimation of this delegation and did not receive it.
Second German People's Congress
The Second German People's Congress met on 17./18. March 1948. The date was set on March 18 for the 100th anniversary of the 1848 revolution in Berlin . In 1898 delegates took part in the People's Congress, including 512 from the western zones. The rejection of the Marshall Plan , the recognition of the Oder-Neisse Line and a referendum on German unity were decided, which took place from May 23 to June 13, 1948. He published the press organ " Germany's Voice ".
Furthermore, the First German People's Council was elected, which had 400 members, 100 of whom came from West Germany. A constitutional committee was formed, which was headed by Otto Grotewohl and was supposed to work out a draft constitution for the German Democratic Republic .
Third German People's Congress
The Third German People's Congress was confirmed by the population of the Soviet occupation zone on May 15 and 16, 1949 by a "vote". The sham election for the People's Congress consisted of the approval (yes) or rejection (no) of the following statement:
“I am for the unity of Germany and a just peace treaty. I am therefore voting for the following list of candidates for the Third German People's Congress. "
More than four million of the approximately 13.5 million eligible voters ticked No. To this day there are legitimate doubts about the approval (officially approx. 66% of the votes), as around one million ballot papers that were not completed were counted as approval.
On May 29-30, 1949, the III. German People's Congress in Berlin. 1400 delegates came from the Soviet occupation zone, 610 from the western zones ( Trizone ), which was constituted as a Federal Republic on May 23. The draft constitution, which the constitutional committee of the People's Council had worked out, was adopted on May 30th with one vote against, and the Second German People's Council was elected. The People's Council was constituted under the impression of the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany (May 23, 1949) as the Provisional People's Chamber on the same day as the GDR , which was newly founded on October 7, 1949 .
literature
- Martin Broszat , Gerhard Braas, Hermann Weber (eds.): SBZ manual. State administrations, parties, social organizations and their executives in the Soviet occupation zone of Germany 1945–1949 . 2nd edition, Oldenbourg, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-486-55262-7 , pp. 349-357.
Individual evidence
- ^ Lexicon A – Z in two volumes , first volume, Volkseigener Verlag Enzyklopädie, Leipzig 1956, p. 375.
- ^ Institute for Marxism-Leninism at the Central Committee of the SED : History of the German Workers' Movement , Volume 6, From 1945 to 1949 . Author collective: Walter Ulbricht u. A., Dietz Verlag , Berlin 1966, p. 240.
- ^ Ballot for the election to the Third German People's Congress Märkische Druck- und Verlags-GmbH, Potsdam 1949, German Historical Museum, Berlin, inv. No .: DG 76/269
- ^ Siegfried Suckut, Parties in the Soviet Zone / GDR 1945–1952. Federal Agency for Political Education, Bonn 2000, ISBN 3-89331-384-2 , p. 73.
- ↑ Martin Broszat, Hermann Weber (editor): SBZ-Handbuch , ISBN 3-486-55262-7 , p. 377 .
- ^ Lexicon AZ in two volumes , first volume, Enzyklopädie Volkseigener Verlag, Leipzig 1956, p. 375.