History of Europe

Between compulsion and hope:the founding of the SED

The SED was founded on April 21, 1946 under pressure from the Soviet occupiers. The merger of SPD and KPD later developed into the state party of the GDR. In MV she is widely supported - although there are opponents and critics there too.

by Michael Bluhm

Admiralspalast Berlin, April 22, 1946:Wilhelm Pieck and Otto Grotewohl stage their historic handshake, which is intended to become a symbol of SED rule in the GDR. With a handshake, the two newly elected chairmen seal the merger of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) to form the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). The emblem of the new Marxist-Leninist party is intended to symbolize the unity of the workers' movement. At that time, however, the KPD had the Soviet occupying power behind it and was able to influence the merger process in its favour. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in particular, she can be sure of broad support.

End of the war in 1945:Workers' parties are looking for someone to blame

The starting point for the new unit was initially disagreement:after the end of the war in 1945, the members of the SPD and KPD blamed other reasons for the devastating Nazi rule. Some Social Democrats blame the KPD for fighting the SPD until 1933. Others see the split in the workers' movement after World War I as the prerequisite for Hitler's rise.

Under the impression of the devastating Second World War and a broad anti-fascist attitude in both camps, however, the demands for a united workers' party increased on both sides. The Soviet Military Administration (SMAD) first tried to build the KPD into the strongest force in order to establish a system of rule based on the Soviet model. But the SPD is attracting more members to the Soviet occupation zone and is correspondingly self-confident. From the autumn of 1945, KPD politicians such as Wilhelm Pieck and Walter Ulbricht massively propagate the founding of a unified party.

Social democratic new start after the end of the war

SPD politician Höcker (m) became the first Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in 1946 as the SED top candidate.

After the end of the war, the Social Democrats in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania quickly tried to regain the political importance that the SPD had before Hitler's Enabling Act of 1933. Among the most important of them are Wilhelm Höcker, Albert Schulz, Carl Moltmann and Herman Lüdemann. Höcker, state chairman of the Mecklenburg SPD, was appointed head of the state administration by the SMAD in 1945. Schulz becomes mayor of Rostock in 1946. However, he is only dismissed from the SMAD because he openly rejects a union with the KPD. Lüdemann is the managing director and Moltmann is the chairman of the SPD regional association.

KPD scores with farmers with land reform

The supporters of the KPD and SPD are growing at about the same level in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. However, the KPD registers a stronger influx here than in the other eastern areas:More people work in agriculture here and the KPD is an advocate of a land reform that envisages the transfer of large estates to many small and new farmers. In the spring of 1946, with 70,000 members, it had almost as many as the SPD with 83,000. Here, too, the idea of ​​a unified labor movement party fell on fertile ground.

Unification between compulsion and hope

The SMAD supports the campaign of the KPD officials, who are now aggressively claiming the leadership role in joint committees with the SPD - and harassed unwilling Social Democrats like Hermann Lüdemann. As an opponent of unification, he was forbidden from any political activity until he left the Soviet occupation zone (SBZ) in 1946. Other leading SPD politicians supported the merger. One of their decisive motives is the hope of being able to preserve social-democratic traditions and goals within the SED and to influence the further path of the party from within.

Party offices should be filled equally

Ultimately, leading SPD and KPD politicians decide to merge from the lower district level to the state level - on the condition that the respective party offices are filled equally. By the end of March 1946, the decision was implemented in all districts of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. The state SED is founded on April 7, 1946 at the unification party conference in the Schwerin Capitol, at which Carl Moltmann and Kurt Jiinger of the KPD were elected equal chairmen of the state association.

Admiral's Palace:Stage for the symbolic handshake

The SED unification party congress at the level of the occupation zone on April 21 and 22, 1946 in the Admiralspalast in Berlin, on the other hand, is only a formal matter:the delegates came from the SED members in the federal states and were therefore willing to unify. Ultimately, the party congress only offers the stage for the famous photo with the handshake - especially staged:the social democrat and the communist shake hands, a symbol for the end of the historical division of the working class.

Opponents of the foundation - escape to the West

After a few years, Albert Schulz was expelled from the SED and fled to the West.

But the founding of the SED did not receive applause everywhere. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, for example, tens of thousands of SPD members are refusing to join the new workers' party.

Albert Schulz initially remains in the SED and at the same time mayor of Rostock. He enjoys great respect among the population. In office, he tries to uphold social-democratic traditions - until he is sentenced to ten years of forced labor in a show trial by the Soviet occupiers in 1947. After four months he was released and returned to office. But in 1949 he saw his independence undermined to such an extent that he resigned. He is expelled from the SED and flees to the West with his family.

Social Democrats become SED functionaries

Carl Moltmann, on the other hand, was one of the advocates of a merger of the SPD and KPD from the start. After the state elections in October 1946, he became the first president of the state parliament of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania and, in addition to other functions in the SED apparatus, remained in this position until 1952.

Wilhelm Höcker, the former state chairman of the Mecklenburg SPD and a member of the Social Democratic Party since 1911, became the first Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in 1946 as the SED's top candidate. He resigned in 1951 for health reasons, but continued to hold offices in the GDR until his death in 1955.

Farewell to parity and dual leadership

But despite these examples and the fact that management positions were initially filled equally, the former KPD functionaries are gaining more and more weight. In the years that followed, the dual leadership was abolished and former KPD officials finally took over leadership of the SED. Thousands of former SPD members who wanted to put their traditions into action were removed from office, some imprisoned or fled to West Germany. And the SED deliberately builds up its party rule in the GDR, which was founded in 1949 - ultimately for more than 40 years.